Sonnet 55

   This sonnet has a similar theme to sonnet 12.  The idea of being able to make the subject immortal through words stays constant.  However, this sonnet differs in that centers more around destruction and time against human creativity.  The first quatrain claims that this sonnet will outlive monuments and statues.  The last line says that stone is destroyed by time.  To describe time, Shakespeare uses the world "sluttish."  Slut had a different meaning in Shakespeare's time being dirty and unorganized.  A slut was a kitchen maid.  The second quatrain focuses more on war and violence.  Shakespeare rarely uses Greek mythology in his writings.  In line 9, Shakespeare mentions Mars to describe the calamity of war.  The speaker tells the subject that great wars will not outshine his memory.  The last quatrain is enjambed.  This produces a feeling of propelling forward.  The last quatrain continues the theme of immortality.  The last line of the poem "dwell in lovers' eyes" could be referring to the reader.  The reader of the poem might love the subject as the speaker does.