Sonnet 29 - William Shakespeare

I have to say that when I saw we were going to read Shakespeare, I cringed a little bit. I've always kind of hated Shakespeare. I do love how he has all these hidden meanings within his works, but to find them is almost nightmarish. Sonnet 29 was different though. The main gist of it is easy and not stressful to recover. Granted, much of Shakespeare's work are plays, and it makes it harder to decode something the first time around reading it. But these sonnets are short, and therefor easier to understand. When I read Sonnet 29, it hit a chord with me. Even if there is hidden meaning behind his words, I can simply relate to it the way it's written. I can feel the loathing and despising he has towards himself at first, but then when he thinks of that certain someone, his day brightens up and everything becomes okay again. I feel distressed during the first three quarters of the poem, but it turns around and has such a happy ending - something you don't expect from Shakespeare! It's the type of poem any girl would love to receive - it's so cheesy but cute.

I love the words Shakespeare uses at the beginning - disgrace, beweepe, bootlesse cries - you can really feel his cry for help. You can feel the agony within him. But then out of nowhere comes his light at the end of the tunnel where he says "Haplye I thinke on thee" and he gets happy again. It's funny how more than half of the poem is about his self-loathing though and he only reserves the last few lines for happiness - could this be a symbol that we spend too much time focusing on the negative?

Oh Shakespeare, how I have come to love thee.