The poem opens with the speaker describing his miserable condition. However, this sonnet discusses the miseries of the speaker and the pleasant effect of the beloved’s thoughts on his mood. Traditionally, sonnets addressed the impossible pursuit of the love of a god-like female beloved. However, the theme of this sonnet does not conform to the traditional themes of sonnets. It is composed of fourteen and is divided into three quatrains and a couplet. Sonnet twenty-nine is confirmation of this tradition. They made a few changes in it by introducing quatrains in it.
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Many other poets like Philip Sidney and Henry Howard also used this form in England. He followed all the conventions of Italian sonnets. In England, Thomas Wyatt was the first poet to practice writing poetry in the form of a sonnet.
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In England, this tradition reached late in the sixteenth century. The Italian poet and philosopher, Petrarch, invented this form of writing poetry for the first time in the fourteenth century. The main features of this form are that it is composed in strictly fourteen lines, and the meter used is iambic pentameter. The poem is written in sonnet form, which is a tradition borrowed from Italy. Based on this information, it can be said that this sonnet is addressed to the lovely guy with whom Shakespeare was in love. This portion is addressed to a mysterious lady. The last twenty-eight sonnets of the collection make the second portion. These sonnets are addressed to a male beloved. The first 126 sonnets make the first portion of the collection. However, the collection of sonnets is usually considered to be addressed to two different persons. This reason can also clarify why Shakespeare said that he is in “disgrace with fortune.” He must have been hurt by such comments made about him at the start of his career.Īs far as the person addressed in this sonnet is concerned, there is no obvious clue in the sonnet. He furthered by writing that Shakespeare is a jack of all trades. He wrote that Shakespeare is trying to imitate the University Wits and is an insignificant writer. One of the University Wits playwrights, Robert Greene, made fun of Shakespeare’s writing in his diary. Therefore, it can be said that these conditions led him to reflect on his miserable conditions in this poem.Īnother event of disgrace also happened in these years. Due to the closure of theatres at that time, Shakespeare found it difficult to earn his livelihood. Sonnet twenty-nine is also one the sonnets written at this time. During this time, he wrote his poetic pieces. In the 1590s, there was a severe plague in London city which resulted in the closure of all the theatres in the city. Among these poems, there are 154 sonnets which were published together in a collection in 1609. Along with his occupation with theatre, he also wrote many English poems. Later on in his life, he went on to buy shares of a famous theatre in London.
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He also used to work as an actor in theatre at that time. He was the most famous playwright of his time. William Shakespeare is one of the most well-known names in English literature.