Sonnet 29: When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes by William Shakespeare
Sonnet 29: When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes
by William Shakespeare
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.
This is such a beautiful piece on despair — to “curse my fate”. I just love letting this one roll off my tongue. And then the interrupt, the thought of love like the rising of the lark. Certainly love has played such a role in my own life, as an antidote to despair. Shakespeare is the best! :) I really don’t know what else to say about him, because he’s Shakespeare and his work echoes down through the years undimmed.
