Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- Do you get any sense of the relationship between the speaker of this poem and the young man? Why might the speaker want him to reproduce? Could the speaker have some kind of hidden motivation here?
- Do you think it's necessary or even important for people to have kids? Do you buy the arguments in this poem, or do you think it's this young man's business whether he has kids or not?
- Does preserving your own beauty seem like a good reason to have kids?
- Can you actually imagine asking someone why he or she is old and ugly now? Maybe you could try asking your dad: "Where is the treasure of thy lusty days?" and see how he responds.
- Have you ever written something (a letter? an email? a text?) to try to convince a friend to do something he or she didn't want to do? What strategy did you use? Did it work?