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14
Introduction
rial”canbetransferredbetweeniconographyandpoetry.Shakespeare)s
poems(theSonnetsandthenarrativepoemLucrece)areevidenceof
thisblendingofthepictorialandthepoetical.Thus,tonamethe
best-knowninstance,wheninSonnet116wereadthat“love)snot
Time)sfool,”themetaphoriscouchedinapersonificationoftimeas
theReaper;equippedwitha“bendingsickle”hecutsdown“rosylips
andcheeks.”
4.Thispictorial(andrhetorical)legacy,whenconceptualised,allowsusto
distinguishthefollowingsixmeaningsoftimeinShakespeare)spoetry:5
1physicalorabstracttime(roughlyequivalenttoBergson)s“objective”
or“spatialised,”non-durational,time):alineconsistingofunitssuch
ashours,minutes,etc.(succeedingoneanother,andthemselves
divisibleintosmallerunits,andsoadinfinitum);
1periodicityinnature(anditsreflectionsinthehumanworld):diur-
nalandseasonalcyclesandrhythms(clocktime,calendartime);
1organic,biologicalornaturaltime,eitherinitsaugmentative,restor-
ativeaspect(growth,renewal)ordeteriorativeandentropic(decline,
death,decomposition);
1subjectivetime(“felttime”),manifestingitselfinmemoryand
throughinnerrhythmsandfluctuations(psychic“upsanddowns,”
mentaldynamic)whichmakeduration(“objective”lengthsoftime)
seemrelativetohowweexperiencethings;
1artisticoridealtime(asinPlato)sdichotomyofchangeabilityand
permanence),relatedtoourexperienceofhowbeautytranscends
thesphereofthecorporealandtransientandtoourintuitions(“inti-
mations”)ofthespiritualandenduring;thisexperiencefoundsuch
ahauntingexpressioninKeats)Odes;
1kairos,literally“theopportunemoment,”butalsoamomentofful-
fillment(redemptiveoreschatologicaltime,thoughnotnecessarily
inastrictlyreligioussense);manyoftheSonnetsowetheirrhetorical
energytotheoppositionbetweenthenaturaldeteriorationofthings
andrestorative(almost“salvational”)powersofpoetryandbeauty.6
5.Thedifferentwaysofrepresentingtimeinliterature.
InmypreviousbookIadvancedthepropositionthatthepoem
Lucrececouldbeseenasa“transitional”work,i.e.asonethatmakes
palpableashiftfrompoetrytodrama,fromtimerepresentedrhetori-
5SeeMydla,TheDramaticPotential,p.60.
6InsomeoftheSonnets(seeSonnets59,106)theaddresseeisrepresentedasan
Adonis,asemi-Christian“messiah,”adivinitycapableofendowingthings(andtimeitself)
withmeaning.Thepoetadmitstohissenseoflivinginatimehallowedbythepresenceof
theadmiredobject.
