Reflection for Sonnet 1

In the first sonnet, Shakespeare puts a lot of oxymoron's next to each other. He writes about making famine where abundance lies, to thy sweet self too cruel, and tender churl. All of these contradict each other. There should not be famine where there is abundance, sweet and cruel are opposites, as is a tender churl (where churl means miser). Shakespeare might be trying to show how the young man is so lovely and great, but it is horrible that he is not having children. He also states how the boy is making waste in hoarding. This probably references how he is hoarding his beauty by not continuing his genes in a child. Shakespeare is probably trying to flatter the young man in a way to convince him to listen to Shakespeare. He's being kind and flattering, then he negates it by saying something unkind, which might be a way to get the young man to pay attention.