Chapter 9 — Not Marble nor the Gilded Monuments

The poet is William Shakespeare (1564–1616), born in Stratford-upon-Avon. He is considered one of the greatest dramatists of all time and wrote 154 sonnets in addition to plays and narrative poems.

The central idea is that poetry is more powerful and lasting than physical monuments. Shakespeare claims his "powerful rhyme" will outlive marble and gilded monuments of princes and will preserve the memory of his beloved for all future generations.

"The living record of your memory" refers to the sonnet itself — the poem Shakespeare has written for the person he loves. Unlike stone monuments, this written memory continues to live after death and cannot be destroyed by war or time.

According to Shakespeare, his poem — his "powerful rhyme" — will outlive marble and gilded monuments. The beloved will "shine more bright" in the contents of the verse than in any unswept stone monument tarnished by time.

Shakespeare describes time as "sluttish" (neglectful and destructive), leaving stone monuments unswept and tarnished. Wasteful war overturns statues and broils root out the work of masonry. Even the sword of Mars (the god of war) and war's quick fire are forces of destruction.

The sonnet is a Shakespearean sonnet of 14 lines divided into three quatrains (each a unit of meaning with an abab rhyme scheme) followed by a rhyming couplet. The first quatrain compares poetry to monuments; the second describes the ravages of time and war; the third asserts that the beloved's memory reaches all posterity; the couplet states that the beloved is immortalised in the poem.

The sonnet is addressed to the person the poet loves — his beloved. Shakespeare promises that the beloved's praise will endure even in the eyes of all posterity until the ending doom.

"Gilded monuments" refers to statues and memorials covered with gold or gold-plating, typically erected by rich and powerful princes to preserve their memory. Shakespeare argues that such monuments, despite their grandeur, will not outlive his poetry.

Shakespeare uses personification (Time as "sluttish"; Mars as the god of war), alliteration (to heighten the musical quality of the sonnet), and imagery of decay (unswept stone, tarnished monuments, war-ravaged statues) contrasted with the enduring image of the "living record" of the poem.

The couplet — "So, till the judgment that yourself arise, / You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes" — means that until the Day of Last Judgment (Doomsday), the beloved lives on inside the poem and in the eyes of all who love. The poem grants the beloved effective immortality.

The poet calls time "sluttish" (meaning of unclean habits) because time is portrayed as neglectful and destructive — it leaves stone monuments unswept and tarnished ("besmear'd") rather than caring for them. Time works as a force of decay and oblivion.

Yes. The NCERT Class 10 English Communicative Literature Reader PDF is available free to read and download on cbseprepmaster.com, sourced from the official NCERT publication.