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 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.
“When in disgrace”, or Sonnet XXIX is a poem
written by William Shakespeare, in an iambic pentameter format following an
ABABCDCDEBEBFF rhyme scheme. The poem’s speaker speaks from a first person
perspective, reflecting on the speaker’s life, and fall from grace. The speaker
makes constant mention to losing favour and social standing, specifically in
line one “…in disgrace
with fortune and men's eyes” and line fourteen “…I scorn to change my state
with kings.” Both of these imply the speaker
has fallen from a position of respect and power, and combining that with the
implication in line thirteen “For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings,”
implies the speaker had gained their lover in part due to their position and
wealth. This poem simultaneously demonstrates the tenacity and stubbornness of
human beings, the speaker’s “love” obviously their main motivation for
attempting to regain their wealth and position, despite the implication that
the “love” was the cause of the loss as well. The overall tone of the poem is
introspective, and regretful, before taking a positive turn near the last third
of the poem, and ending on a seemingly angry note for the final line. The
finality of the tone in the last line compared to the ambiguity and
retrospective nature of the rest of the poem contrasts greatly; the vehement
promise of changing the speaker’s own state is a far cry from the seemingly self-pitying
tone of the rest of the poem, implying a change in mind-set by the speaker.
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