When
I delved into William Shakespeare’s Sonnet
2 I speculated about poem’s assertion that having children was a remedy
against the despair of getting old and dying. As I ponder Sonnet 3 it seems that
Shakespeare is developing this concept further.
Look in thy glass and tell the face thou
viewest,
Now is the time that face should form
another,
Whose fresh repair if now thou not
renewest,
Thou dost beguile the world, unbless
some mother.
For where is she so fair whose uneared
womb
Disdains the tillage of thy husbandry?
Or who is he so fond will be the tomb
Of his self-love, to stop posterity?
Thou art thy mother’s glass, and she in
thee
Calls back the lovely April of her
prime;
So thou through windows of thine age
shalt see,
Despite of wrinkles, this thy golden
time.
But if thou live remembered not to be,
Die single and thine image dies with
thee.
Here we have a
look at the connection and opposition between sex and death or creation and
destruction. This often talked and written about association runs through several
of the world’s cultures in the form of religion, literature, art, etc. Several centuries later, Freud, who did not
originate, but developed this theory extensively, argued that this was a natural,
built - in part of the human psyche. I am somewhat skeptical of Feud’s claim
though I do not completely disregard the possibility. Either way it seems that Shakespeare
has tapped into and has built an aesthetic castle based upon this ubiquities
concept.
In the above, the
“tillage of thy husbandry” stands a defense against “the tomb Of his self-love.” The act of procreation is life’s compensation
for the cold reality of human mortality. By having children, the object of the
verse can triumph over the inevitable. Here Shakespeare seems to be
illustrating that procreation is stronger then death.
Shakespeare conveys all this with language and imagery that is sublime. Of
course one can put aside all the theorizing and speculation and just enjoy the
words. I cannot wait to take a close look at more of these little aesthetic
gems.
My commentary on the additional Sonnets:
