Sonnet 6

Then let not winters wragged hand deface,

In thee thy summer ere thou be distil'd:

Make sweet some viall; treasure thou some place,

With beauties treasure ere it be selfe kil'd:

That use is not forbidden usery,

Which happies those that pay the willing lone;

That's for thy selfe to breed an other thee,

Or ten times happier be it ten for one,

Ten times thy selfe were happier then thou art,

If ten of thine ten times refigur'd thee,

Then what could death doe if thou should'st depart,

Leaving thee living in posterity?

Be not selfe-wild for thou art much too faire,

To be deaths conquest and make wormes thine heire.

Commentary

Address to a fair young man encouraging him to procreate

The first quatrain launches into the metaphor of distilling perfumes from flowers, urging the young man to make a distillation of his essence before winter (old age) comes along and destroys all.

The second quatrain argues that there is no usury if the borrowers are happy to pay the interest on their loan, in fact that the higher the interest (ten for one, or ten percent) the better. Do you get the feeling that the ground is shifting under our feet?

The third quatrain continues with the false mathematics, but the sense is clear, the more of you that you can make, the better. Fear death and propagate.

The final couplet asks the young man not to be stubborn for he is far too fair to be conquered by death and have worms as his heirs.

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