Sonnet 55

“Sonnet 55” (1609) is an English love sonnet by renowned poet William Shakespeare (1564-1616). The sonnet is part of Shakespeare’s Fair Youth sonnet sequence, which makes up the first 126 of his sonnets. This sonnet follows a number of the Fair Youth sonnets in the way it praises the fair youth’s beauty and claims his beauty is eternal. In this sonnet specifically, Shakespeare claims that the subject’s beauty will outlive all monuments of princes and will live even after the destruction time will bring to the world in the form of war and death. The poem argues that its own existence gives life to the subject, and the poem, by lasting through war and destruction, is the most powerful monument one can erect. However, the poem concludes with the idea that at the end of time, the return of Christ will lead to the resurrection of the fair youth, and that will be when the poem’s utility ends. This is one of Shakespeare’s most popular sonnets, though not as well-known as the thematically similar Sonnet 18.

Poet Biography

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in England. While Shakespeare lived centuries ago, there is quite a bit known about his adult life, including his business dealings; however, much of his childhood is shrouded in mystery.