Multiple Extremities Of Figurative Language In Shakespeare's Sonnet 29

The sixteenth-century English poet, William Shakespeare employs multiple extremities of figurative language and diction in his poem, “Sonnet 29,” to elicit the speaker’s misfortune and insecurity about himself. The speaker dwells on his terrible faith and the feeling that he is an outcast, until he realizes that there is no need for him to change anything about him. The poem begins with the speaker assuming himself to be “in disgrace with fortune,” implicating that he has been having bad luck. He also feels in disgrace with “men’s eyes,” meaning that everyone looks at him with dishonor and shame. Then again in line two, “I all alone beweep my outcast state,” the speaker indicates that he has been sitting all alone and crying about being outcasted by society. In lines three to four, the speaker comments about his useless cries to God that fall upon deaf ears and in the meantime, he is cursing his faith. In addition to the speaker pondering thoughts on his misfortune in quatrain one, in quatrain two, the speaker finds himself

He wishes that he had “more rich in hope,” friends, “man’s art” and another “man’s scope.” Nevertheless in line nine to ten, “Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, haply I think on thee, and then my state,” the speaker begins to despise himself for envying another man’s fortune and describes the effect that his love has on his emotions. Furthermore, “the lark at daybreak arising from sullen earth,” refers to how the the bright sun brings happiness to his heart and