Ah! wherefore with infection should he live,
And with his presence grace impiety,
That sin by him advantage should achieve,
And lace itself with his society?
Why should false painting imitate his cheek,
And steel dead seeming of his living hue?
Why should poor beauty indirectly seek
Roses of shadow, since his rose is true?
Why should he live, now Nature bankrupt is,
Beggar’d of blood to blush through lively veins?
For she hath no exchequer now but his,
And proud of many, lives upon his gains.
O! him she stores, to show what wealth she had
In days long since, before these last so bad.
In plain English
Why should this beautiful young man have to live among corruption and fakeness? His mere presence lends dignity to vice, and false people benefit from being near him. Counterfeit beauty tries to copy his face, stealing the appearance of his natural glow. Why should lesser beauties chase artificial roses when he embodies the real thing?
He's forced to exist in a world where Nature herself has gone broke. She's exhausted her reserves—she can no longer produce the vital blood and flush of youth in anyone else. He's her only remaining treasure, the last proof of her former wealth and generative power.
Nature keeps him like a museum piece, a display of what she could once create freely. These modern times are so degraded that she can only show off what she made in better days by pointing to him.
