Sonnet XXIX
When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyesI 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,Featur’d like him, like him with friends possess’d,Desiring this man’s art, and that man’s scope,With what I most enjoy contented least;Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising,Haply I think on thee, and then my state,Like to the lark at break of day arisingFrom sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate;For thy sweet love remember’d such wealth bringsThat then I scorn to change my state with kings.
Words in this poem
- beweep v. t.
- To weep over; to deplore; to bedew with tears. [AS. bew; pref. be- + weep.]
- outcast a.
- Cast out; degraded. [Cf. Sw. utkasta to cast out.]
- bootless a.
- Unavailing; unprofitable; useless; without advantage or success. [From Boot profit.]
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet XXIX is in the public domain. This text is taken from Shakespeare's Sonnets, Project Gutenberg ebook #1041; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Shakespeare, Sonnet XXIX, in The Sonnets (1609), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shakespeare-sonnets/sonnet-29.html, id L00047.
Form and metre
Sonnet XXIX is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the pattern of the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other English sonnets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCDCDEFEFGG eyesA · stateB · criesA · fateB · hopeC · possess'dD · scopeC · leastD · despisingE · stateF · arisingE · gateF · bringsG · kingsG
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| I all alone beweep my outcast state, | 10 | ··˘/˘/·/·· |
| And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, | 10 | ·/˘·/··/˘· |
| And look upon myself, and curse my fate, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Featur’d like him, like him with friends possess’d, | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| Desiring this man’s art, and that man’s scope, | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| With what I most enjoy contented least; | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising, | 11 | ······/·˘/˘ |
| Haply I think on thee, and then my state, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Like to the lark at break of day arising | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| For thy sweet love remember’d such wealth brings | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| That then I scorn to change my state with kings. | 10 | ·········· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.