Sonnet 3

Song Meaning

This sonnet opens with a direct command: "Look in thy glass." The speaker urges the subject to confront their reflection, not just to see their current appearance, but to recognize the urgent need to "form another." It's a stark reminder that time is passing, and the face in the mirror should be actively creating a legacy, a continuation of self. Failure to do so, the lyrics suggest, is a form of deception against the world and a denial of future joy to a potential mother. The central tension lies in the conflict between self-preservation, or perhaps self-absorption, and the imperative of procreation. The speaker poses rhetorical questions, highlighting the unlikelihood of anyone being so beautiful as to refuse the "tillage of thy husbandry" or so self-obsessed as to make themselves the "tomb / Of his self-love." This frames the act of not having children as a profound selfishness, a wilful stopping of the natural flow of life and lineage. The most striking craft element is the extended metaphor of the "glass." The subject's mother is their "glass," reflecting her own past "April of her prime" in their features. This suggests that the subject, in turn, can become a "glass" for their own future self, allowing them to "see / Despite of wrinkles, this thy golden time." It’s a powerful image of intergenerational connection and the enduring nature of beauty and memory, provided it is passed on. Ultimately, the lyrics drive home their point with a chilling final couplet. The choice to remain unremembered, to "Die single," means that one's "image dies with thee." This isn't just about physical death; it's about the erasure of one's essence, the loss of a reflection in the future. The effectiveness comes from this blunt, almost contractual, framing of life's purpose – fulfill your biological and social duty, or face oblivion.