The speaker also states in line 4 that, depending on the whims of Fortune and Time, individuals may be “weeds among weeds, or flowers among flowers gathered.” In this analogy, it is highly possible that weeds represent the working class and the flowers the nobility, as weeds typically possess negative connotations whilst flowers are known to symbolize beauty. It is thus also interesting to note that the speaker mentions weeds before flowers, because he refers to Time’s love before Time’s hate in the previous line. By coupling weeds with love and flowers with hate, he is dismantling the idea that the nobles are inherently “better” than their poorer counterparts. By essentially equating weeds to flowers, Shakespeare is also rejecting the idea
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For instance, the speaker states that “policy” “works on leases of short-number’d hours,” where the latter statement yet again suggests great volatility. By calling policy a “heretic” in the third quatrain, the speaker also emphasizes its utter lack of loyalty, as well as the dangers it poses. Interestingly, Fortuna is also known to have been declared a false goddess by Christian believers; it may be that the word “heretic” could be a reference to or denunciation of her. The word “heretic,” with its religious associations, also links to the final couplet in which the speaker vilifies “the fools of time” – individuals that live immorally – for their objectives of dying “for goodness” when they “have lived for crime.” The noun “crime” is used to condemn those that engage in duplicitous political warfare, whilst the entire phrase is used to condemn the hypocrites who believe that they can live sinfully and still achieve salvation vis-à-vis last-minute repentance. That it is love for one’s fellow man that is what truly ought to be celebrated and nurtured by society is suggested when Shakespeare mentions that it is his “dear love” that “all alone stands hugely politic.” The alliteration in the phrase “all alone” emphasizes the importance of feeling as does, of course, the verb “hugely,” whilst the adjective “politic” suggests moral rectitude - a characteristic one is capable of possessing regardless of whether he or she is in fact a “child of
For instance, the speaker states that “policy” “works on leases of short-number’d hours,” where the latter statement yet again suggests great volatility. By calling policy a “heretic” in the third quatrain, the speaker also emphasizes its utter lack of loyalty, as well as the dangers it poses. Interestingly, Fortuna is also known to have been declared a false goddess by Christian believers; it may be that the word “heretic” could be a reference to or denunciation of her. The word “heretic,” with its religious associations, also links to the final couplet in which the speaker vilifies “the fools of time” – individuals that live immorally – for their objectives of dying “for goodness” when they “have lived for crime.” The noun “crime” is used to condemn those that engage in duplicitous political warfare, whilst the entire phrase is used to condemn the hypocrites who believe that they can live sinfully and still achieve salvation vis-à-vis last-minute repentance. That it is love for one’s fellow man that is what truly ought to be celebrated and nurtured by society is suggested when Shakespeare mentions that it is his “dear love” that “all alone stands hugely politic.” The alliteration in the phrase “all alone” emphasizes the importance of feeling as does, of course, the verb “hugely,” whilst the adjective “politic” suggests moral rectitude - a characteristic one is capable of possessing regardless of whether he or she is in fact a “child of