Shakespearean Sonnet #30

I'm questioning in which section of his life does Shakespeare describe within the following sonnet:

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,
And weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanish'd sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoanèd moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kain D.

I'm questioning in which section of his life does Shakespeare describe within the following sonnet:

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,
And weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanish'd sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoanèd moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end.

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Clearly the speaker has lived long enough to regret what he has lost - the sonnet speaks of someone past youth who has matured enough to not only lose people, but to realize the depth of his loss. My vote is for middle age.

I can't help but think about the death of Hamnet. That's my interpretation. He died in 1596. When Will wrote it? Sometime between 1592 and 1599 or so is when I think the Sonnets were written. Nearer Venus and Adonis is more likely for the sonnets in general. So Will is 28-35. That's middle aged for an Elizabethan.

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