Sunday 24 January 2010

Shakespeare's Sonnet Sunday: Sonnet 3


Look in thy glass and tell the face thou viewest
Now is the time that face should form another;
Whose fresh repair if now thou not renewest,
Thou dost beguile the world, unbless some mother.
For where is she so fair whose unear'd womb
Disdains the tillage of thy husbandry?
Or who is he so fond will be the tomb
Of his self-love, to stop posterity?
Thou art thy mother's glass and she in thee
Calls back the lovely April of her prime;
So thou through windows of thine age shalt see,
Despite of wrinkles this thy golden time.
But if thou live, remember'd not to be,
Die single and thine image dies with thee.




What do I get from this sonnet? Its a continuation of Sonnet1 and 2.

  1.  Look in the mirror, whose face do you see?
  2.  You should make offspring that look like you.
  3.  If you don't work at making yourself look beautiful,
  4.  You cheat the world and some mother that could give birth.
  5.  Where is this woman that won't have sex with you,
  6.  who hates the thought of being a wife?
  7.  Who is foolish to love death
  8.  or his selfishness to forget carrying on his lineage?
  9.  You look just like your mother...
  10.  when she was young.
  11.  You can see now with your eyes,
  12.  what she was like back then even though she has wrinkles - a beauty.
  13.  But if you live, determined not to be remembered,
  14. then you will die childless, and your beauty will die with you. 
Maybe not a literal translation. All I can say about it is: Good grief, man, have a child already, how hard can it be?

Shakespeare, William. Sonnet 3. Ed. Amanda Mabillard. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2000. (date when you accessed the information) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/3detail.html >.

12 comments:

Emma Michaels said...

I love your translation! Great post.

Unknown said...

LOL... I love the view you gave us!!! Too funny! Excellent post!

Ann Elle Altman said...

Emma and Jen, thanks so much for reading and liking. I'm learning a lot about Shakespeare...maybe more than I want to know. I'll be an expert by the end of the last sonnet.

Tony, thanks for the award, I will send it off tomorrow with some truths about me.

Bisi Adjapon said...

Funny! I love your simple: Good grief, man, have a child already!

Ann Elle Altman said...

I mean, how many poems does this Shakespeare guy have to write to you before you get the hint. Stop looking in the mirror and look at your wife!

ann

Tina DC Hayes said...

Gotta love your Sonnet Sundays! And I think you're right. The guy Shakespeare was talking about should get to the baby making already! :)

I also picked up that the person in question might be too stuck on himself to choose a wife, and that the one he's leaning toward might not be so fond of him.

Ann Elle Altman said...

Tina, yeah, I agree with you. The guy he's making reference to, I discussed in the previous week's sonnet blog but I think eventually he married.

ann

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Oooh, wonderful translation. I really like it!
:)

(Very thought-provoking, too!)
Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

Ann Elle Altman said...

Elizabeth, not one of my funniest but it's as accurate as I can figure it. Maybe Shakespeare was bored with his life and his wife, so he thought he'd go after others. Who knows.

ann

TirzahLaughs said...

He really pushed the kids didn't he? LOL.

Look at your mother and see your future. She looks at you and see's her youth. If you don't marry and have kids, you're 'face' or your genes will die with you.

Mmm.

I will not look at El Madre too closely. She has her teeth out and I don't want that in my future.

LOL.

T

Anonymous said...

Ann! I'm loving these posts. Each Sunday I find it a bit easier to understand the lines. I almost translated it this time. (Missed a few key points.)

Thanks for doing this!! I've always wanted to take the time for Shakespeare and haven't got around to it until you.

Did Shakespeare have children?

Corra

from the desk of a writer

Ann Elle Altman said...

Tirz, glad you found it funny.

Corra, that's a good question about the kids, I will do research.

ann