Sonnet 13 Analysis

Sonnet 13 is one of the procreation sonnets, Sonnets from 1 to 17 are called procreation sonnets cause the speaker encourages the young man to have children who would inherit his beauty.In the first line of this quatrain, he questions what sort of man would let his beautiful house to "fall to decay" and destruction. Further to this, a well-maintained house is supposed to offer warmth and protection to its inhabitants from the ravages of winter. Similarly, the young man should maintain his beauty and protect it against aging and death. The second line of the quatrain "which husbandry in honour might uphold" indicates that this beautiful house which refers to the beauty of the young man can only be well managed and can resist against the destruction of time which is symbolised in the "stormy gusts of winter's day" by making an honourable marriage.As he extends his advice to the young man, the speaker uses a metaphor which appears in his use of the term "lease". This term refers to owning a property for a temporary period of time. Hence, the speaker tends to remind the young man that his beauty which he possesses now is leased to him for a short period of time. Therefore, in order for this beauty to find no "determination" which means "end", the young man is urged to replicate his beauty in a child since his "sweet issue" that means his "child" is expected to inherit the "sweet form" of his father.