Sonnet 8 by Shakespeare

Sonnet 8 is a procreation sonnet by William Shakespeare, urging the young man to whom it is addressed to marry and have children. A comparison is made between the harmony of different instruments in an orchestra, voices in unison (although on "one note" an octave apart) and a harmonious relationship between a family.

The music, which he hears, angers him as it makes him feel worthless living a single life. The last line "Sings this to thee: 'Thou single wilt prove none" implies that he will become nothing having not had children. Singleness cannot make an unison (see sonnet 128 and Fred Blick, reference below). As Blick points out, this sonnet, which in its numbering invokes the union or unison of the octave, is associated with sonnet 128 by the vocative naming of the addressee as "music", but in sonnet 128 harmony in unions/unison is to be achieved by the "kiss", not marriage.

Musical Setting
The sonnet was set to music by Igor Stravinsky in Three Songs from William Shakespeare.

Interpretations

 * Ladysmith Black Mambazo, for the 2002 compilation album, When Love Speaks (EMI Classics)