Sonnet 15 by Shakespeare

Shakespeare's Sonnet 15, a procreation sonnet, is a reflection on the destruction of Time and Decay, and its effect on the young man to whom the sonnet is addressed. As Shakespeare explains, men, like plants, stay in a perfect state for only a brief period. In the couplet Shakespeare says that he will wage war on time and, besides urging him to marry (and thus "immortalize" himself through having children), he will make the young man live on through his verse.

Interpretations

 * Marianne Jean-Baptiste, for the 2002 compilation album, When Love Speaks (EMI Classics)