From fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauty’s rose might never die,
But as the riper should by time decrease,
His tender heir mught bear his memeory:
But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes,
Feed’st thy light’st flame with self-substantial fuel,
Making a famine where abundance lies,
Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.
Thou that art now the world’s fresh ornament
And only herald to the gaudy spring,
Within thine own bud buriest thy content
And, tender churl, makest waste in niggarding.
Pity the world, or else this glutton be,
To eat the world’s due, by the grave and thee.
Sonnet 1 in modern English
We want all beautiful creatures to reproduce themselves so that beauty’s flower will not die out; but as an old man dies in time, he leaves a young heir to carry on his memory. But you, concerned only with your own beautiful eyes, feed the bright light of life with self-regarding fuel, making beauty shallow by your preoccupation with your looks. In this you are your own enemy, being cruel to yourself. You who are the world’s most beautiful ornament and the chief messenger of spring, are burying your gifts within yourself And, dear selfish one, because you decline to reproduce, you are actually wasting that beauty. Take pity on the world or else be the glutton who devours, with the grave, what belongs to the world.
Watch Sir Patrick Stewart read Shakespeare’s sonnet 1
The 1609 Quarto sonnet 1 version
From faireſt creatures we deſire increaſe,
That thereby beauties Roſe might neuer die,
But as the riper ſhould by time deceaſe,
His tender heire might beare his memory:
But thou contracted to thine owne bright eyes,
Feed’ſt thy lights flame with ſelfe ſubſtantiall fewell,
Making a famine where aboundance lies,
Thy ſelfe thy foe,to thy ſweet ſelfe too cruell:
Thou that art now the worlds freſh ornament,
And only herauld to the gaudy ſpring,
Within thine owne bud burieſt thy content,
And tender chorle makſt waſt in niggarding:
Pitty the world,or elſe this glutton be,
To eate the worlds due,by the graue and thee.
See the British Library’s 1609 Quarto.
I admire this charming translation because it conveys precisely and beautifully the spirit and beauty of the original sonnet.
10 years later
i love this beatifull sonnet, shakespeare is legend in love.
I think this sonnet is calling me ugly.
Yes it is
Is this sonnet a rape threat…?
Its definitely a rape threat
Who is this poem directed to?
i love this sonnet,
)))
:)
I can’t decide if this sonnet is a rape threat or if it’s just very patronizing and borderline misogynist.
Like and love to amoung the beautiful coz if u miss out it’s nolonger beautiful
Some posit that the sonnets were written for a young man.
The poem is directed to a male (known as “Fair Youth”). Sonnets 1-17 are referred to as the Procreation Sonnets because of his encouragement of the Fair Youth to marry and father children. So… I’d say it’s neither?
I was taught that Shakespeare was commissioned to write sonnets for a nobleman’s son who loved poetry, and that this sonnet was encouraging him to find a wife and stop masturbating.
What I hate about the whole beauty is that what makes it beautiful
The pure mixing with impurities
That’s just not how I read it. I see the first line as being about the phenomenon where if someone is remarkable then we just set higher standards for them, want more and more; like with the rare truly earnest famous artist who inevitably dies tragically under the pressure. The second is because it’s normal to crave this. But people only live so long, be patient, relax, maybe time will preserve his essence. Then I think he’s talking to the subject directly (which would make sense to due in a subtle way considering the times) and he’s lamenting how this fair creature is confined to his own perspective, ensnared by his own “bright eyes.” He’s on this positive feedback cycle of self-hatred, his only enemy being his own “sweet self” to whom he is “too cruel.” He’s got his whole life ahead of him, he’s gifted and lovely, but he chooses to retreat inside himself and shy away, trapped by analysis paralysis. Then the translation is perfect, “Take pity on the world or else be the glutton who devours, with the grave, what belongs to the world.”
Great for teenagers nowadays who feel they have the weight of the world resting on them.