SONNET 29
by William Shakespeare
I. Author
● William Shakespear is an English poet, playwright, actor
● The greatest writer in English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist
● Called as England's national poet
● Nickname: Bard of Avon
● 154 sonnets, 5 long poems, 38 plays - all types including farce, history,
romantic comedy and tragedy
● His plays remain highly popular today through the world
● His writing style
○ The most influential writer of all-time. bringing lyrical elements to plays
○ An original writing style of versatility, a power of words and wide and
deep understanding of human nature
II. Sonnet
● Origin: Italy sonetto - little song
● → 14 lines - iambic pentameter: the first thing lines (an octave) - describe the
problem & the last 6 lines (a sestet) - proposes a solution
● English sonnet: three four-line stanzas + a rhymed couplet at the end
● Shakespeare's 154 sonnets: perfect in form, deep in thoughts and feelings
○ 1-126: Fair youth (young man)
○ 127-152: the dark lady
○ 152 and 153: Greek sonnets
III. Analysis
1. Background
● be written to a young man
● shows Shakespreare at his lowest point due to two traumatic events:
○ 1592: London theaters closed due to the outbreak of the plague →
struggled to earn a living
○ being lambasted and verbally attacked by Robert Greene
2. Historical Context
Bubonic Plague (dịch hạch)
● a very infectious disease spread by rats
→ causing swelling, fever, and usually death.
● 1592 to 1593: London experienced its last major bubonic plague outbreak.
○ At least 15,000 people died of plague within the City of London
○ Another 4,900 died of plague in the surrounding parishes.
● Historically: it could have been an uncertain time for William Shakespeare.
● If this sonnet was written around 1592 then the playwright and poet may well
have been feeling a bit down.
● The bubonic plague outbreak had caused all theatres to close down, so he
would have been unable to perform his plays.
Robert Greene
● Robert Greene (1558–1592) was an English author popular
● a popular Elizabethan dramatist and pamphleteer are known for his negative
critiques of his colleagues
● In 1592, the writer and critic Robert Greene accused the budding playwright
William Shakespeare of plagiarism.
● A reference to the attack on Shakespeare at the hands of Robert Greene
● Three months after the publication of Greene's attack, his publisher, Henry
Chettle, wrote a public apology in the preface to Kind-Hartes Dreame, stating
he wished that Greene had not slandered Shakespeare.
3. Theme
● Main Themes
● love and hopelessness
● Anxiety, love, and jealousy are the major themes of this sonnet.
● Sonnet 29 focuses on the speaker's initial state of depression,
hopelessness and unhappiness in life and the subsequent recovery
through happier thoughts of love.
● The poem also explains how love brings optimism and hope to people
who feel lonely and oppressed.
● In short, sonnet 29 is also about self-motivation.
● Structural Theme Development
● The first eight lines are full of self-pity and negative impressions;
● The final six lines are all about the positive sweet love brings that help
drive despondency away.
4. Rhyme Scheme & Meter
● Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EBEB FF
● (iambic pentameter)
● There are several interesting differences in this sonnet:
○ the metre changes from the usual iambic pentameter several times
○ there are rare feminine endings to some lines
○ certain rhymes repeat
● So, an unusual Shakespearean sonnet, with profound insights into the
emotional turmoil a human can experience when in love.
● As to who Shakespeare was in love with is a moot point.
5. Literary Devices
(1) Assonance
● Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as:
○ the sound of /i/ in “Wishing me like to one more rich in hope”
○ the sound of /e/ in “Haply I think on thee, and then my state.”
(2) Imagery
● Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses.
● For example:
○ “I all alone beweep my outcast state”
○ “That then I scorn to change my state with kings.”
(3) Consonance
● Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as:
○ the sound of /s/ in “Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising”.
(4) Personification
● Personification is to attribute human characteristics to non-human or lifeless
objects.
● For example:
○ “From sullen earth sings hymns at heaven’s gate.”
● Here, Shakespeare personifies earth as if it is a human being that can sing.
(5) Symbolism
● Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them
symbolic meanings different from literal meanings.
● For example:
○ “lark” stands for hope and good fortune.
(6) Alliteration
● Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick
succession, such as:
○ the sound of /th/ in “Haply I think on thee, and then my state.”
(7) Enjambment
● It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break;
instead, it continues to the next line.
For example:
“For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.”
6. “Sonnet 29” as a Representative of Love
● This poem is about a speaker, initially downcast about fate, but becomes
excited when he recalls his beloved.
● The poem begins with the description of the speaker’s discontent and his
lamentation over the miserable plight of life.
● He curses his poor fate for his catastrophic condition.
● He feels abandoned and useless.
● He feels that even God is not answering his calls.
● Also, he is envious of the successful and talented people around him.
● He wishes to be rich, satisfied, and fortunate like them but meets only failures
and disappointments.
● After cursing his present sad state, he suddenly talks about a special person and
his mood changes in a dramatic way.
● This thought of love provides him immense pleasure and removes his negative
feelings.
● What, however, stays in the minds of the readers is the magical effect of love
that eradicates his sorrow and makes him feel special.
7. Redemption
● Sonnet 29 speaks to all those who have felt that they are worthless or
overshadowed by others they deem to be superior but who can overcome dark
feelings by thinking of someone they love, who loves them in return.
● The speaker is full of self-accusation and inner turmoil.
● He feels disgraced.
● He feels cursed, fate has been cruel to him.
● And he develops deeply negative feelings about the world.
● "I all alone beweep my outcast state" is one of the most self-pitying moans ever
put into iambics. What a sob story
● This poor depressive is having a tough time and doesn't like being who he is.
● He wants to be someone else, someone talented and handsome.
But his envy of those more hopeful, skillful, and with broader social connections only
worsens matters.
“Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed.
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least”
Redemption Achieved
Thankfully, redemption is within reach:
“Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate”
● "Happily" means by chance, or by accident, or perhaps.
● He wants to redeem himself, to be himself, to get rid of negative thoughts.
● Again, he wants to do it all with his own ability, not turn into someone else.
8. Religion
● Religion as an authority for the believer to turn to during the moments of
hardship, injustice or suffering.
● Religion is an authority for the believer to attribute his happiness to feeling
grateful when things are going well for him/her.
● “And trouble deaf heav'n with my bootless cries,” (line 3)
○ God are useless ("bootless")
○ "heav'n" has turned a "deaf" ear on him
○ So isolated from God that he can't even bring himself to say the name
"God."
Contrast later lines:
"Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate,"
● (line 3) "heav'n" is "deaf"
→ "sings hymns at heaven's gates." (line 12)
● What's changed is that the speaker suddenly remembers an important person in
his life ("thee") who makes him incredibly happy.
● “For thy sweet love rememb'red such wealth brings,
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.”
● "sweet love" --> "thee"
● → a spiritual rebirth in him
● "love as religious worship" stuff is a pretty common metaphor in
sixteenth-century literature and poetry
9. Detailed Analysis (By Quatrain)
Quatrain 1
“When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,”
● the speaker begins by describing a particular mental and emotional situation
he’s often in.
● feels disgraced in the eyes of luck or fortune, and “men”
● weeping over his outcast state
● heaven is deaf to his plight
● God is not listening to his cries
● curses his fate
Quatrain 2
“Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;”
● wishes he was more hopeful
● envies those with friends, talent, and opportunities
● feels lacking something fundamental
● no longer enjoys what he once loved
● deep depression
Sestet
“Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven’s gate;”
● thinking of “thee” changes everything
● rising spirits compared to a lark
● leaves behind earthly problems
● spiritually elevated
Couplet
“For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.”
● love brings true wealth
● richer than kings
● no desire to trade places with anyone