Uploaded October 2021 | Updated September 2026, 7 hours ago
Sonnet 6 refers to winter as old age, and summer, as youth. These are diametrically opposed.
The poet begs the young man not to die childless — "ere thou be distill'd" — without first making "sweet some vial." Here, "distill'd" recalls the summer flowers from Sonnet 5; "vial," referring to the bottle in which perfume is kept, is an image for a woman whom the young man will sexually love, but "vial" can also refer to the child of that sexual union. Ten children, the poet declares, will generate ten times the image of their father and ten times the happiness of only one child.
The poet strongly condemns the young man's narcissism in this sonnet by linking it with death.
Sonnet 6 refers to winter as old age, and summer, as youth. These are diametrically opposed.
The poet begs the young man not to die childless — "ere thou be distill'd" — without first making "sweet some vial." Here, "distill'd" recalls the summer flowers from Sonnet 5; "vial," referring to the bottle in which perfume is kept, is an image for a woman whom the young man will sexually love, but "vial" can also refer to the child of that sexual union. Ten children, the poet declares, will generate ten times the image of their father and ten times the happiness of only one child.
The poet strongly condemns the young man's narcissism in this sonnet by linking it with death.
