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. Sonnet 13 . (original language, but moderately updated) 01. O that you were yourself, but love you are 02. No longer yours, than you yourself here live, 03. Against this coming end you should prepare, 04. And your sweet semblance to some other give. 05. So should that beauty which you hold in lease 06. Find no determination, then you were 07. Yourself again after yourself's decease, 08. When your sweet issue your sweet form should bear. 09. Who lets so fair a house fall to decay, 10. Which husbandry in honour might uphold 11. Against the stormy gusts of winter's day 12. And barren rage of death's eternal cold? 13. O none but unthrifts, dear my love you know 14. You had a father, let your son say so. |
. Sonnet 13 . (paraphrased) 01. Oh, if you were only your own property, forever, but loved one, you are 02. Your own no longer than you, yourself, are alive; 03. Against your approaching death, you should prepare, 04. And lend your sweet likeness to another, a child, 05. So the beauty which you have borrowed, from Mother Nature, would 06. Have no end, no boundary; then you would be 07. Your own again, after your own death, 08. When your own sweet child bears your own sweet form; 09. Who allows so fine a dwelling, in fact and in prospect, to be lost to decay? 10. When management, and becoming a husband, would uphold it in honor, 11. Against the tempestuous rushes of winter season, and the winter of life, 12. And against any childless vexation, because of death's eternal cold; 13. O none but prodigals would do so, my dear loved one, as you know, and 14. You know you had a father, so have a son who can say the same. |
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Sonnet 13 Gloss
L1: yourself = your own, i.e. your own owner. One's self is one's "own." The idea of "not your own" leads to the word "lease" in line 5. L2: here - Here on earth, in the natural world, the world of the living. L4: semblance = likeness. L5: should = would. "Should" is used to convey the imperative. L5: hold in lease = borrow. L6: determination = end; termination date. (Note, to the right.) L6: were = would be. L8: sweet - Like a lovely flower. In connection with the "flower" concept, the line is reminiscent of Venus and Adonis. A flower grew where Adonis died. L8: issue = child. L9: lets = allows. (Note, to the right.) L9: fair = handsome; attractive; grand. L9: house = manor; a family home, a dwelling. (Note, to the right.) L9: fall = decline, be lost, disappear. L10: husbandry = management; and obviously suggests becoming a husband. L10: honour - (Note, to the right.) L11: stormy = tempestuous. The word "tempestuous" is probably the best equivalent in relation to the Poet's vocabulary, because of the play The Tempest. L11: winter's day = old age. It has a literal implication for the idea of keeping a family home in good repair. L12: barren = childless; also 'bleak.' L12: rage = vexation. The word "vexation" comes from a root meaning "shake." Shakespeare undoubtedly knew that, about the root of "vex," as well as I do. It makes "vexation" a good equivalent. L13: unthrifts = prodigals. The "prodigal son" concept applies. L13: you know - (Note, to the right.) |
Sonnet 13 Notes
L6: determination = end; termination date. The word also suggests "delimitation," "boundary." In connection with "termination date," the word "Find" at the start of the line can be heard to pun with "fined," in the old legal sense of "ended," "concluded." That is not to suggest that "Find" actually takes a meaning of "fined," rather, the pun makes "Find" a compatible word usage, within the poetry. L9: lets = allows. The word usage is compatible with "let" as in 'rent" or "lease." Again, "lets" does not actually take the meaning of "rents," it's another compatible word usage, in the general way. L9: house = manor; a family home, a dwelling. The word "house" implies three meanings in this case. It can be taken to refer to the body, the house of the soul, where the spirit dwells during life. The addressee cannot preserve his own "house," his own body, forever, but he can "rebuild" it by having a son who would resemble him. Then, "house" can be taken to refer to family lineage. For example, the "house" of the Earl of Pembroke would be the family lineage of that Earl. Altogether, "house" is a profound word with a triple meaning. First, the Poet is advising the addressee to rebuild his personal "house," of his soul, by having a son who resembles him. Second, the addressee should be a family man, living in a family house, and not let the idea of that family home decay away. Third, the addressee should preserve his family lineage for the future. L10: honour "Honour" is a difficult word to translate into modern English, because the concept was more urgent in the Poet's time. Those were days when duels to the death were fought over points of honor. The word is stronger than it may look to a modern reader. Additionally, in law, an "honor" was a conditional use of property which reverted to the monarch if there were no heir. This relates to the concept. in this group of Sonnets, of an heir being necessary to "retain the addressee's estate of beauty," so to speak. If the addressee has no heir, Nature (the ruler,) will take back all the addressee's "property" of beauty. L13: you know The Sonnet is written so that "you know" is a dual-use phrase, which goes with either line 13, or line 14. That is, the lines can be read either -- Line 13: 'None but prodigals do so, as you know.' or -- Line 14: '(You know) you had a father...' The ambiguity of "you know" is intentional. The effect is shown by repeating the phrase, in the paraphrase above. |
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