Sonnet 129 Meaning - 1300 Words

Sonnet 129 is about the sin of lust and the actions and feelings that correspond with it. The author tells a story of sorts, outlining the feelings one goes through before, during, and after indulging in lust. It tells of the urge before, the bliss during, and the regret and shame after. The author states that although men know the unhealthy cycle, they continue to take part in it. Underlying, however, is the speaker’s own struggles within lust. The speaker feels great religious guilt and shame for his sin. Moreover, the act of lust itself as well and his fear, and regret surrounding it, drive the speaker towards madness that he attempts to remedy by finding a logical solution to this human struggle. The first quatrain and the couplet of†¦show more content†¦His writing shifts in this way in an effort to draw the reader’s attention. This frantic style of writing is meant to parallel the speaker s thought process and mental state. In addition to this frantic writing style, the author repetitively uses opposing and contradictory words whilst attempting to describe lust, â€Å"enjoyed† (5) and â€Å"despised† (5), â€Å"hunted† (6) and â€Å"hated† (6), â€Å"bliss† (11) and â€Å"woe† (11), and â€Å"joy† (12) and â€Å"dream† (12). In addition to these contradictions, there is also heavy repetition. The words extreme and lust are both repeated several times throughout the poem. These conflicting views of lust, as well as the repetition of language, further reflect the confused, frantic, and frazzled mental state of the speaker. Beyond the madness as a result of guilt, the author claims lust within itself creat es madness, â€Å"On purpose laid to make the taker mad:/ Mad in pursuit and in possession so, / Had, having and in quest to have, extreme;† (8-10). These lines create a metaphorical crack within the armor of the speaker’s mind that will echo throughout the entirety of the poem. As the authors guilt strains more and more upon his mental state, he must find a way to cope. He attempts to reach solace by using logic. Vendler notes this occurrence, â€Å"The speaker’s choice of definition and division into parts in the deceptively scholastic beginning (‘Th’expense of spirit in a waste of shame/ Is lust in action, and till action, lust / Is perjured,’ etc.)Show MoreRelatedShakespeare s Sonnets Of 14 Lines1542 Words   |  7 PagesShakespeare’s sonnets of 14 lines, are written in iambic pentameter, five metrical feet to a line, each foot having one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, with three quatrains and rhymed couplet scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. Often the beginning of the third quatrain marks the line in which the mood turns, and the poet expresses a revelation or epiphany. 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