Part 1 of Essay
In his Sonnet 19, Shakespeare presents the timeless theme of Time's mutability. As the lover apostrophizes Time, one might expect him to address "old Time" as inconstant, for such an epithet implies time's changeability. But inconstant also suggests capricious, and the lover finds time more grave than whimsical in its alte ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... in its devouring. In the second quatrain, the lover grants to Time its own will: "And do whate'er thou wilt, swift-footed Time," acknowLedging priorly that in its fleet passage Time does "Make glad and sorry seasons. n For the first time one sees Time in other than a destructive capacity--in its cycLical change of seasons, some Time does "make glad" with blooming sweets. So the lover changes his epithet from devouring to swift-footed, certainly more neutral in tone. For now the lover makes his most assertive c ....