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. Sonnet 6 . (original language, but moderately updated) 01. Then let not winter's ragged hand deface 02. In thee thy summer ere thou be distill'd: 03. Make sweet some vial; treasure thou some place 04. With beauty's treasure ere it be self-kill'd: 05. That use is not forbidden usury, 06. Which happies those that pay the willing loan; 07. That's for thyself to breed another thee, 08. Or ten times happier be it ten for one, 09. Ten times thyself were happier than thou art, 10. If ten of thine ten times refigured thee, 11. Then what could death do if thou shouldst depart, 12. Leaving thee living in posterity? 13. Be not self-will'd for thou art much too fair, 14. To be death's conquest and make worms thine heir. |
. Sonnet 6 . (paraphrased) 01. Then, don't let winter's rough hand spoil 02. Your prime, within you, before you are preserved; 03. Enrich some small "container" of your beauty, a child; make some place valuable 04. With the treasure of beauty, before your beauty ends because of your own negligence; 05. "Lending" your beauty to your child is not a forbidden kind of lending, 06. As it will make you happy, to make the free "loan," of beauty; 07. The "loan" is really to yourself, to breed another you, 08. Or, to be ten times happier, and luckier, make it ten children, with one parent, you. 09. Ten times "yourself" would be happier, and luckier, than you are alone, and 10. If ten children of yours each had ten children, reproducing you, 11. Then, death would accomplish nothing, when you die, 12. Because you would "live" in your posterity. 13. Don't be only self-centered, because you're much too fair, 14. To be defeated by death, and leave your beauty only to the worms. |
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Sonnet 6 Gloss
L1: Then - This Sonnet was written to follow Sonnet 5, so it begins with a word of continuation. L1: ragged = rough. (Note, to the right.) L1: deface = spoil; disfigure. Also literal "de-face" - remove the face (of youth.) L2: summer = prime of life; time of greatest beauty. Summer is also the vigorous season. L2: distilled = preserved. (Note, to the right.) L3: Make sweet = enrich. L3: vial = a small container for an essence. Refers to a child, an heir, who would be a "small container" for the addressee's essence of beauty. L3: treasure = make treasured. "Treasure thou some place" = Make some place valued. L4: self-kill'd - Not a reference to suicide, but rather an end because of negligence. L5: usury = lending. L6: pay = pay out. (Not the usual meaning of "pay back.") L6: willing = freely given. It isn't usury to lend for free. There's a hint of "will" as in "last will and testament." Further, "will" can be understood as "desire." So, "willing loan" = desirable loan. L7: That's for thyself = it's a loan to yourself. L8: ten - Traditionally, interest charged at ten percent or more was considered usurious, thus, the significance of the number. L8 & L9: happier - Both more cheerful, and luckier. L10: refigured = reproduced. Also implies "duplicated." There's wordplay on the concept of a recalculation. L12: living = essentially existing. L13: self-will'd = self centered. There's the suggestion of last will and testament, which implies the Poet saying, "don't leave your beauty to yourself in your will." |
Sonnet 6 Notes
L1: ragged = rough. Raises the idea of the face becoming like old, ragged, unattractive clothes. The word "ragged," in heraldry, is the same as the term "raguly," which refers to a "sawtooth" pattern. A saw is used to cut away things, or more generally speaking, to remove things. The heraldic term deserves consideration since Shakespeare displayed an interest in heraldry in his writings. L2: distilled = preserved. There is also the idea of "dropped," like a dead leaf from a tree. A distillation is a "drop," (from the root meaning of "distill,") and also a fall is a "drop." The phrase "ere thou be distill'd," itself, can be read as "before you are dropped" (like a leaf from a tree.) Further, "distilled" can be understood as "no longer," from the use of "still" to mean "always." For that, "dis-till" can be read, poetically, as "not always." The addressee will be "not always," i.e. there will come a time when he is "no longer" and is gone. "Distilled" is a fairly ordinary word, but the way Shakespeare used it, it can be viewed in three different ways, and it still makes sense in the Sonnet. |
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