Literary Devices In Sonnet 29

Decent Essays
Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 29” is a lyric poem with a focus on the appreciation the speaker has for the love that his friend shows him. The speaker goes on a journey from lamentation to contentment regarding his own life situation; a man favored by none of his peers, possibly destitute, and ignored by God, weeps for being abandoned, for being in exile. However, while in deep sorrow he realizes that he does in fact have someone, the thought of whom can do far more for him than any materialistic possession. At that point, the speaker realizes that he is not as unfortunate as he feels, and his mood improves. An analysis of how the imagery and figures of speech revolve around the speaker’s feelings allows for the perception of four stages that he goes …show more content…
At this point, the speaker introduces a person referred to only as “thee” (Line 10). The poem is unclear as to whether the person is a male or female and whether or not they have any type of romantic relationship. However, Sonnet 30 puts a rest to this doubt: “But if the while I think on thee, dear friend, all losses are restored and sorrows end” (Sonnet 30, lines 13 and 14). In line ten, the man stops lessening himself and feels joyful as “haply” (line 10), that is, “by chance” as reports the Oxford English Dictionary, he thinks of his friend. In fact, such is his happiness that he metaphorically compares himself to a lark and his state of mind to the lark’s singing (Line 11). The lark flies towards heaven to leave behind the “sullen earth” (Line 12) and sing hymns at the gates of heaven (Line 12). The sullen earth that the speaker refers to is his previous misery, and the singing of hymns at “heaven’s gate” (Line 12) might be his praising to God for not being as forsaken as he once thought himself to be. On another hand, the transition from sad to happy is also noticeable in the parts of the poem where the words “state” and “heaven” are repeated. Those words first appear in the first quatrain when the speaker is lamenting his misfortune (Lines 2 and 3 respectively). Later on in the poem, they reappear, “state” also reappears in the final couplet, …show more content…
Feeling left out, he often fantasized of the perfect outcome for him, until he realized that although not ideal, his condition is, in fact, pleasant because of his friend. The speaker’s feelings are directly connected to what he thinks and how he thinks. In addition, there is a clear evolution of language and figures of speech that follow the stages of his remembrance of love. So, it is possible to see a somewhat plain language when he is sad, all the way to more decorated language as he becomes happier. Ultimately, the speaker’s language and state of mind, allow the conclusion that the wealth that his friend’s love gives him is so strong that no material wealth could ever compare to

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