# Youth — Poetry character guide > Youth in Poetry by William Shakespeare. **Role:** minor **First appearance:** 0027-sonnets ## Who they are Personified youth, addressed in the sonnets as a fleeting beauty. ## Relationships ### [Venus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/characters/venus) _romantic_ Venus is infatuated with the youthful Adonis, representing the goddess's desire for mortal beauty and vitality. ## In the story ### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xii) Personified as full of pleasance, summer morn, sport, nimble, hot and bold, wild, and adored by the speaker. ### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xvii) Described as apt to pluck a sweet, contrasting with the vow made. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/i) The beautiful young man who is urged to marry and have children to preserve his beauty. ### [Sonnet II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/ii) The addressee, a beautiful young man urged to procreate before his beauty fades. ### [Sonnet III: The Mirror's Call to Procreation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/iii) The young man addressed directly, urged to procreate and not let his image die. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/iv) The addressee, a beautiful young man who is urged to procreate. ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/vi) The addressee, urged to procreate to preserve his beauty. ### [Sonnet VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/vii) The beloved is addressed as 'thou' and compared to the sun, urged to procreate to avoid being forgotten. ### [Sonnet VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/viii) The addressee, urged to marry and procreate. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/ix) The addressee, urged to marry and procreate to avoid leaving the world as a widow. ### [Sonnet X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/x) The young man addressed, accused of self-hatred and urged to marry. ### [Sonnet XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xi) The addressee, urged to procreate and preserve his beauty through offspring. ### [Sonnet XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xii) Implied as the 'thy' whose beauty is questioned; the poet addresses a young man whose beauty will be wasted by time without procreation. ### [Sonnet 13](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xiii) The beloved addressed as 'you' and 'love', urged to procreate. ### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xiv) The beloved friend whose eyes are the source of the poet's astronomical knowledge and whose procreation is urged to preserve truth and beauty. ### [Sonnet XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xv) The beloved is addressed as rich in youth, standing against Time and Decay. ### [Sonnet XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xvi) The young man is addressed directly, urged to fight against Time through procreation. ### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xvii) The beloved friend whose beauty the poet attempts to immortalize in verse. ### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xviii) The beloved addressed in the sonnet, whose beauty is preserved eternally in verse. ### [Sonnet XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xix) Implied as the beloved whose beauty the poet seeks to preserve from Time's ravages. ### [Sonnet 20](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xx) The beloved youth is described as having a woman's face and gentle heart, but with a man's hue and form, the master-mistress of the poet's passion. ### [Sonnet XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xxii) The beloved whose youth and beauty are tied to the poet's sense of age. ### [Sonnet XXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xxiv) The beloved whose beauty is painted in the speaker's heart and whose eyes serve as windows to view that inner portrait. ### [Sonnet XXXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xxxiii) The young man addressed as 'my sun' whose splendor was briefly present and then obscured. ### [XXXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xxxvii) The active child or beloved whose beauty, birth, wealth, and wit provide the speaker with solace. ### [Sonnet XXXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xxxix) The beloved friend who is praised as the better part of the poet. ### [XLI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xli) The beloved's youth is cited as a cause for straying and breaking trust. ### [Sonnet XLIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xlix) The beloved friend whose love may turn to judgment and estrangement. ### [Sonnet LII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lii) Implied addressee, the beloved friend whose presence is treasured and whose absence creates hopeful anticipation. ### [Sonnet LIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/liv) The beauteous and lovely youth addressed by the poet, whose truth will be distilled in verse. ### [Sonnet LVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lviii) The beloved friend who holds absolute liberty over his own time and actions. ### [LX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lx) Mentioned as the subject of time's destructive power, with its flourish transfix'd and beauty's brow delved. ### [Sonnet LXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxii) Implied as the beloved whose beauty the speaker uses to paint over his own age. ### [Sonnet LXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxiii) Referenced as the beloved's youthful morn that travels to age's steepy night. ### [LXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxvii) The young man whose living beauty is contrasted with false painting and shadow. ### [LXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxviii) The beloved youth is portrayed as a living relic of an earlier, purer age of beauty. ### [Sonnet LXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxix) The young man whose outward beauty is praised but whose inner character is found wanting. ### [Sonnet LXX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxx) The young man is addressed as the subject of slander and praise, his purity and virtue celebrated. ### [LXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxxi) The beloved friend whom the speaker urges to forget him to avoid sorrow. ### [Sonnet LXXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxxiii) The beloved who perceives the speaker's decline and whose love is strengthened by the awareness of impending loss. ### [Sonnet LXXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxxvii) The addressee, urged to observe his own aging and to record his thoughts. ### [Sonnet 81](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxxxi) The beloved friend who will be remembered eternally through the poet's lines. ### [Sonnet LXXXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxxxiii) The fair youth whose beauty is so complete that it needs no poetic embellishment. ### [Sonnet LXXXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxxxiv) The beloved subject of the poem, whose inherent beauty and worth surpass any praise. ### [LXXXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxxxvii) The fair friend whose worth and beauty are deemed too great for the poet to possess. ### [Sonnet XCII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xcii) The beloved friend whose love is the foundation of the speaker's life and whose potential falsehood is acknowledged. ### [Sonnet XCV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xcv) The beloved whose beauty veils moral flaws ### [Sonnet XCVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xcvi) The beloved is addressed as possessing youth, which is both fault and grace. ### [Sonnet XCVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xcvii) The beloved friend whose absence transforms the season into a metaphorical winter. ### [Sonnet XCVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xcviii) The beloved friend whose absence makes spring feel like winter ### [Sonnet XCIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xcix) The beloved whose breath, complexion, veins, hand, and hair are the source of all floral beauty. ### [Sonnet CIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/ciii) The beloved (likely the Fair Youth) is addressed indirectly as the one whose face in the mirror surpasses the poet's invention. ### [Sonnet CIV: The Illusion of Unchanging Beauty](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/civ) The fair friend, whose beauty appears unchanged despite the passage of three years. ### [CVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cvi) The beloved whose beauty is the culmination of all past descriptions. ### [Sonnet CVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cviii) The 'sweet boy' addressed as the beloved, whose merit and name are eternally hallowed. ### [Sonnet CXXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxxvi) Addressed as 'my lovely boy' who holds Time's glass and sickle. ### [Sonnet 143](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxliii) The beloved who chases after fleeting desires. ### [A Lover's Complaint](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/a-lover-s-complaint) The beautiful and eloquent young man who seduced the speaker, described as having 'browny locks' and a 'maiden-tongued' manner. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/characters/youth - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/characters