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,
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.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Friday, April 1, 2011
Sonnet 29
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I have 2 exercises for you:
ReplyDelete1. What is the subject matter of this poem?
2. State its main theme in about 3 lines.
(post your answers as comments)
the subject matter could be love or loneliness and suffering. but to me, love is the strongest.
ReplyDeleteI think the theme is: the fame and riches of this world are not worth trading the love of someone dear for. (love in itself, is riches)
i derived the subject matter of love mostly from the last 6 lines. the first 8 lines tells of the writers suffering,loneliness and the struggle he has with his thoughts. but then just the thought of his loved one...'Haply I think on thee...' takes away all the pain he feels, the doubts and the sufferings. he wouldn't give up that to be a king because the love he shares with the other person is more valuable than all the fame and riches a king has..
the subject matter here is love. but also it could be self-worth
ReplyDeletei agree with Hannah on the theme.
the poem is quite straight forward. it is quite easy to understand. now if u take the first to the fifth line u can say that it deals with self-worth issues. also the first to the fifth line show how troubled the writer is. poverty,
form the 6th - 10th line the writer wishes to be in someones shoes.
now from the 11th - 13th line the writer shows a sense of hope, which is love.
in a nutshell i believe the message the writer wanted to carry across is that love conquers all.
Good! Hannah and Ebenezer. Now, read Luke 15:11-32. Is there anyway in which the poem can be understood from that perspective?
ReplyDeleteThe first line of the poem can be linked to verse 13-15. the son claims all his wealth and in the end is disgraced due to his attitude towards the wealth he acquired. he had been reduced to feeding swines. 'when, in disgrace with fortune...'.
ReplyDelete'I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble heaven with my bootless cries' tells of the writer's loneliness. no one pays attention to his pain and cries, not even the heavens. this can also relate to verse 16;'And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat; and no man gave unto him'.. no one cared.
'And look upon myself and curse my fate' the writer takes a look at himself and reflects on his life and how worthless it has become. this is similar to how the son in verse 17,finally came to his senses and thought of his life as compared to how it was back home...'And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!'
The son thought of the servants back home, the food they had to eat, the shelter, the warmth, just as the writer thought of hope, friendship, and what other people had, as seen in lines 5 to 7.
when the son was leaving home, he thought the money he had was going to satisfy all his needs. he loved money and the high life, but pursuing that did not leave him satisfied; he lost everything. 'With what I most enjoy contented least' in the poem also tells us the same thing.
there seems to be a ray of light penetrating the darkness in which both the writer and the prodigal son dwells, when they begin to think of their loved ones, think of home and all the opportunities there.(lines 10-12 and verses 17-18)
from verses 20 to 24, the son goes home and is amazed at the kind of love his father has for him. unlike the riches he initially sought after, his father's love was eternal and unconditional. that love surpassed all the riches and he realised that he would never again trade it for the world.the writer also, after paying attention to the love he had, he no longer wanted the world, the love was more valuable.
so the poem can be interpreted this way; that the writer walked away from the love he had and suffered as a result of that. coming back to his senses, he went back to his loved one and the world no longer appealed to him.so it could be about God.
I am in total agreement with Hannah. Pretty impressive Hannah.
ReplyDeleteThe subject matter of the poem is true love.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hannah on the theme.
As Eben said, the poem is straight forward and easy to understand. From the first line, the writer is rejected and disgraced and as a result, he feels lonely, sad, and depressed. He had no one or nothing to lean on, when all hope seemed to be lost, he haply thought on thee and the good tidings that come with thee.
The love of thee is really true love that accepts all and sundry, no matter what, and with this love, the writer can have his desires.
In relation to Luke 15:11-32, i agree with Hannah.
the subject matter of the poem is love.
ReplyDeletethe main theme of the poem can be seen as, 'love; the eraser.' for in the first eight lines, Shakespeare talks about the struggles of life. to him, the heavens have turned a deaf ear to his cries as he languishes in a pit of self pity. all hope is lost and he is at the lowest of lows. the only thing left for him to do now is to resign himself to a life of longing. longing to be who is he is not, longing to have what he has not, longing for anything else, other than his present state.
however, there is a faint ray of hope shinning through which begins to radiates brighter and brighter as the sonnet eventually draws to an end. that ray of hope is LOVE. and like the trusted eraser, LOVE removes and blots out all the shame and pains of the past; leaving a clean blank space. a blank space anxiously anticipating the beginning of a new dawn, a new story; and that story is the story of his beloved, the dawn of his LOVE.
The first 7 lines of the poem is a lamentation. The poet uses diction to create a pitiful sight in the minds of the readers; thus, invoking pathos in the audience. We see that the poet is all alone and left stranded in a sea of troubles. He has been abandoned by both man and it seems, God. (line 3)
ReplyDeleteLikewise the same in the popular parable of Jesus Christ, found in Luke 15: 11-32. From verse 12-16, we see the fall of the wayward son from grace and grass. Like the poet; he looks at his current situation and laments about his life. He is now penniless; wallowing in penury. All alone, he is left to tend to pigs (this shows how greatly he has fallen as the occupation of feeding pigs is normally viewed as filthy and utterly hopeless). At this point, like the poet, the Prodigal Son wallows in self- pity. In the words of Kofi Awoonor in his renowned poem, Songs of Sorrows, "I am on the world's extreme corner." (line 8) But alas; this is but for a brief moment.
As the poem and the parable continue; we witness the gradual development of both the poet and the 'wayward son.' Like the majestic mythological phoenix, the two gracefully rise from the ashes of despair with renewed hope.
From line 10, the poet allows a distant light of hope to shine through. Though dim at first, as each line continues, the distant light begins to become brighter and brighter still; radiating through the dark hollow of lowliness. Likewise, the lamentation of the Prodigal Son begins to shift from a dirge to a ballad of hope. That radiant light of hope piercing through both the parable of Luke 15:11-32 and Sonnet 29 is LOVE.
This further enhances the theme, 'LOVE, the eraser.' For as both the poem and parable draw to an end, it is but LOVE that lifts up and brightens the countenance of both poet and 'wayward son,' It is the knowledge of LOVE's ability to completely and totally blot out the memories and pains of the past and that encourages the Prodigal Son to "finally come to his senses." (Luke 15:17) Though he greatly underestimated the power of LOVE to completely move beyond the past and create a fresh start (Luke 15:19); he still pressed forward.
Finally as the sonnet comes to an end; it is LOVE, and LOVE alone which gives the poet the boldness to 'scorn to change his state with kings.' (line 14)
you're right, Sedem. Love...most importantly the love of God sure is an eraser.kind of reminds me of the crucifixion of Christ. it's not so much the death but the love He had for mankind that erased all our sins and granted us grace and salvation. A love so strong He was willing to lay down His life for mankind. a love so strong it overcame all evil and conquered death. it wasn't His dying...it was the immense love He showed..that was what made His blood worth an atonement. He didn't just die for nothing. He died because of LOVE for us. the love took way our hopelessness; we now have hope of eternal life with God. thoughts of that love and the benefits it brings us if we rely on it, keeps us going..it makes life less dreary for we have hope. now who will trade that to be a king? i certainly won't! your analysis makes the subject matter even clearer.
ReplyDeleteThis is like everyday living, for me. cos more than once in my life i get unhappy with the world, how life is...the difficulties. i wish for certain things. i ask questions about life. but then the moment i stop, and think of life beyond here, this world becomes worthless to me. and even though i sometimes struggle or suffer, i am a christian, and so far as I serve God right, His love will redeem me at the end of time! you see, the faith i have in that love...the hope, keeps me going!
love your analysis, Sedem.
Thanks hannah. it's really interesting how Shakespeare captures the magnitude of love in just those last 5 lines and though the earlier lines were all about dread and sadness, it seems so insignificant when compared to the LOVE his thoughts eventually settle on.
ReplyDeleteLOVE is really a powerful emotion; it's just a pity that it is being taken advantage of these days. The slightest emotion one feels is IMMEDIATELY declared to be "love."
But then, we must try and remember that the true meaning of LOVE is found in its selflessness. John 15:13; "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."
So once you know you are loved truly and selflessly to such an extent as this, you find hope and comfort in the lowest of lows and the darkest of nights. Like the poet and the wayward son; we just have to have faith in such love; its unconditional. :-)
1) the subject matter for the poem is love.
ReplyDelete2) the theme for the poem is love conquers all. through love, one can overcome the rudiments of this world.
BUT there is a GOD who gives his SONS power to overcome and subdue the earth.
from the poem, the first eight lines talk about the speaker's loneliness and how he desired the properties of other men. the writer paints a gloomy picture in the octect.
in the next four lines, he thinks about his lover and his was rekindled.
the couplet at the end of the poem sums up his UNFATHOMABLE LOVE for his lover.
the writer's diction makes it easier to understand the poem.
from LUKE, one learns that the love of GOD is
1)unfathomable
2)overwhelming
3)unique
4)unconditional
5)indescribable
From my point of view, the subject matter is self worth since the poet sees himself in a particular way after evaluating what he has to what others have.
ReplyDeletethe themes are desiring to be what one is not,one recognising what is necessary and relevant and finally there is the theme of belief as he believes in life after death, heaven being a joyous place and he also regretting to have wished to be like others
sonnets as we all know them to be are love expressing poems.so i think its safe to say the subject matter is love. however this one has a twist to it, with the writer speaking first of his misfortune with fortune. His wishing o be in the shoes of wealthy to do men because really in this world,there is pressure from society,and a personal deep desire for one to be successful,rich and if possible famous.so his depression at his current state is justified. but then he is reminded of his lover and that depression dissipates. leading us to the theme that, when it comes to almighty love, everything else takes the back seat.ultimately it all boils down to love and the love of God is unfathomable,awesome,unique,indescribable and overwhelming. God is all of those things because God is love.
ReplyDeleteThe subject matter of this poem is TRUE LOVE.
ReplyDeleteThe main theme of the poem is true love is worth more than riches and fame. In other words,riches and fame cannot be compared to true love.
The subject matter of Shakespeare's Sonnet 29 is love because it is the love of the persona of another that purports the poem .
ReplyDeleteAll the while , he had been lamenting about his status . But , it is when he "Haply I think on thee" , his or her love , that a feeling of joy and pride arise . So , ultimately , the persona's love brings him or her hope . Hence , the theme of hope .
this is Frederick VonWolff. In the beginning of the poem, the poet is seen to be praying but he does not get any answer "I all alone beweep my outcast state,
ReplyDeleteAnd trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries," but he gets hope through love shown to him by an absent listener which is great enough to make him rich,"For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings,". I think that the subject matter is Hope. and aside the subject matter there are other themes such Hope for the future,indescribable love which stirs his spirit, making him loathe the desire to compare his state of being to kings.
Wow! Guys that is pretty impressive. I do agree to subject matter of love. But I also think the poem talks about Contentment.
ReplyDeleteTheme wise, I believe the poem is telling us to learn to be joyful and content in all situations. Weeping, complaining and even being jealous of others would come to nothing. In time we would come to love everything about ourselves and dislike the idea of switching places with even a king…Perhaps for the speaker it was through love that he found contentment.
very true.The subject matter is undying love and some themes from the poem include:
ReplyDelete(1)The theme of suffering
(2)The theme of loneliness and
(3)The theme of love
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