When, in Disgrace with Fortune and Men’s Eyes is the opening line of Sonnet 29 by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. Shakespeare ranks as the greatest playwright in English. He was also a fine poet. See Shakespeare, William.
The sonnets were printed in 1609, when Shakespeare’s plays had already achieved great popularity. Shakespeare had written the verses over a number of years, and the date of composition for each verse is unknown. The sequence consists of 154 sonnets. Some literary scholars believe that a different author wrote Sonnets 153 and 154, those focused on Cupid, the Roman god of love. Only two of the sonnets were published earlier, in a book of 20 poems entitled The Passionate Pilgrim (1599).
Like almost all of Shakespeare’s sonnets, Sonnet 29 consists of three quatrains (four-line units) followed by a concluding couplet (two-line unit). Each quatrain has a rhyme scheme of abab, cdcd, efef, with the final couplet a rhyming one (gg).
When, in disgrace with Fortune and men’s eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featured like him, like him with friends possessed. Desiring this man’s art, and that man’s scope, With what I most enjoy contented least; Yet, in these thoughts myself almost despising, Haply I think on thee, and then my state, Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate; For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
Sonnet 29 is one of many sonnets with the theme of love as compensation for worldly failure. Like the others among the first 126 of Shakespeare’s sonnets, Sonnet 29 is addressed to a young male friend. Scholars have failed to establish the young man’s identity. However, most critics agree that he was a nobleman, unlike Shakespeare. Thus, the circumstances of the poet and the young aristocrat contrasted greatly.
Sonnet 29 begins with the poetic speaker at his most despondent, contemplating his disgrace in the world’s eyes. He confesses to longing for a better fate than his own, and envies those “more rich in hope.” This could refer as much to the poet’s older age as to his lack of prospects for advancement. The poet continues with the theme of envy, wishing for “this man’s art and that man’s scope.” The poet’s dejection is so great that the speaker finds himself in a state of being “contented least” with what he “most enjoy[s].”
After using the first two quatrains to declare his miseries, the poet concludes that his friend compensates for them all. “Haply” (by chance) the poet thinks upon his friend, and all is transformed. The mere memory of his friend’s love makes the poet prefer his own situation to all those he had previously coveted. In the sole metaphor of the sonnet, the poet compares the gift of love to the wealth of kings, and declares himself the more fortunate.
For more information about Shakespeare’s sonnets, see Shakespeare, William (Shakespeare’s poems). See also English literature (Elizabethan poetry); Poetry (Forms); Poetry (Renaissance poetry).
