The procreation sonnets are
Shakespeare's sonnets numbers
1 through
17.
Although Sonnet 15 does not directly refer to procreation, the single-minded urgings in the previous sonnets, may suggest to the reader that procreation is intended in the last line: "I engraft you new". Sonnet 16 continues the thought and makes clear that engrafting refers to recreating the young man in "barren rhyme". Sonnet 16 goes on to urge the youth to marry and have children.
They are referred to as the ''procreation sonnets'' because they encourage the
young man they address to marry and father children. In these sonnets, Shakespeare's speaker several times suggests that the child will be a copy of the young man, who will therefore live on through his child.
The actual historical identity, if any, of the young man is a mystery; two candidates that have received the most consideration are
Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, (pronunciation uncertain: "Rezley", "Rizely" (archaic), (present-day) and have been suggested; 6 October 1573 – 10 November 1624) was the only son of Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of S ...
; and
William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke.
Sonnet 18
"Sonnet 18" is one of the best-known of the 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare.
In the sonnet, the speaker asks whether he should compare the Fair Youth to a summer's day, but notes that he has qua ...
("Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?") turns away from the theme of procreation and introduces a new and greater perspective, in which the speaker of the sonnets begins to express his own devotion to the young man.
References
Sources
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Procreation Sonnets
Procreation
Sonnet studies