Analysis of Shakespeare's Sonnet 29
The sonnet originated in Italy during the fourteenth century. During this time the model form created by the Renaissance poet Petrach was adapted to become the more popular Shakespearean form. This form, with less rigidity, allowed for much more creativity. As with its predecessor, it consisted of a fourteen-line stanza written in iambic pentameter. However, the rhyme scheme differs in that it contains three quatrains and a concluding couplet, rather than an octave followed by a sestet. Mostly written about love, sonnets became an instant success among courtiers. Shakespeare produced one hundred and fifty-four of his own sonnets, written mostly to a young man or the so-called "dark lady". In examining Sonnet 29 one gathers a great deal of understanding for how Shakespeare created his masterpieces. His use of poetic imagery, diction, and tone creates a unifying effect throughout his work, thus enabling him to express many intricate emotions in simply fourteen lines.
Sonnet 29 has a very distinct tone throughout the first two and one half quatrains. The speaker is clearly depressed, bitter, and envious of his contemporaries, whom he views are in a better "state". The first line of the sonnet sets the precedent for the rest of the poem: "When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes". It is important to observe the sharp sound that the c makes in the word disgrace. Repetition of such hard sounds, as well as those in words such as outcast, curse, and cries serves to quicken the tone of the sonnet, and give it a sense of anxiousness. The speaker's choice of adjectives and descriptive nouns directly relates to their symbolism. His use of the words fortune, rich, wealth, and kings all symbolize what the speaker desires from life while the adjectives he chooses to describe himself are indicative of where he views his state in the world. In this way the speaker displays his depression, describing himself as bootless and mute to the world. The speaker's envy and bitterness are clearly seen through his blatant yearning to rise in state and stature. The speaker continually refers to his state as outcast, during the first nine lines. He wishes and desires "this man's art, and that man's scope" and displays his bitterness towards other men for attaining them in line 4 when he declares "curse my fate." The speaker's tone throughout the first nine lines of the sonnet is one of pessimism, however this is radically changed at the volta, or shift.
At line ten there is an apparent shift in the tone of the poem. This is the result of the speaker's thought process, which inadvertently lead him to think of the one to whom he then writes the sonnet. The shift is indicated by a dash midline through the tenth line. The following line the speaker goes on to write of rising like a lark at the break of day. This is symbolic in the way that it represents the speaker's "rebirth" or arousal from his fit of depression. Now arriving at the final couplet the speaker has fully changed tone, from one of complete pessimism to one of not only optimism, but also joy. This joy is most clearly displayed by the speaker when he describes what he wishes upon his state in the final line of the sonnet. Again he repeats the phrase "my state", however this time he does not precede it with a downbeat adjective. By placing the two nouns, wealth and king, after the shift they not only represent symbols of what the speaker wants from life, but also what he has. Thus the speaker's previous use language dealing with material fortune is balanced by his current usage of such words in respect to immaterial treasures. By drastically changing the tone of the sonnet in line ten of the sonnet, the speaker successfully turns a bitter poem into one depicting his grateful love.
Throughout Shakespeare's works many intriguing literary devices can be found. Each device contributes to the overall tone of the sonnet. Tone is of obvious importance within a sonnet because it evokes feeling, which is the purpose of the sonnet. These emotions are not light, but rather intense, therefore requiring two and one half pages of explanation!