Shakespeare begins his sonnets with one that acknowledges beauty and the responsibility that comes with it. The speaker is urging the reader to procreate and spread his beauty. The reader is the most beautiful one in the land and the speaker is telling him it is only right to have children. Without children his beauty can not continue and that would be a shame. The speaker even goes so far as to say hoarding his beauty and taking it to the grave with him is greedy. I'm not sure if Shakespeare truly believes this individual is beautiful or if he is playing with the readers emotions to gain favor. Either way I feel this poem is very shallow. It's not selfish to hoard one's beauty by not having kids. The reader has his choice to procreate or not, but I feel the speaker is urging him to do so without fully understanding the responsibility it gives the reader. Children are not meant to grow up only to spread one's beauty, but to be loved. Life isn't about beauty, but about what one can give to society.
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