Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Sarah's Analysis of Sonnet 129

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Sonnet 129 is all about the evils of lust.  The tone is very dark as is discusses the murderous, cruel, and bad effects of lust. To top it all off at the very end of the poem Shakespeare acknowledges that most people know of these evils, yet never well enough to keep them from falling into the trap of lust, leaving the reader in a sad, hopeless place.  This compares in content with Sonnet 147, the tone in 147 is not as dark as the tone of 129, but they both discuss the dangers of lust.  Sonnet 147 compares lust and desire to food that is making you sick, and even though you know that the food is hurting you, you keep eating it anyway; and so it is with lust. In both sonnets lust is deadly, "Desire is death" (Sonnet 147) and "murderous, bloody, full of blame" (sonnet 129). These sonnets both discuss the idea that even knowledge of lust's dangers is not enough to keep people from being lustful, and hurting themselves and others. The sick man in Sonnet 147 continues to eat the food that is killing him, and Sonnet 129 state rather bluntly that "yet none knows well/ To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell." 

In form sonnet 129 compares well with sonnet 37.  Sonnet 129 uses enjambment a couple of times to connect an idea through multiple lines, sonnet 37 does the same.  They also both make lists of characteristics to describe their subjects.   Sonnet 129's list, "murderous, bloody, full of blame,/
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust;" punches the reader with each new descriptive word, pushing even farther the dark tone of the Sonnet and the painful, violent end of lust.  Sonnet 37 also uses a list, but only lists seven words and they are broken up into three at a time instead of eight in one go, such as "So then I am not lame, poor, nor despised,". This gives sonnet 37 a softer feel which better fits the poems grateful, happy tone.    

6 comments:

  1. Its interesting that you make the point of the "evils of lust" being a common theme in these sonnets but you only use one quote within your comparison, what other evidence do you see that goes along with this theme that makes it so dark in comparison? What does the form say about this theme in compared to how the form speak for the theme of Sonnet 37?

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    1. I wouldn't say that the evils of lust is a common theme as much as the dangers of lust. Sonnet 147 is much lighter in tone than 129, though the last two lines say, "For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright,/ Who art as black as hell, as dark as night." which also gives the idea of lust being dark and evil.
      As far as form goes Sonnet 129 if full of short phrases broken up by a lot of punctuation making the reader feel almost incomplete, and unsettled; which adds to the overall darkness and gloom of the poem. Sonnet 147 is more connected and flowing, which I think gives the poem an almost resigned tone, as the speaker is someone who recognizes that his lust is killing him, but is unable to change, and therefore is resigned to his fate.

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  2. I like that you developed your idea about never knowing the evils of lust well enough to keep from falling into that trap by comparing it with Sonnet 147. Rather than not knowing enough being the cause for succumbing to lust, knowledge of lust's dangers is made almost useless because it does not keep people from being lustful and hurting themselves. I am curious about the final 2 lines of Sonnet 129, "All this the world well knows; yet none knows well/ To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell." Is the heaven (that the speaker refers to) a metaphor for lust and the hell the bad effects of lust? Or is Shakespeare making a comment on members of Christianity that refuse to "shun" Christianity, but still give into lust, thereby condemning themselves to hell?

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    1. That is an interesting question. I'm more inclined to believe the first, that "heaven" is a metaphor for lust. It is possible that he is commenting on Christianity, but in that case it would almost be as if he were indicating that people should shun Christianity, which I find more unlikely.

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  4. I was struck by the similarities between sonnets 129 and 147 as I read through them after reading your post. I thought it was interesting that both refer to the madness that lust devolves into. The lists of characteristics that you addressed in your post demonstrate the severity of this madness. Both sonnets suggest that lust is unadulterated passion, which when reason is completely absent, drives the possessor to utter madness. I thought it was interesting that you noticed that lists in 37 actually created a softer delivery than the other two sonnets.

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