In Shakespeare's love poem, Sonnet 29, Shakespeare elegantly moves the speaker from the lowest possible state in which a human being can exist, to a state that nearly reaches the angels.
To follow the movement of the sonnet, the reader needs to notice Shakespeare's artful use and placement of a single word: State. The word, state (as in state of being, or station in life) is used three times, toward the beginning, middle, and end of the poem. The reader should notice how that 'state' changes in these various positions in the 14 lines of the sonnet. Doing so will elevate the reader, along with the poem, from the lowest state of being, to the highest.
When in Disgrace with Fortune and Men's Eyes
Like all sonnets, Sonnet 29 is composed of 14 lines, with two identifiable sections, the octet (first eight lines), and the sextet (final six lines). Here is the octet:
- 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,
- 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;
In these first eight lines, the speaker of the poem is at life's nadir – rejected by society and out of harmony with the cosmos and Divine Providence. An astute reader will notice the use of the phrase, "outcast state," in line 2. The speaker is rejected by society, and out of tune with Providence and the cosmos.
In this state, the speaker in line 3 is a puny man. Heaven is 'deaf' to his 'bootless cries,' for his voice is nearly mute and his stature weak. Lines 4 through 8 lay out all the deficits the speakers perceives in himself, ending with the very depressed state of being least happy doing what he usually most enjoys. We've all been there, perhaps.
This dismal state of the poem's speaker begins to turn around, with the first word of the sextet: "Yet."
Lark at Break of Day Arising
- 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;
- For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
- That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
In this sextet of Sonnet 29, the state of the speaker begins it upward ascent. The astute reader notices again the use of the word "state," this time in the second line of the sextet. Here, the speaker 'haply,' meaning unintentionally, begins to think of his beloved. It is here that the poem begins to move.
The speaker moves from being all alone in his outcast state, troubling deaf heaven with his bootless cries, to being like a "lark at break of day arising from sullen earth." The reader soars with the speaker's ascent from a state of spiritual despair to a state that reaches up to "heaven's gate." The speaker has reached a high state of spiritual grace. It remains for him to reach a high status in society.
Thy Sweet Love Remembered
Like all Shakespearean sonnets, Sonnet 29 ends with a rhyming couplet. In these final two lines, the speaker completes his upward movement. Having achieved spiritual acceptance in the previous line, Shakespeare now uses the word 'state' to refer to the speaker's social station. In the final couplet, he reaches the zenith of social standing, superior even to that of kings.
And what is the prime mover, or cause, of this upward mobility of the speaker's spiritual and societal state? "Thy sweet love, remembered."
When reading any of the Sonnets, the reader should look for this kind of poetic movement and let the poem take the reader on its aesthetic and spiritual ride.
Leah Abramovitz - Laura Bernell, Professional Writer since 1984; Community College Adjunct English Instructor since 1982.
Join the Conversation