Sonnet 11

The Case for Posterity

1 As fast as thou shalt wane, so fast thou grow'st,
2 In one of thine, from that which thou departest;
3 And that fresh blood which youngly thou bestow'st,
4 Thou mayst call thine when thou from youth convertest,
5 Herein lives wisdom, beauty, and increase;
6 Without this folly, age, and cold decay:
7 If all were minded so, the times should cease
8 And threescore year would make the world away.
9 Let those whom nature hath not made for store,
10 Harsh, featureless, and rude, barrenly perish:
11 Look, whom she best endow'd, she gave thee more;
12 Which bounteous gift thou shouldst in bounty cherish:
13 She carv'd thee for her seal, and meant thereby,
14 Thou shouldst print more, not let that copy die.

Notes

TLN 145rhetorical device
“Herein lives wisdom, beauty, and increase”
Lines 145-146 set up a deliberate three-against-three contrast: 'wisdom, beauty, and increase' (the goods of reproduction) versus 'folly, age, and cold decay' (the fate of celibacy). This pairing of matching triplets is the rhetorical figure called antithesis, used here to make the procreation argument feel like plain arithmetic.
historical The sonnet form
TLN 149archaic vocab
“Let those whom nature hath not made for store”
'Made for store' means made for the purpose of reproduction — to replenish the world's stock or supply of human beings. The word 'store' carries the sense of a stockpile or reserve that must be kept up. Here the poet introduces a distinction absent from the earlier procreation sonnets: not everyone is equally obliged to reproduce; those whom nature made 'harsh, featureless, and rude' may die without children and no loss is suffered. The beautiful Youth is different.
historical The procreation argument (Sonnets 1-17)
TLN 153rhetorical device
“She carv'd thee for her seal, and meant thereby, Thou shouldst print more, not let that copy die”
A seal was a small carved object — usually of metal or stone — pressed into wax to leave an impression: a signature or mark of authenticity on a letter or document. Nature carved the Youth as such a seal, intending him to press copies of himself into the world through children. A seal that is never used — that leaves no impression — has failed the purpose for which it was made. 'Copy' here means the impression left in wax, but also a manuscript or printed copy: the metaphor moves seamlessly from the seal to the printing press.
historical The procreation argument (Sonnets 1-17)