Sonnet 67
Ah! wherefore with infection should he live,
beauty
corruption
authenticity
nature
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 steal dead seeing 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.
What It Means
Why must the young man live in a corrupt world? His beauty and genuineness make the world around him look worse, not better. The world profits from him: it borrows his beauty to dress up its own poverty. His rose-cheeks are the standard against which fake cosmetics are measured. Shakespeare asks why nature would allow this — why keep original beauty alive in a world that only uses it as a reference for imitation.
Context
Part of the Fair Youth sequence, connected to the corruption themes of Sonnet 66.
Buy the Arden edition of the Sonnets on Amazon →
As an Amazon Associate, ShakespeareGo earns from qualifying purchases.