Poem #5: "Sonnet 29: When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes" 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."

I can see what Shakespeare is trying to get at. I think for the most part we've all been in that position where we look at our lives and choose to see the bad in that moment, for whatever reason, and it saddening. Shakespeare wishes for the talent, social life, and riches of another as opposed to what he does and the more he think about, the more depressing it gets and the more he'll weep, "Wishing me like to one more rich in hope...with friends possessed...this man's art and that man's scope". It's hard for me to think about and visualize one of the greatest playwrights comparing himself to anyone else. It shows that it is just human nature for anyone to do that.

What interesting, and something I will never understand about poetry in general, is this sudden change that turns everything around. In the tenth line, he brings in someone else, "Haply I think on thee". Without any say as to who that might be, just the mere thought of this person was all it took to uplift his state of mind. "For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings...", meaning that the remembrance of this love must bring a wealth greater than any of that in the world, making him feel rich again but just in a different way, from love.