1 O that you were your self, but love you are
Oh that you were only yourself—but you are bound by love, If only you could be just yourself, but you're bound to something greater— you're bound to love
2 No longer yours, than you yourself here live,
Not longer your own than you remain alive here. you don't belong to yourself—you belong to the world as long as you live. you belong to the world
3 Against this coming end you should prepare,
Against your coming death you should prepare, Before you die, you need to prepare— before you die, prepare
4 And your sweet semblance to some other give.
And give your beautiful likeness to someone else. and pass on your beauty to another. give your beauty to someone
5 So should that beauty which you hold in lease
So that the beauty you hold as a temporary lease That way the beauty you're only borrowing the beauty you borrowed lease: temporary possession
6 Find no determination, then you were
Would have no end, then you would be wouldn't end when you die—you would be wouldn't die with you
7 Yourself again after yourself’s decease,
Yourself again after your own death, yourself again even after you've died, you'd live again after death
8 When your sweet issue your sweet form should bear.
When your children carry forward your beautiful form. living on in your child's face and body. through your children's faces
Volta Shifts from describing beauty as a temporary possession to offering the solution: 'issue' (children) ensures the self survives your body's death.
9 Who lets so fair a house fall to decay,
Who would let such a beautiful house fall into ruin, What fool lets such a gorgeous building crumble, letting beauty decay house: body, dwelling place
10 Which husbandry in honour might uphold,
Which careful management could preserve with honor, when careful care could keep it standing beautifully, when you could save it
11 Against the stormy gusts of winter’s day
Against the violent storms of winter against winter's harsh winds against time's storms
12 And barren rage of death’s eternal cold?
And the barren fury of eternal death's cold? and death's freezing emptiness? and death itself
13 O none but unthrifts, dear my love you know,
Oh, none but spendthrifts would do this, dear love, you know, Only a wasteful person would, my love—you know that, only wasteful people do this
14 You had a father, let your son say so.
You had a father; let your son say the same. You had a father who gave you life; let your son say you did the same. you had a father, so be one