Sonnet 29. Shakespeares Sonnet 29 is a similar story about a man who thinks he is outcast because of his physical, mental, or emotional condition.

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Sonnet 29

        “I am just a man with a heart and sinful hands.”  That is a line from the song “Redemption” by August Burns Red.  It is about a man that is depressed and ashamed about the things that he has done in his life.  Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29 is a similar story about a man who thinks he is outcast because of his physical, mental, or emotional condition.  His fortune or social rank his rejection from a lover or from society. Possibly even his sexual orientation.  Even though the speaker’s pain remains a mystery, his cure is revealed.  John F. Andrews said, “His religious devotion to another mortal, not a higher being such as God, transports him to Edenic bliss.”

        In the first quatrain, the speaker is suffering from the isolation of misfortune.  Although the speaker may not be out of luck or the publics favor the moment, at all.  However, the strong emotions exhibited in the following lines (2-9) suggest that these “feelings of isolation and despair are not unfamiliar to him,” said Levi Fox, indeed, by line 9, he seems to gain a certain satisfaction from wallowing in his self-pity.  The poet makes a repetition of “state”, in Lines 2, 10, and 14 which indicates its significance in the poem.  But the many meanings of the word prevent the reader from understanding the cause of the speaker’s rejection.  Paul Fussell said “State could mean the state of mind, or an estate of a person’s status.”  In Lines 3-4, the speaker’s skyward wails receive no reply either from nature or from God.  The song “Redemption” by August Burns Red says, “Lord, show me the way.  I ask of you Father, let my words be your words.  Let my thoughts be your thoughts.  To you, I give my praise.  Show me the way.  Take me in your arms.  Never let me go.  Lord, show me the way, as I give myself to you.”  To me, the song seems as if the man is crying out to god for help.  Just like the speaker in Sonnet 29.

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        The second quatrain serves as the speaker’s wish list for ways in which he might alter his “state.”  In Lines 6-7 the speaker continues to name the types of people he wishes to be like but proceeds to use descriptions with obscure or multiple meanings.  David K. Weiser said “Not only does “featured” have several definitions, but it refers to three possible types. Those who are “rich in hope”, those “with friends possessed,” and perhaps those indicated by the speaker’s pointed finger as he recites the first half of line 6.”  The speaker’s admiration of someone’s “art” may refer to ...

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