ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, Stol’n on his wing my three-and-twentieth year! My hasting days fly on with full career, But my late spring no bud or blossom shew’th.

Detailed explanation-2: -This poem starts on a tragic note with John looking in retrospect at his years gone by, with his accomplishments running thin as opposed to years usurped. His belief in God remains shaky as his two poems indicate, furthered along by existential crisis externally.

Detailed explanation-3: -Sonnet 7 compares human life to the passage of the sun ("gracious light") from sunrise to sunset. The sun’s rising in the morning symbolizes the young man’s youthful years: Just as we watch the “sacred majesty” of the ever-higher sun, so too does the poet view the youth.