每日一首Sonnet (29)

XXIX
1. Whenin disgrace with fortune and men's eyes
2. I all alone beweep my outcast state,
3. And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
4. And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
5. Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
6. Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
7. Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
8. With what I most enjoy contented least;
9. Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising,
10. Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
11. Like to the lark at break of day arising
12. From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
13. For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
14. That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

Commentary:
It isuncertain whether the state of disgracereferred to in this sonnet is a real or imaginary one, for we have noexternalevidence of a dip in Shakespeare's fortunes which might havecontributedto an attack of melancholy and a subsequent castigation of fate as theperpetrator.It is tempting to relate works to periods in an author's life.Certainlythe years in which Shakespeare wrote Lear and Timon of Athens seem nottohave been the happiest of times, but it is almost impossible tocorrelateparticular events in his life, and the possible emotional crises thattheycould have produced, with publication dates, or known dates ofproductionof his plays. (See further notes on SonnetXXIX. )
The sorrow quotedhere might be more rhetoricalthan real, being part of the sonnet tradition, in which manymisfortunescontrive to make the lover unhappy. It also serves to highlight thegreatjoy which ends the poem, when he thinks once more on his beloved, as inthe psalms, and rises above the clouds.

Note:
1. To be in disgrace with fortune is presumably to be not favoured by her(taking fortune to be the goddess of 111).
O! for my sake do you with Fortune chide,
The guilty goddess of my harmful deeds,
That did not better for my life provide
Than public means which public manners breeds.
Disgrace is a term which wouldmore usually be applied to a demotion or removal from office. Or to a finalhumiliation and loss of status. Antonyon being defeated by Augustus envisages
The inevitable prosecution of
Disgrace and horror, AC.IV.13.65-6.In this sonnet the word seems to relate more to a failure to achieve statusin the first instance, rather than to a subsequent deprivation. To be in disgrace (in) men'seyes - this possibly refers to some form of public disapprobation, eitherreal or imaginary. What the disgrace was we cannot say. It could be the merefact of being associated with the theatre, which by many preachers of the day,and by all Puritans, was considered to be a great den of iniquity and a sourceof many evils. See the passage at the bottom of this page illustrative ofPuritan distrust.    2. beweep = weep for, bewail; Like bewailand beseem, the word has an archaic and biblical flavour.
my outcast state = my condition of being a social outcast. The conditionis probably exaggerated for the sake of effect, and to emphahsise that thespeaker sees everything in a gloomy light. Fortune has turned against him andhe feels that he does not belong any more to society.      3. deaf heaven - Heaven (God) turns a deaf ear to his complaintsand laments. The parallel is drawn with Job in the Old Testament, who was castout on a dung heap and bewept his mournful state.
bootless = to no avail, achieving nothing.
   4. And look upon myself - as theoutcast contemplates his own fallen state.
curse my fate - another echo from the Book of Job in the Bible:
After this Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. And Job spake and saidet the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said,'There is a man child conceived'. Let that day be darkness, let not God regardit from above, neither let the light shine upon it. etc. Job.III.1-4. 5. Wishing myself to be like one who is more richlyendowed with all manner of blessings, including wealth.   6. Featured like him, like him = with featureslike this person, like this second person having friends, like this third,desiring his skills (line 7) etc.      7. this man's art = the skill that one particular person has; thatman's scope = the capability, range, mental ability that another particularperson has.     8. It is unspecified what he most enjoys,but evidently, in his despondency, things which ought to give him enjoyment donot do so. The implication is that he no longer enjoys the love of his beloved,although that idea is countermanded by the final couplet. 9. in these thoughts = while I am engaged in these thoughts
myself almost despising - and almost considering myself to be despicablefor being so cast down. 10.Haply = by chance, by a happy stroke ofluck;
my state = my mental state, with a suggestion also that his fortune, orthe state of affairs in which he finds himself, improves.      11. There is an echo of this inCym.II.iii.20-1
Hark! hark the lark at heaven's gate sings,
And Phoebus 'gins arise... 12. sullen = gloomy, dark, miserable;
From sullen earth - the phrase may be taken both with this and with thepreceding line. The lark rises from sullen earth, and it also sings hymns whichrise up from the earth to the gate of heaven, or, as it sings, it rises fromearth towards heaven.
sings - the subject is the lark, but also the poet's soul, which hasbeen liberated by his thinking of his beloved.  
13. thysweet love remembered = when I have called to mind your love, when yoursweet love springs up again in my memory. 14. Although the primarymeaning is that 'I am happier than a king could be, and therefore have no wishto swap places with him' there is a hint of the political meaning of state,i.e. nation state, as in 64:
When I have seen such interchange of state,
Or state itself confounded to decay;
Hence, 'even though I were to have a kingdom, I would not exchange it for thethe happiness of knowing you'.