Sonnet 29 Flashcards
by William Shakespeare — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: Sonnet 29
What emotion dominates the first eight lines of Sonnet 29?
Despair and self-pity — the speaker feels outcast, envies others, and curses his fate.
What triggers the emotional shift in the poem?
The thought of the beloved — "Haply I think on thee" in line 10 transforms the speaker's mood from despair to joy.
What does the speaker envy in other men?
Their hope, their looks, their friends, their artistic skill ("art"), and their opportunities ("scope").
What is the speaker's final emotional state?
Joyful and content — he "scorns to change my state with kings," feeling richer than royalty because of love.
What does the speaker mean by "trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries"?
He has prayed to God for help but his cries are useless (bootless) — heaven is deaf and does not respond.
What does "bootless" mean in the context of the poem?
Useless or futile — from Middle English, common in Elizabethan usage.
What does the word "state" mean each time it appears?
It shifts meaning: first "condition" (emotional state), then "situation," and finally "kingdom" (royal state) — an example of antanaclasis.
What does "haply" mean in line 10?
By chance or perhaps — the speaker's rescue from despair comes unexpectedly.
Who is the poem addressed to?
The Fair Youth — an unidentified young man addressed in Sonnets 1-126, possibly Henry Wriothesley or William Herbert.
How does the speaker describe himself in the opening lines?
As an outcast — "in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes," weeping alone and feeling abandoned by both society and heaven.
What is the central theme of Sonnet 29?
The redemptive power of love — genuine affection can rescue a person from the deepest despair and outweigh all worldly fortune.
How does the poem contrast material wealth with emotional wealth?
The speaker envies others' worldly advantages but concludes that "thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings" that he wouldn't trade places with a king.
What role does envy play in the poem?
It drives the speaker's despair in the octave — he wishes for other men's hope, looks, friends, and talent before love rescues him from this destructive comparison.
What is the simile in lines 11-12?
The speaker's spirits rise "like to the lark at break of day arising / From sullen earth" — comparing emotional renewal to a bird soaring from dark ground to sing at heaven's gate.
Where does the volta occur, and why is its placement unusual?
At line 9, not line 13. This is more typical of a Petrarchan sonnet, giving six lines to the joyful resolution instead of the usual two-line couplet turn.
What is antanaclasis and how does Shakespeare use it here?
Repetition of a word with different meanings. "State" appears three times, shifting from emotional condition to royal status.
How does enjambment function in the first eight lines?
The entire octave is one breathless sentence of despair, with no full stop, mirroring the speaker's spiraling, uncontrolled self-pity.
What alliteration appears at the poem's turning point?
"Think on thee, and then" — the repeated "th" sounds create a rhythmic beat that reinforces the emotional shift.
Complete the line: "For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings..."
"That then I scorn to change my state with kings."
What does "Like to the lark at break of day arising / From sullen earth" convey?
Spiritual rebirth — the lark's dawn flight from dark earth to heaven's gate mirrors the speaker's transformation from despair to joy through love.
What is the rhyme scheme of Sonnet 29?
ABAB CDCD EFEF GG — the standard Shakespearean sonnet form, with three quatrains and a closing couplet.