Shakespeare's sonnet 55 states its mission within the first quatrain: to immortalize the beloved, but, at the poem's completion, the subject is still an ambiguous figure. Even the duality of the language used by the author is cryptic. Many of the images created concern the negative consequences of the passage of time and the terrors of war, while others praise the spirit of the beloved. The compelling images of deteriorating stone and violent war predict the fate of the poet and the beloved, as both will be swept away by death and forgotten memories, but the poet's words will survive.

In the first quatrain, the poem sets out to praise the subject of the poem (whether a friend or lover) most appropriately than marble or gold monuments, which often go uncared for after the entombed have been forgotten. Marble and gold, most often used to display the wealth and...