Sonnet 2

When fortie Winters shall besiege thy brow,

And digge deep trenches in thy beauties field,

Thy youthes proud livery so gaz'd on now,

Wil be a totter'd weed of smal worth held:


Then being askt, where all thy beautie lies,

Where all the treasure of thy lusty daies;

To say within thine owne deepe sunken eyes,

Were an all-eating shame, and thriftlesse praise.


How much more praise deserv'd thy beauties use,

If thou couldst answere this faire child of mine

Shall sum my count, and make my old excuse

Prooving his beautie by succession thine.


This were to be new made when thou art ould,

And see thy blood warme, when thou feel'st it could.

Commentary

Address to a young man encouraging him to procreate

The first quatrain sets out a military metaphor: 'besiege', 'dig deep trenches', 'field', 'livery'. The sense is simple, when you are forty, your good looks will be held of little worth.

The second quatrain imagines people asking at a later time 'where is your beauty? where is the treasure of your lusty days?' To tell them that your beauty is in your 'deepe sunken eyes' would be shameful, would serve no purpose.

The third quatrain imagines the situation if the young man has produced offspring to whom he can point, showing the issue of 'beauties use' and evidencing his own beauty at the same age.

The final couplet indicates the reward of so acting: to be 'new made when thou art ould' and to 'see thy blood warme, when thou feel'st it could.'