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This video is my take on Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29. I've always enjoyed reading poems and trying to come up with something original to say about them. I hope I've done that here. Thanks for listening, and I'm curious to hear your take in the comments.
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The Analysis in Full:
Have you ever compared yourself to somebody else? Perhaps you see somebody on TV who’s won the lottery and you think to yourself, “I wish I was that lucky!” Or perhaps you meet somebody who’s always happy and upbeat and you think to yourself, “I wish I was that optimistic!" Or you spot somebody at a party who’s exceptionally handsome, and surrounded by people. He’s wearing a fashionable outfit and seems to know so much about everything! He’s good-looking, social, trendy, and intelligent, and you think to yourself, “I wish that were me!”
In Sonnet 29, Shakespeare describes this experience, this disappointment
in meeting somebody who is more “rich in hope” than you (more optimistic than you), somebody who has such “art” (style) and “scope” (knowledge)
that you become envious and you wish that you could trade places with them.
You know what people say, “Don’t compare yourself to others, compare yourself to who you were yesterday.” After all, you can’t expect too much of yourself. Take it step by step. Believe it or not, you’re likely idealizing the life of the person who seems so perfect. Nobody’s perfect! Instead, every day is an opportunity, a chance to become better than whoever you were yesterday.
Shakespeare makes this point when he compares the speaker’s state to
“the lark at break of day arising.” Happiness and hope emerge “at break of day,” when a day is beginning, because each new day gives him the opportunity to improve upon the person he was the day before.
Shakespeare also makes the point that we are prone to comparing ourselves to others when we are in a dark place. When you are unlucky,
“in disgrace with fortune,” and when people seem to dislike you, and when you shamelessly pity yourself, crying about “your outcast state,” that’s when you’re likely to follow a dark path and unnecessarily compare yourself
to others.
Let’s pause for a moment and review the first eight lines of the sonnet.
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;
My favorite part of this sonnet is the ninth line: “Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising.” This is where the speaker, while comparing himself to somebody else, realizes that he hates himself for being the kind of person who always makes comparisons! It’s humorous—a moment of self-realization, a snort of laughter through the tears, and this is when the speaker stops feeling sorry for himself and realizes he has something
that nobody else has: a special person in his life.
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.
We don’t know if this is a lover, a friend, or a family member—But whoever it is, their love inspires peace and joy and the speaker is happy to be exactly who they are.
If you’re in a good mood and working towards improvement, you won’t compare yourself to others. You’ll be satisfied with who you are and the progress – however little – you make! Furthermore, think of all the people
in your life who love you—I’m sure they’re thankful that you’re nobody else but yourself!
Don’t forget, this is all just one person’s opinion on Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29. I hope you enjoyed my take and I’m curious to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
