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Sonnet 129: Th' expense of spirit in a waste of

POEM TEXT shame pleasure. The poem presents lust as an overwhelming urge that
forces people to indulge in sex that, as soon as it ends, leaves
them feeling depleted and ashamed. For the speaker, the
1 Th' expense of spirit in a waste of shame fleeting physical satisfaction of sex isn’t worth the emotional
agony that follows. The fact that people keep indulging their
2 Is lust in action; and till action, lust
lust anyway illustrates how powerful desire can be—so
3 Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame, powerful, the speakers says, that it defies all “reason,”
4 Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust; compelling people to chase after something that they know will
5 Enjoyed no sooner but despisèd straight: make them “mad.”
6 Past reason hunted; and, no sooner had, According to the speaker, lust is merciless and unstoppable. It
7 Past reason hated, as a swallowed bait, smolders inside people like a “murderous” energy, overriding all
8 On purpose laid to make the taker mad: other considerations and making it near impossible to do
9 Mad in pursuit, and in possession so: anything else until people satisfy their craving for intimacy. In
10 Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme; other words, sexual passion completely consumes people's
11 A bliss in proof and proved, a very woe; good sense!
12 Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream. This intense, feverish state might be worth enduring, the
13 All this the world well knows; yet none knows well speaker suggests, if sex itself were more rewarding. Yet the
14 To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell. speaker believes that sex doesn’t actually amount to much. It's
a "waste," a mere “expense of spirit”—a phrase that implies that
having sex costs something, as if people throw away precious
energy when they indulge in their desire.
SUMMARY Because actually having sex seems to rob people of their
“spirit,” its aftermath is full of regret. People feel ashamed for
To waste energy in the pointless, embarrassing act: that's what seeking out satisfaction through sex, the poem implies,
it means to have sex. But until people have sex, their desires will especially since that satisfaction disappears as soon as it has
be misleading, cruel, violent, shameful, wild, intense, been "enjoyed." Post-sex embarrassed comes from people
inappropriate, merciless, and deceptive. As soon as people give feeling foolish for having expended so much energy (both
in to their sexual desires, they hate them. Lust pushes people to mentally and physically) on something so shallow and fleeting
irrationally chase after sex, even though, as soon as they have it, (in the speaker's summation, at least). And because of this
they hate the impulse that drove them toward sex in the first apparently inevitable sense of shame, lust leads to nothing but
place—as though they were a fish that'd swallowed a “woe.”
fisherman's bait, a trap that was specifically set to attract them
and make them go crazy. People go mad trying to fulfill their Such “woe” isn’t enough to keep people from succumbing to
longings, and feel just as mad when actually doing so; such their desires, however. “All this the world well knows,” the
passions are intense and overwhelming regardless of whether speaker says, suggesting that everyone understands that lust is
people have already had sex, are in the middle of having sex, or often more torturous than it is pleasurable. And yet, nobody
are seeking out sex. Having sex feels great, but people are “shun[s] the heaven that leads […] to this hell,” meaning that,
miserable once it ends; the prospect of sex is great, but once it's although everyone knows that indulging in lust will only lead to
over, the pleasure vanishes as if it were all just a dream. pointless agony, they do it anyway. Lust is simply too powerful
Everyone knows this, but nobody has the good sense to resist for people to overcome, the poem illustrates, even if relenting
the heavenly allure of sex in order to avoid the hellish torments to desire means torturing oneself.
of lust.
Where this theme appears in the poem:
• Lines 1-14
THEMES

LUST AND SHAME

“Sonnet 129” is about the painful side of sexual

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in particular, when desire makes people go crazy with passion.
LINE-BY
LINE-BY-LINE
-LINE ANAL
ANALYSIS
YSIS This kind of lust, the speaker argues, is "perjured, murderous,
LINES 1-2 bloody, full of blame." To "perjure" is to purposefully tell a lie,
usually in a way that violates some kind of oath. This word
Th' expense of spirit in a waste of shame implies that lust is powerful enough to force people to deceive
Is lust in action; themselves, as if they've promised themselves that they won't
The sonnet begins with a bold assertion: sex isn't worth the act on their sexual yearnings yet violate this oath as soon as
painful cost of lust. The speaker calls sex an "expense of spirit," desire overtakes them.
to be more specific, a metaphor that implies that sex uses up Building on this idea, the speaker personifies lust itself as a
one's mental and physical (and, of course, spiritual) energy. "rude" and "cruel" person. It's clear that the speaker doesn't see
This suggests that sex actually costs people something. Not only lust as a pleasantly exciting feeling; instead, the speaker thinks
that, but it's little more than a "waste of shame"—an idea that of lust as a "savage" energy that is "not to [be] trust[ed]." Lust is
frames sex not only as a pointless use of energy, but also as nothing but a torturous preoccupation in the poem.
something that leads to guilt (perhaps because people feel This outlook is pretty cynical, it makes sense given the
ashamed of their feverish sexual desires once these desires speaker's general outlook on sex. The speaker makes clear in
have been satisfied). the very first line that sex is nothing but an "expense of spirit." If
All of this, the speaker says in line 2, is what "lust in action" one sees sex as just a "waste of shame," it's no surprise that
amounts to ("lust in action" is yet another euphemistic way of such a person would have a pessimistic perspective on the
talking about sex, since acting on lust means actually having sex). intense passion that leads to sex in the first place.
"Lust," then, is something capable of driving people to deplete These lines are made up of one long list filled with asyndeton
asyndeton,
their "spirit" and vitality as they go looking for a sexual release. as the speaker rattles off all the things wrong with lust without
The first line establishes the sonnet's use of iambic pentameter, stopping for the pause of a conjunction. This makes the list feel
a meter consisting of five iambs (metrical feet made up of an quick and endless, as though the speaker is ready to go on and
unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, da-DUM
DUM): on when it comes to talking about how terrible lust is. The rapid
barrage of descriptors pulls readers through at a breathless
Th' expense
pense | of spir
spir- | it in | a waste | of shame pace, with the flow of the language here mimicking the frantic
state of excitement that people feel when they're at the mercy
(Note that "Th' ex" is meant to be read as a single syllable here.) of lust.
This is the standard meter for Shakespearean sonnets, and
generally mimics the natural lilt of English speech.
LINES 5-8
Enjoyed no sooner but despisèd straight:
The speaker also uses sibilance of /s/ and /sh/ sounds in these
Past reason hunted; and, no sooner had,
lines:
Past reason hated, as a swallowed bait,
On purpose laid to make the taker mad:
Th'exxpensse of spirit in a wasste of sh
shame
Is lusst in acti
tion; [...] The sonnet
sonnet's second quatr
quatrain
ain outlines the frustrating iron
ironyy of
lust and desire—pleasures that, according to the speaker, lead
These soft sounds make the language feel gentle and inviting, only to torment and agony.
reflecting the enticing nature of sexual desire. Sibilance also The speaker unpacks this idea by first pointing out that people
might call to mind the hissing of a snake, or a hushed whisper. often want nothing more than to have sex but then, once
The sounds of these lines thus evokes the slippery deception of they've had it, hate themselves for having given in to their
lust, which the speaker believes pushes people towards desire. Sexual pleasure, the speaker implies, is thus:
torment. The poem's language itself illustrates just how difficult
it is to resist sexual desire, even if such desire only leads to a Enjoyed no sooner but despisèd straight:
"waste of shame."
In other words, as soon as sex is over ("enjoyed"), people hate
LINES 2-4
their lust—they hate having wanted to enjoy sex in the first
and till action, lust place.
Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame,
In lines 6 and 7, the speaker uses anaphor
anaphoraa, repeating the
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust;
phrase "past reason" to emphasize how strong the pull of lust
The speaker goes on to describe lust as a merciless and is: it makes people lose their rationality or good sense. People
overpowering force. The speaker focuses on the build up to sex ignore their better judgment and "hunt[]" down sexual pleasure

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even knowing the cost. shame.
The speaker then says that lust is like "a swallowed bait, / On LINES 13-14
purpose laid to make the taker mad." A baited trap (or a baited
fishhook) is a perfect example of something that seems All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
appealing but is, in the end, destructive and painful. Lust and To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.
sexual pleasure are similar, this simile suggests: they entice The last two lines feature the sonnet
sonnet's volta, or turn
turn: the point
people who want to experience delight and physical in a sonnet when the speaker responds in some way to
satisfaction, but the irony is that they actually cause more everything that's already been said. In the first three quatr
quatrains
ains,
distress than bliss. the speaker argues that lust is torture. In the final couplet
couplet,
The assonance of lines 7-8 adds propulsive rhythm to the lines, though, the speaker expands upon this idea by insisting that
building up the poem's intensity as the speaker describes the everyone knows this but still puts themselves through the
inescapable allure of lust: torment of sexual desire.
The metaphor comparing sex to "heaven" make sense of why
Past reason haated, as a swallowed baiait, it's so hard to pass it up: sex is so pleasurable that it's nearly
On purpose lai
aid to maake the taaker mad: impossible to go without it, even if this means enduring an all-
consuming passion that is overwhelming and frustrating. In
The speaker's language sounds pleasant even though the other words, people are willing to go through "hell" just to
words themselves outline the utter frustration and torture that experience the fleeting joy of sex.
go hand-in-hand with lust. Line 13 is very alliter
alliterativ
ativee, as the speaker repeats the /w/ and
/n/ sounds:
LINES 9-12
Mad in pursuit, and in possession so: All this the world well knows; yet none kn
knows well
Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;
A bliss in proof and proved, a very woe; This alliteration emphasizes the antimetabole of the phrase
Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream. "the world well knows
knows" and "none knows wellwell." This spotlights
The poem's third quatr
quatrain
ain suggests that, ironically enough, lust the par
parado
adoxx that, even though everyone understands that lust
leads to "woe." This is ironic because lust is supposed to lead to leads to agony, nobody actually ignores their desires. The
pleasure, not sadness and distress! But, the speaker argues, sex alliteration between "h heaven" and "h
hell" does a similar thing,
is only "a bliss in proof
proof"—that sex only feels good in the moment. drawing attention to the idea that the heavenly bliss of sex
Once it's over—once "proved," that "'roof" now in the past leads to hellish shame and regret.
tense—it's nothing but misery; sex doesn't create lasting
satisfaction.
The speaker's point is just that everything about sex (the lust
POETIC DEVICES
leading up to it, actually having sex, the immediate aftermath) is
METAPHOR
intense and overwhelming. It's "extreme" and "mad," driving
people crazy with passion. And this passion, the speaker The speaker uses several metaphors to talk about sex. The
indicates, isn't always worth the effort, since the pleasure of phrase "th' expense of spirit" in the first line, for example,
having sex only lasts so long. At first, sex seems like a "joy," but frames sex as something that costs people their own "spirit" or
once it has already happened, this "joy" feels like nothing but a vitality. Rather than framing sex as rewarding and uplifting, this
"dream." This metaphorically presents sexual satisfaction as a metaphor insists that sex and lust do little more than wear
fleeting thing: it's like a "dream" that suddenly vanishes when a people down.
person wakes up. Elsewhere, the speaker uses a metaphor to suggest that sexual
These lines are, like the rest of the poem, in iambic pentameter, pleasure is fleeting. In line 12, the speaker says:
which gives the language a bouncy, musical sound. Consider, for
example, lines 11 and 12: Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream
dream.

A bliss | in proof | and pro

provved
ed, | a ver
er- | y woe
woe; In this metaphor, the speaker presents the "joy" of sex as
Before
fore, | a jo
joyy | proposed
posed; | behind
hind, | a dream
dream. something that fades as quickly as a "dream." Such pleasure, the
speaker intimates, isn't even real; it quickly recedes, even
The rhythm of these lines is steady and predictable—as steady though people spend so much time chasing it.
and predictable, perhaps, as the agonizing cycle of lust and The speaker also uses a simile in line 7 that compares lust to a

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"swallowed bait," implying that sexual desire is like a trap of threatening.
some kind. This trap has been "bait[ed]" so that it seems
appealing. In reality, though, the trap has been set in order to Where P
Personification
ersonification appears in the poem:
make the person who "swallow[s]" it "mad." This outlines the
idea that something as enticing as sex can, in the end, lead to • Lines 2-4: “lust / Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of
blame, / Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust;”
agony.
The speaker also says that most people already know this but
IRONY
still end up chasing sexual pleasure. The speaker uses another
metaphor to illustrate this destructive tendency in the sonnet's The great iron
ironyy of the speaker's disdain for lust is that sex is
final two lines: supposed to be pleasurable, yet the poem argues that actually
acting on lust only leads to madness and "woe."
All this the world well knows; yet none knows well The speaker addresses this tension in line 5, saying, "Enjoyed
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell. no sooner but despisèd straight." In other words, people are
very eager to joyfully indulge their lust, but as soon as they
In this metaphor, "heaven" is the fleeting physical satisfaction of finish actually having sex, they hate the desire that overcame
sex, and "hell" is the feeling of feverish desire that drives people them. Of course, the speaker doesn't argue that sex itself is
crazy. These two things, the speaker says, are linked: the unpleasant, but that the entire experience—from the first pang
pursuit of satisfaction "leads" to suffering and torment. Ending of longing to the immediate aftermath of sex itself—ends up
the poem with this metaphor helps the speaker highlight the creating more overall agony than delight.
absurdity and iron
ironyy of sexual desire, the promised pleasure of To complicate the matter, everyone knows that the very thing
which actually leads to pain. they hope will bring them pleasure (sex) has the power to
overwhelm and torment them. In other words, people are well
Where Metaphor appears in the poem: aware of this irony. And yet, nobody denies themselves the joy
• Line 1: “Th' expense of spirit” of sex in order to avoid the even more powerful "woe" of lust.
• Lines 7-8: “Past reason hated, as a swallowed bait, / On Ironically, then, they open themselves up to emotional torture
purpose laid to make the taker mad:” even though what they really want is pleasure.
• Line 12: “Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.”
• Lines 13-14: “ All this the world well knows; yet none Where Iron
Ironyy appears in the poem:
knows well / To shun the heaven that leads men to this
• Lines 2-8
hell.”
• Line 11
• Lines 13-14
PERSONIFICATION
The speaker personifies lust, portraying it as a malicious and SIBILANCE
merciless force. Lust seems to have a sense of personal agency "Sonnet 129" is filled with sibilance that lends an enticing
throughout the poem, as the speaker goes through all the ways smoothness to the poem. Take, for example, line 4:
that it torments people. Take lines 2-4:
Savage, exxtreme, rude, cruel, not to trusst;
[...] lust
Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame, The hissing /s/ sounds here evoke a snake, and, in turn,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust; deception; lust comes across as crafty and dangerous, as
something that people can't resist despite knowing the pain it
Words like "savage," "rude," and "cruel" all make lust seem like a will cause. The same thing happens in the poem's opening lines,
living person who is wild, unrelenting, and unkind. where /sh/ and /s/ sounds combine:
This use of personification also presents sexual desire as if it
has the agency to lead people astray—it is something people Th'exxpensse of spirit in a wasste of shshame
ought "not to trust." This is because it is "perjured" (meaning Is lusst in acti
tion; and till action, lust
that it's built on lies) and "full of blame," suggesting that lust will
trick people into acting against their own best interests. It's These sounds are soft and whispery, suggesting the secrecy
almost as if sexual desire is a sly criminal, given that it can so and, indeed, "shame" of lust. Their sounds are again deceptively
thoroughly deceive people. Personification thus helps the gentle, evoking the way in which the promise of pleasure and
speaker bring lust to life, making it seem all the more real and satisfaction lure people into sex that drives them "mad."

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ASSONANCE
Where Sibilance appears in the poem:
Assonance works much like sibilance
sibilance, consonance
consonance, and
• Line 1: “Th' expense,” “spirit,” “waste,” “shame” alliter
alliteration
ation, filling the poem with music and drawing readers'
• Line 2: “lust,” “action” attention to certain words. The assonant long /ay/ sound, for
• Line 4: “Savage,” “extreme,” “trust” example, adds extra oomph to the phrase "waaste of shaame,"
• Line 5: “sooner,” “despisèd,” “straight” quickly and emphatically highlighting what the speaker believes
• Line 6: “Past,” “sooner” to be the downside of sex.
• Line 7: “Past,” “swallowed”
• Line 9: “pursuit,” “possession,” “so” Nowhere is assonance more apparent than in lines 7 and 8,
• Line 10: “quest,” “extreme” when the speaker once more uses the long /ay/ sound:
• Line 11: “bliss”
Past reason haated, as a swallowed baiait,
CONSONANCE On purpose lai
aid to maake the taaker mad:

Consonance adds texture and musicality to "Sonnet 129," The strong assonance here makes the speaker's tone all the
drawing readers' attention to certain words and also evoking more insistent; the return to the same vowel sound again and
the speaker's state of mind throughout. Take line 3, which again turns up the volume on the people and suggests the
features consonance of the /r/, /d/, /b/, and /l/ sounds: speaker's building agony and frustration.

Is perrjurred
d, murd
rderrous, bl
blood
dy, fullll of bl
blame,
Where Assonance appears in the poem:
This dense cluster of consonance (and especially the bold /b/ • Line 1: “waste,” “shame”
and /d/ sounds) adds a certain severity and intensity to the • Line 3: “perjured,” “murderous”
speaker's tone, underscoring the idea that lust can be cruel and • Line 4: “rude,” “cruel”
relentless. • Line 7: “hated,” “bait”
• Line 8: “laid,” “make,” “taker”
In other moments, though, consonance actually makes the
• Line 11: “woe”
language sound rather soothing, as is the case when the
• Line 12: “proposed”
speaker repeats the /v/ sound (among other forms of
• Line 13: “knows,” “knows”
consonance) in lines 10 and 11:
• Line 14: “heaven,” “men”
Had, havving, and in quest to havve, extreme;
A bliss in proof and provved, a very woe; ALLITERATION
The alliter
alliteration
ation in "Sonnet 129" serves the same function as the
The /v/ sound in this moment adds a pleasant richness to these poem's sibilance
sibilance, consonance
consonance, and assonance
assonance: it increases the
lines. The speaker thus uses consonance to make the language song-like quality of the speaker's language and draws attention
sound appealing even though the overall tone of the poem is to various phrases.
one of distress and frustration. In the middle of the poem, for example, alliterative word pairs
highlight the contrast between how people feel before and
Where Consonance appears in the poem: after sex. No "ssooner" is sex "enjoyed," the speaker says in line
5, than it becomes "despised straight." The /s/ sounds links the
• Line 1
• Line 2 feelings that fall on either side of sex itself.
• Line 3 The same thing happens throughout the poem. In lines 6-7, for
• Line 4 instance, the speaker alliterates on the /h/ sound to emphasize
• Line 5 the connection between having sexual desire ("hunting" for
• Line 6 sex), actually having sex, and then hating sexual desire:
• Line 7
• Line 8 Past reason hunted; and, no sooner had,
• Line 9 Past reason hated, as a swallowed bait,
• Line 10
• Line 11 The shared /m/ sounds of "mmake" and "m
mad" work in the same
• Line 12 way, the shared sounds underscoring the connection between
• Line 13
lust and madness—the former of which is directly responsible
• Line 14
for ("m
make[s]") people crazy ("m
mad").

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The sharp /p/ sound in "p pursuit" and "p
possession" returns to
Where Caesur
Caesuraa appears in the poem:
the idea that lust leads not to pleasure, but to agony: people are
"mad" when seeking out, or "p pursuing," sex, and they're "mad" • Line 2: “action; and,” “action, lust”
when they're in "p possession" of sex too! All this alliteration • Line 3: “perjured, murderous,” “, bloody,” “, full”
underscores the speaker belief that indulging lust (i.e., having • Line 4: “Savage, extreme,” “, rude,” “, cruel,” “, not”
sex) doesn't solve anything—it doesn't rid people of their lustful • Line 6: “hunted; and,” “, no”
desires, at least not for long. • Line 7: “hated, as”
Finally, note the strong alliteration at the end of the poem on • Line 9: “pursuit, and”
/w/ and /n/ sounds: • Line 10: “Had, having,” “, and,” “have, extreme”
• Line 11: “proved, a”
• Line 12: “Before, a,” “proposed; behind,” “, a”
All this the world well knows; yet none kn
knows well
• Line 13: “knows; yet”
This alliteration adds a sense of urgency and exasperation to
the speaker's closing words, underscoring the speaker's REPETITION
frustration at the fact that people indulge their lust despite The repetition in "Sonnet 129" adds a sense of emphasis and
knowing the consequences. insistence to the speaker's words. Take line 2, when the speaker
repeats the word "lust":
Where Alliter
Alliteration
ation appears in the poem:
Is lust in action, and till action, lust
• Line 3: “bloody,” “blame”
• Line 5: “sooner,” “straight” This diacope calls attention to the poem's main concern,
• Line 6: “hunted,” “had”
underscoring how overwhelming and inescapable sexual desire
• Line 8: “make,” “mad”
feels to the speaker.
• Line 9: “pursuit,” “possession”
• Line 12: “Before,” “behind” Repetition appears again in lines 6 and 7, when anaphor
anaphoraa
• Line 13: “world,” “well,” “none,” “knows” emphasizes the fact that lust pushes people to act irrationally,
• Line 14: “heaven,” “hell” or beyond the limits of "reason" and good sense:

CAESURA Past reason hunted; and, no sooner had,

Past reason hated, as a swallowed bait,
The poem is full of caesur
caesuras
as, which the speaker uses to add
emphasis to certain ideas and to vary the rhythm of the poem's
The par
parallelism
allelism of these lines (which follow the same
language.
grammatical and logical structure) highlights the par
parado
adoxx at the
The caesuras in line 2, for example, slow the poem's pace: heart of the poem: people irrationally seek out sexual pleasure,
well aware that they'll hate themselves having "swallowed" the
Is lust in action; || and till action, || lust "bait."
Elsewhere, the speaker uses repetition as a way of playing with
The first of these caesuras breaks up the line, giving readers a the language. For instance, line 10 features polyptoton
polyptoton, as the
moment to digest the poem's opening sentence ("Th'expense of speaker riffs on the various conjugations of the verb "to have":
spirit in a waste of shame / Is lust in action"). The second
caesura also opens up a small space in the line, as the speaker Had
Had, ha
having
ving, and in quest to ha
havve, extreme;
winds up to deliver the long list of adjectives that describe lust
as an overwhelming force.
The past tense, present tense, and future tense of this verb
The poem is generally full of stops and starts, as the speaker illustrates that sexual desire is always intensely overwhelming
jumps back and forth between talking about the different ("extreme"). The implication, then, is that the frenzied
stages of sexual desire: the lust that comes before sex, the emotional state that comes along with lust is something that
actual act of lovemaking, and the immediate aftermath. The never fully goes away.
short, choppy rhythm created by these caesuras thus aligns
In the poem's final couplet
couplet, antimetabole again highlights the
with the many abrupt shifts that take place throughout the
paradoxical nature of sexual desire:
poem, making the poem feel somewhat feverish and
disorganized—an effect that illustrates just how thoroughly lust
All this the world well knows
knows; yet none knows well
frazzles the speaker.
Everyone fully understands all the downfalls of lust, yet no one

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knows how to stop themselves from seeking out pleasure that
leads to such pain. FORM, METER, & RHYME
FORM
Where Repetition appears in the poem:
"Sonnet 129" is, of course, a sonnet
sonnet! More specifically, it's a
• Line 2: “lust,” “lust” Shakespearean sonnet, meaning that it consists of 14 lines that
• Line 4: “extreme” can be divided into three quatr
quatrains
ains (four-line stanzas) and a
• Line 5: “no sooner” final rhyming couplet
couplet:
• Line 6: “Past reason,” “no sooner”
• Line 7: “Past reason”
• Quatrain
• Line 8: “mad” • Quatrain
• Line 9: “Mad” • Quatrain
• Line 10: “Had,” “having,” “have,” “extreme” • Couplet
• Line 11: “proof,” “proved”
• Line 13: “well knows,” “knows well” The speaker spends the first three quatrains listing the many
ways that lust can torment people, detailing the iron
ironyy that the
pursuit of sexual pleasure is often pretty agonizing. In the
VOCABULARY poem's turn
turn—which happens in the final couplet—the speaker
suggests that people are well aware of how tormenting lust is
Expense (Line 1) - Expenditure. To expend something is to use but don't have the strength to turn away from it. Sexual desire
it up. is so powerful, it seems, that people willingly put themselves
Spirit (Line 1) - Energy or some kind of life-source. through "hell" just to chase the brief, "heaven[ly]" pleasures of
Shakespeare may also be using the word as a euphemism for sex.
semen.
METER
Lust (Line 2) - Sexual desire.
Like most sonnets
sonnets, "Sonnet 129" is written in iambic
Perjured (Line 3) - To "perjure" is to purposefully lie about pentameter. This means that each line consists of five iambs
iambs,
something, especially under oath. The suggestion here is that metrical feet made up of an unstressed syllable followed by a
lust is deceitful and misleading. stressed syllable (da-DUM
DUM). Take, for example, the first line:
Savage (Line 4) - Wild and uncontrolled.
Despisèd (Line 5) - Hated. Th' expense
pense | of spi
spi- | rit in | a waste | of shame
Straight (Line 5) - Immediately.
The iambs in this line create a da-DUM
DUM da-DUM DUM rhythm that
Past Reason (Line 6, Line 7) - Beyond all reason or good sense. subtly echoes the natural cadence of English speech. (Note that
Hunted (Line 6) - Pursued. "Th' ex-" here is meant to scan as one syllable; it's also possible
not to stress "in" in the above line, but that's a very minor
Bait (Line 7) - Something enticing (like a tasty bit of food) used
variation and the meter would still be considered iambic
to lure an unsuspecting victim into some kind of trap.
pentameter).
Laid (Line 8) - Set (as in "to set a trap").
The speaker makes a number of metrical substitutions
Mad (Line 8, Line 9) - Crazy or tormented. throughout the sonnet, mixing up the easy bounce of iambic
Pursuit (Line 9) - The act of chasing something down. pentameter to add interest and emphasis to certain lines. Often
Possession (Line 9) - To "possess" something is to own it. By these non-iambic feet appear alongside the poem's many
taking "possession" of sexual desire, the speaker is talking caesur
caesuras
as. Line 4 is a perfect example of this:
about actually having sex.
Sa
Savvage, | extreme
treme, | rude
rude, cruel
cruel, | not to trust
trust;
Quest (Line 10) - A long journey or search.
Bliss (Line 11) - Extreme happiness. The first foot of this line is a trochee
trochee, or a foot made up of a
Woe (Line 11) - Intense sadness. stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable: "Sa Savvage."
The next foot returns to the iambic rhythm, but the fact that
Shun (Line 14) - To reject or avoid.
the line contains so many caesuras (indicated by the commas
above) forces an extra stress in the third foot: "rude
rude, cruel
cruel." This
is a spondee
spondee, or two consecutive stressed syllables. The next
foot again looks like a trochee ("notnot to"), and the line ends

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without its final expected beat (there are only nine syllables backdrop of Renaissance England.
here).
In deviating so far from iambic pentameter like this, the speaker
makes the language feel less predictable and keeps readers on
CONTEXT
their toes. The frequent pauses and occasional falling rhythms
LITERARY CONTEXT
(that is, feet starting with a stressed syllable and moving to an
unstressed one) convey the speaker's anger and frustration. "Sonnet 129" belongs to the "Dark Lady" sequence of
Shakespeare's of 154 sonnets
sonnets. Whereas the first 126 of these
RHYME SCHEME sonnets (known as the "Fair Youth" sequence) are about the
"Sonnet 129" follows a standard Elizabethen sonnet rhyme strong connection that the speaker (often taken to be
scheme, which looks like this: Shakespeare himself) has with a young man, the sonnets in the
Dark Lady chunk are more blatantly sexual and often present
ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
romantic passion as a sickness. This is clearly the case in
This rhyme scheme creates a sense of consistency and "Sonnet 129," which frames lust as an overpowering, misery-
steadiness. The predictability of the rhyme scheme might inducing force.
reflect the predictable cycle of lust and shame. The pull of the
Whereas the sonnets about the Fair Youth tend to be wistful
clear, full lines throughout the poem also grant the speaker's
and affectionate, many of the sonnets about the Dark Lady are
words a feeling of forward momentum; the rhyme scheme
full of intense, self-destructive passion. "Sonnet 129" doesn't
swiftly propels readers through the poem, just as lust propels
even mention the Dark Lady, instead focusing on the ravaging
people to "hunt" after their desires.
effects of lust. This negative perspective on desires
foreshadows pieces like "Sonnet
Sonnet 147
147," in which the speaker
SPEAKER uses an extended metaphor to compare his love for the Dark
Lady to a "fever" that has overtaken him.
There's no concrete information about the speaker of "Sonnet The sonnet form was popularized in the 14th century by the
129." The only thing that is perfectly clear is that this person Italian poet Francesco Petrarch, who wrote many sonnets
doesn't think too highly of lust, believing sexual desire to a about unrequited love. Many of the sonnets written in the next
"cruel" yet irresistible force that drives people "mad." 400 years were, in some way or another, also about love, and
However, the rest of Shakespeare's 154 sonnets provide Shakespeare's 154 sonnets are no exception. However, "Sonnet
contextual clues about the speaker's identity. Many of the other 129" isn't about unrequited love—in fact, it's about what
sonnets make it clear that the speaker is an aging poet who has happens when people actually get what they want.
a strong connection with a younger man and, later, a
tumultuous relationship with a woman known as the "Dark HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Lady." Many readers believe that the speaker is actually Along with the 154 other Shakespearean sonnets, "Sonnet
Shakespeare himself, though there's no saying for sure if this is 129" was published in 1609. Shakespeare actually wrote most
actually the case. In any case, everyone agrees that the speaker of the sonnets much earlier than this, though nobody knows
is somebody who gets hung up on both the joys and challenges exactly when he composed them. That said, most people agree
of romance. that he produced the sonnets in the 1590s—a relatively calm
period in English history.
In 1588, Britain defeated the Spanish Armada, a fleet of 130
SETTING ships sent by Spain to dethrone Queen Elizabeth. This victory
"Sonnet 129" doesn't mention a specific time or place. This is led to a peaceful period in which artists like Shakespeare were
because the poem is about what it's like to experience lust, not given the space and time to focus on their craft. Shakespeare
about a particular person, relationship, or story. The speaker wrote several of his most famous plays during the 1590s, but
talks about lust in a broad, somewhat abstract way, never the plague outbreak of 1592 meant that theaters had to close.
explicitly stating that these observations apply to the speaker's Some speculate that this gave Shakespeare extra time to write
own experience. The poem is therefore applicable to almost any and perhaps even encouraged him to focus on poetry; not only
setting. did he write the sonnets in this era, but he also published the
narrative poem Venus and Adonis while the theaters were shut
Having said that, though, most people read "Sonnet 129" in the down.
context of the rest of Shakespeare's 154 sonnets
sonnets, which are
most likely set when Shakespeare wrote them: in the 1590s. It's
thus reasonable to assume that "Sonnet 129" is set against the

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• Sonnet 138: When m myy lo
lovve swears that she is made of
MORE RESOUR
RESOURCES
CES truth
• Sonnet 147: My lolovve is as a fe
fevver
er,, longing still
EXTERNAL RESOURCES • Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s da day?
y?
• 1609 Printing — Take a look at what it would have been • Sonnet 19: De
Devvouring Time, blunt thou the lion lion's
's pa
paws
ws
like to read "Sonnet 129" when it was first published in • Sonnet 20: A woman
woman’s ’s face with nature
nature’s’s own hand
1609. (https:/
(https:///archiv
archive.org/details/
e.org/details/ painted
shak
shakespearesson01shakgoog/page/n120/mode/2up
espearesson01shakgoog/page/n120/mode/2up)) • Sonnet 29: When, in disgr
disgrace
ace with fortune and men men’s ’s eeyyes
• Sonnet 30: When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
• Shak
Shakescleare
escleare TTrranslation — Our Shakescleare modern • Sonnet 55: Not marble nor the gilded monuments
translation of the sonnet. (https:/
(https://www
/www.litcharts.com/
.litcharts.com/ • Sonnet 71: No longer mourn for me when I am dead
shak
shakescleare/shak
escleare/shakespeare-tr
espeare-translations/sonnets/
anslations/sonnets/ • Sonnet 73: That time of yyear
ear thou ma mayst
yst in me behold
sonnet-129)
• The Bard Himself — Learn more about Shakespeare in this
brief overview of his life and work. HOW T
TO
O CITE
(https:/
(https://www
/www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-
.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-
shak
shakespeare
espeare)) MLA
• Sonnet Sequences — Check out the British Library's Lannamann, Taylor. "Sonnet 129: Th' expense of spirit in a waste of
simple break down of Shakespeare's 154 sonnets and how shame." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 19 Feb 2019. Web. 9 Feb 2021.
they're sequenced. (https:/
(https://www
/www.bl.uk/works/
.bl.uk/works/
shak
shakespeares-sonnets#)
espeares-sonnets#) CHICAGO MANUAL
Lannamann, Taylor. "Sonnet 129: Th' expense of spirit in a waste of
• A Reading of the P
Poem
oem — Watch Voldemort—er, the actor shame." LitCharts LLC, February 19, 2019. Retrieved February 9,
Ralph Fiennes—read "Sonnet 129." 2021. https://www.litcharts.com/poetry/william-shakespeare/
(https:/
(https://www
/www..youtube.com/watch?v=LHMsu9b2xls) sonnet-129-th-expense-of-spirit-in-a-waste-of-shame.
LITCHARTS ON OTHER WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
POEMS
• Sonnet 116: LLet
et me not to the marriage of true minds
• Sonnet 130: My mistress' eeyyes are nothing lik
likee the sun

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