Mary's Informal Research Analysis for Sonnet 129

By: maryshurtleff on 12:30 AM

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1. I found and explication by James Harrison.  I noted how things in this poem that start parallel are sometimes used to emphasize opposites. Harrison also notes the difference in the poem between the times lust is specifically mentioned, particularly as "in action" and "till action.  He also claims that the poem tends to paint lust as the inevitable rather than pushing back against it.

http://content.ebscohost.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/ContentServer.asp?EbscoContent=dGJyMNLr40Sep7E40dvuOLCmr06epq9Ssqu4SrCWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGuskyurK5IuePfgeyx43zx1%2BqE&T=P&P=AN&S=R&D=hus&K=509462313

2.  I looked at gradesaver.com for an informal source.  It's nice because it starts out going line by line and then gives a deeper analysis.  From it, I better noted the contrasts offered in the poem between expectation and reality as well as the lack of personal pronouns that might imply that the writer is reluctant to own up to their error.

http://www.gradesaver.com/shakespeares-sonnets/study-guide/summary-sonnet-129-the-expense-of-spirit-in-a-waste-of-shame

3.  I found the below video and I thought the expressions were interesting, they sort of disappointment displayed between the two and the way they alternate was well done.  There is tension and even perhaps an uncertainty about the subject, as though they know their words are true but are reluctant to accept it as the poem's narrator seemed to be.  It gave a bit of a different idea of the poem to hear it through the eyes of two young people.

4. I read the sonnet to my roommate and her initial response was to laugh and say it made her think of a Beatles song that was purposely written to be impossible to analyze.  After taking a look at it herself though, she said that it sounded like it was talking about how lust is like wanting something and then realizing you don't really want it  - which is very much in line with how I would interpret the sonnet.

This picture I took is of a cupcake because the joy of good food is similarly fleeting and likely to cause to more harm than good.  Shakespeare seemed to often compare appetite to lust.