In this excerpt, Edmund Spenser uses the literary device of personification to describe Time. Personification is a type of metaphor in which an object or animal is given human qualities. In this case, Spenser personifies Time as an old man who is coming to take away his youth. In the first line of this sonnet, the speaker says that “Time will come and take my love away.” This implies that he knows that his love will someday be taken away from him by Time.
He compares the effects of Time on a person’s life to the changes that occur in the seasons:
“Then farewell summer’s blossoms; welcome, wintry blast.”
The speaker is saying goodbye to summer and welcoming winter because each season has its own beauty and he wants all four seasons in his life.
When you look at this excerpted passage carefully, you can see how Spenser personifies Time by comparing it to an old man who is coming to take away his youth. This makes it easier for us to understand what he is saying and gives us a better understanding of what time means for our lives and how we should spend it wisely before it runs out too quickly if we do not use it wisely now!
