Shakespeare's Sonnet 8

Music to hear, why hear’st thou music sadly?Sweets with sweets war not, joy delights in joy:Why lov’st thou that which thou receiv’st not gladly,Or else receiv’st with pleasure thine annoy?If the true concord of well-tuned sounds,By unions married, do offend thine ear,They do but sweetly chide thee, who confoundsIn singleness the parts that thou shouldst bear.Mark how one string, sweet husband to another,Strikes each in each by mutual ordering;Resembling sire and child and happy mother,Who, all in one, one pleasing note do sing:Whose speechless song being many, seeming one,Sings this to thee: ‘Thou single wilt prove none.’

You whose voice is music, why do you listen to music sadly? Sweet things do not fight with sweetness; joy delights in joy. Why do you love what gives you no pleasure, or take pleasure in what troubles you? If the true harmony of well-tuned sounds, joined together like married partners, offends your ear, they are only gently scolding you for spoiling, by staying single, the part you should play. Notice how one string, a loving husband to another, vibrates in harmony with its partner. They resemble a father, child, and happy mother, who all sing one pleasing note together. Their wordless song, made of many voices but sounding like one, tells you this: “If you stay single, nothing of you will remain.”