Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,. But, with these thoughts — almost despising myself,. Haply I think on thee, and then my state,. I, by chance, think of you and then my melancholy. From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;. From the dark earth and I sing hymns to heaven;. For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings. No one would listen to his pleas for help and understanding.
Heaven hears not his bootless useless cries. He feels cursed, destiny has been cruel to him. He spends time alone, perhaps staring into a mirror, and so develops deep negative feelings about the world.
So, this poor depressive is having a tough time, and doesn't like being who he is. He wants to be someone else, someone talented and handsome but he's not quite certain he could handle being someone else - the things that brought him happiness now make him more upset. His emotional instability - note the trochees in lines five and six - means that his envy of those more hopeful, skilful and with broader social connections only worsens matters.
Note the this and that antithetical stance in line seven, suggesting that the speaker is in danger of tearing himself apart. Historically it could have been an uncertain time for William Shakespeare. If this sonnet was written around then the playwright and poet may well have been feeling a bit down.
The plague outbreak had caused all theatres to close down, so he would have been unable to perform his plays. Plus, a certain older rival, Robert Greene, had written an insulting deathbed notice, warning all playwrights to beware of the 'upstart crow' who had taken London and the theatre world by storm.
Namely, one William Shakespeare from rural Stratford-on-Avon. Thankfully, redemption is at hand. Haply means by chance, or by accident, or perhaps. And it so happens that the speaker is thinking of his love and all at once the world seems a brighter place. His state alters, he likens the feeling to a lark rising in song a popular simile with Shakespeare ; an almost religious outpouring.
Study Guide. By William Shakespeare. Previous Next. Sonnet 29 Summary The speaker of this sonnet says he's completely bummed and that he's been bawling his eyes out over his pathetic life and all of his misfortune. Tired of ads? The poet finds himself in the same situation: Heaven personified is God, and in this case he is "deaf," making the poet's cries "bootless," or useless. The idea of cursing one's fate also hearkens to Job, who cursed himself after falling out of God's favor.
The speaker finds himself envying what others have, and in lines he sees almost everyone as having something he lacks.
He wishes to be like "one more rich in hope," perhaps meaning hopeful or literally wealthy; "featured like him," refers to someone who is handsome, with beautiful features; and another is "with friends possessed," or popular, unlike the poet as has been established in the first two lines.
In line 7, he envies the artistic talent of one man, and the opportunities afforded someone else. The simile of a lark is developed in lines , when the speaker describes the effect that a thought of his love has on his "state," or emotional well-being.
The fact that the lark rises from the "sullen earth" at "break of day" implies that the day is much happier than the night; day break is compared to the dawning of a thought of the beloved.
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