Sonnet Numero Uno

The central idea of this particular sonnet is that Mr. WH, in being so very attractive, is doing a diservice and quite nearly a crime unto the world by not having children. Of course, this is a bit odd and I feel we have to consider the motives of William Shakespeare's employers: the boy's parents. Perhaps they want him to have children in the hopes of the continuation of this, most likely, wealthy lineage. While Shakespeare effectively drives this sentiment home with the tone of this sonnet, the idea presented is that the boy must procreate at all costs. This would undoubtedly give the boy quite an ego and from a parents prospective I'm not sure if that was the original aim. Shakespeare uses a few very effective contrasts toward the end of the sonnet as he writes of feast and famine and eventually heralds (nearly angelic) and churls (meisers). Overall another beautiful poem, not one of my favorites, but one that effectively presents a concise set of ideas, within the restrictive Elizabethan sonnet form.