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SONNET 3Look in thy glass, and tell the face thou viewestNow 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 unear'd 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 shall see Despite of wrinkles this thy golden time. But if thou live, remember'd not to be, Die single, and thine image dies with thee. Notes The general subject is continued from Sonnets 1 and 2, with the poet presenting a new argument as to why his young friend should start a family. The young man need only look at his own mother to see how important his youth and beauty are to her, as a constant reminder of "the lovely April of her prime" (10). The poet urges the young man to let another woman experience this joy, by having his children, and he too will benefit from seeing in his child his former "golden time" (12). fresh repair (3): healthy state. beguile (4): cheat. unear'd (5): unploughed (the friend has yet to plant his seed). fond (7): foolish. glass (9): mirror. remember'd not to be (13): i.e., simply to be forgotten. Paraphrase of Sonnet 3 in Contemporary English How to cite this article:______ Even More...  Stratford School Days: What Did Shakespeare Read? Games in Shakespeare's England [A-L] Games in Shakespeare's England [M-Z] An Elizabethan Christmas Clothing in Elizabethan England Queen Elizabeth: Shakespeare's Patron King James I of England: Shakespeare's Patron The Earl of Southampton: Shakespeare's Patron Going to a Play in Elizabethan London Ben Jonson and the Decline of the Drama Publishing in Elizabethan England Shakespeare's Audience Religion in Shakespeare's England Alchemy and Astrology in Shakespeare's Day Entertainment in Elizabethan England London's First Public Playhouse Shakespeare Hits the Big Time
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