Sonnet 17 by William Shakespeare: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
Sonnet 17 is Shakespeare's heartfelt request to a young man to have children, ensuring that both his beauty and the poet's admiration for it endure.
The poem
Who will believe my verse in time to come, If it were fill’d with your most high deserts? Though yet heaven knows it is but as a tomb Which hides your life, and shows not half your parts. If I could write the beauty of your eyes, And in fresh numbers number all your graces, The age to come would say ‘This poet lies; Such heavenly touches ne’er touch’d earthly faces.’ So should my papers, yellow’d with their age, Be scorn’d, like old men of less truth than tongue, And your true rights be term’d a poet’s rage And stretched metre of an antique song: But were some child of yours alive that time, You should live twice,—in it, and in my rhyme.
Sonnet 17 is Shakespeare's heartfelt request to a young man to have children, ensuring that both his beauty and the poet's admiration for it endure. The speaker fears that without an heir to inherit his looks, his poems will be seen as mere flattery. This sonnet concludes the first set of "procreation sonnets" (1–17) by presenting a compelling dual argument: only through biology and poetry can one truly achieve a form of immortality.
Line-by-line
Who will believe my verse in time to come / If it were filled with your most high deserts?
Though yet heaven knows it is but as a tomb / Which hides your life...
So should my papers, yellowed with their age, / Be scorned, like old men of less truth than tongue...
But were some child of yours alive that time, / You should live twice — in it, and in my rhyme.
Tone & mood
The tone feels both urgent and warm — the speaker truly fears that beauty might fade and that his own art may not measure up. There’s an undercurrent of anxiety (will anyone take me seriously?) that adds an unexpected humility to the flattery. By the last couplet, the mood transforms into something nearly celebratory, providing the young man with a clear, hopeful direction ahead.
Symbols & metaphors
- The tomb — Poetry is referred to as a tomb because it holds only a lifeless representation of the person it depicts. It captures their essence but doesn't genuinely keep them alive — a quietly unsettling thought for a poem that aims to immortalize someone.
- Yellowed papers — The image of aged, discolored manuscripts reflects the fragility of written records. Regardless of the poet's sincerity, the physical decay of the page echoes the gradual fading of both memory and credibility.
- The child — Throughout the procreation sonnets, a child symbolizes biological continuity — a living embodiment of the young man's beauty that readers cannot simply dismiss as poetic fantasy. Here, it serves as the sole piece of evidence that would justify the poet's admiration.
- Living twice — The phrase "live twice" in the couplet highlights the two paths to immortality that Shakespeare examines in sonnets 1–17: nature through reproduction and art through verse. The ideal, complete survival is depicted as having both.
Historical context
Shakespeare probably wrote his sonnets in the 1590s, with publication occurring in 1609. The first 17 sonnets are often called the "procreation sonnets," directed at a handsome young man, encouraging him to marry and have children before his looks fade. Sonnet 17 wraps up that series. For centuries, scholars have debated the identity of this young man, with the main contenders being Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, and William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, both of whom were patrons of Shakespeare. Before their publication, the sonnets were shared in manuscript form among a tight-knit literary group, a typical practice for esteemed poetry of that era. Sonnet 17 marks a turning point: afterward, the sequence moves from urging procreation to suggesting that poetry alone can offer immortality—a notion the speaker still seems to question.
FAQ
The speaker fears that future readers won't believe his poems that praise the young man. He argues that having a child is the only way to prove that his praise is genuine and to ensure the young man's beauty endures in the world.
A tomb holds onto something, but only as a lifeless relic. Shakespeare employs this imagery to acknowledge a limitation of poetry: it can capture beauty, but it can't keep it alive. It's a surprisingly self-critical insight from a poet.
It means the young man achieves survival in two ways: through a child who carries on his appearance (biological immortality) and through the poem itself (artistic immortality). Shakespeare combines both as a comprehensive response to the issue of mortality.
Yes. This is the final sonnet among the first 17, all of which encourage the young man to have children. After Sonnet 17, the focus changes, and Shakespeare begins to argue that poetry alone can provide immortality — which is nearly the opposite of his message here.
Nobody knows for sure. The two names that come up most often are Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton, and William Herbert, the Earl of Pembroke; both were known to support Shakespeare. The sonnets don’t mention a name, just the initials "W.H." in the dedication from 1609.
It adheres to the classic Shakespearean sonnet structure: three quatrains rhyming ABAB CDCD EFEF, and concluding with a couplet that rhymes GG. This couplet usually offers the poem's punchline or resolution, which it effectively achieves here with the "live twice" argument.
Because the young man's beauty is so remarkable that anyone who hasn't seen him will think I'm exaggerating. The speaker fears his verse will be seen like the stories of boastful old men — more like tall tales than genuine accounts.
Time is the relentless enemy woven throughout the poem. Beauty fades, paper yellows, and memories shift — the speaker is racing against all of this. Both the child and the poem are suggested as ways to escape time, but the speaker isn't entirely sure that either can do the job alone.