Perception refers to the process by which the brain interprets and organizes sensory information from the environment. It is the way we understand and make sense of the world around us.
The twilight after sunset as "black night" approaches, which the poet calls "Death’s second self".
The transition from autumn to winter, where "yellow leaves" hang on boughs that "shake against the cold".
Modern English is democratically flat— you works for lover, king, and stranger alike. But thou (and by extension perceiv’st ) signaled intimacy, familiarity, or sometimes condescension. When you say “thou perceiv’st,” you are not addressing a crowd. You are leaning close to a single soul—a friend, a rival, a sleeping beloved, or even your own heart.
In Sonnet 73 , the aging speaker uses a series of metaphors to describe his waning life to a younger beloved. He compares his state to:
Here, thou keep’st echoes perceiv’st —the act of seeing truth is deliberately blocked. If perceiv’st appeared, it would be the moment the lover finally admits: Now thou perceiv’st my self-deceit .