Sonnet 13

Sonnet 13
Sonnet 13 in the 1609 Quarto

Q1



Q2



Q3



C

O, that you were yourself! but, love, you are
No longer yours than you yourself here live:
Against this coming end you should prepare,
And your sweet semblance to some other give.
So should that beauty which you hold in lease
Find no determination; then you were
Yourself again, after yourself’s decease,
When your sweet issue your sweet form should bear.
Who lets so fair a house fall to decay,
Which husbandry in honour might uphold
Against the stormy gusts of winter’s day
And barren rage of death’s eternal cold?
O, none but unthrifts: dear my love, you know
You had a father; let your son say so.




4



8



12

14

—William Shakespeare

Sonnet 13 is one of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is a procreation sonnet within the Fair Youth sequence.

In the sonnet, the speaker declares his admiration and love for the beauty of youth, but warns this figure of youth that he will lose it if he doesn't revitalize himself through offspring. The primary arguments made in this procreation sonnet are the maintenance of self-identity and duty to one's own heritage. His tone throughout the sonnet is intimate, highlighting the theme of affection for youth that is prevalent in the first seventeen sonnets.

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