As fast as thou shalt wane, so fast thou grow’st,
In one of thine, from that which thou departest;
And that fresh blood which youngly thou bestow’st,
Thou mayst call thine when thou from youth convertest,
Herein lives wisdom, beauty, and increase;
Without this folly, age, and cold decay:
If all were minded so, the times should cease
And threescore year would make the world away.
Let those whom nature hath not made for store,
Harsh, featureless, and rude, barrenly perish:
Look, whom she best endow’d, she gave thee more;
Which bounteous gift thou shouldst in bounty cherish:
She carv’d thee for her seal, and meant thereby,
Thou shouldst print more, not let that copy die.
In plain English
As you age and decline, you'll grow young again through your children—passing on the vitality you have now to them. When you're old, you can call that fresh blood your own because it carries you forward. This is how wisdom, beauty, and life itself continue. Without children, you're left with only folly, age, and decay.
If everyone thought this way, humanity would never move forward—we'd run out of time itself. But nature didn't make everyone for reproduction; the ugly, crude, and weak can die without issue. Nature blessed *you* above most, and you have a duty to use that gift generously by having children.
You're nature's masterpiece, her signature seal. You're meant to print copies of yourself, not let the original be the last one.
