Question

Read Shakespeare's "Sonnet 19.” Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws, And make the earth devour her own sweet brood; Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger's jaws, And burn the long-liv'd phoenix, in her blood; Make glad and sorry seasons as thou fleets,5 And do whate'er thou wilt, swift-footed Time, To the wide world and all her fading sweets; But I forbid thee one most heinous crime: O! carve not with thy hours my love's fair brow, Nor draw no lines there with thine antique pen;10 Him in thy course untainted do allow For beauty's pattern to succeeding men. Yet, do thy worst old Time: despite thy wrong, My love shall in my verse ever live young. Which is the best paraphrase of the line 9? Keep time from passing. Time cannot alter my love. My love has beautiful brows. Do not make my love look older.

Answer 1

The right answer is: "do not make my love look older"

In the above exclamation, Shakespeare pleads for time not cause a lover's clear forehead to wrinkle using figurative language (O! carve not with thy hours my love's fair brow).

"Keep time from passing" seems a better paraphrase for the fragment "ever live young" on the last line; "time cannot alter my love" is a statement which may better define the main theme of the poem; and "my love has beautiful brows" addresses a personal opinion which lacks support in the poem.

As a result only the fourth option can be correct.

Answer 2

The answer is: Do not make my love look older.

In Shakespeare's "Sonnet 19," the author addresses the passing of time and allows it to devastate everything in nature. However, he forbids it not to grow wrinkles in his love's face, since he believes it would be a terrible crime and that such beauty should remain untouched by the course of time.