What does the poet claim to be most important in sonnet 2?
Answers
The Shakespeare sonnet that begins 'When forty winters shall besiege thy brow' is sonnet 2 of 154, and the second in a series of 'Procreation Sonnets'. It's a poem about ageing, and about the benefits of having children – continuing the argument begun in the previous sonnet.
The Shakespeare sonnet that begins ‘When forty winters shall besiege thy brow’ is sonnet 2 of 154, and the second in a series of ‘Procreation Sonnets’.
Sonnet 2 sees Shakespeare pleading with the ‘Fair Youth’ to beget children and pass on his beauty, much as in the previous sonnet. But here he focuses on the ageing process: when you are forty years old and wrinkles have begun to show on your skin (the language taking on a military flavor: time being likened to an army that will ‘besiege’ the Youth’s forehead and will ‘dig deep trenches in thy beauty’s field’), then the beauty the Youth now boasts (likened to ‘proud livery’ – i.e. bright and colorful servants’ uniform) will be reduced to a tattered old piece of clothing (‘weed’ here referring to a garment) that nobody will admire.
The poet claims to be the most important thing in Sonnet 2 is Beauty and about benefits of having children.
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