In Sonnet 129, by
William Shakespeare, the concluding couplet shows the reader that lust is a
downfall inherent in people’s lives that they cannot avoid. Shakespeare tells
the reader “All this the world well know; yet none knows well” (line 13). He
connects lust to being instilled in people by God as a curse, and he says
people should “shun the heaven that leads men to this hell” (line 14). This
“heaven” can also be thought of as the act of lust.
The poem begins by describing lust as “Th’
expense of spirit in a waste of shame/ Is lust in action; […]” (lines 1 to 2).
The footnote describes that “the word order here is inverted and slightly
obscures the meaning. Lust, when put into action, expends ‘spirit’ […] in a
‘waste’ […] of shame” (Norton 1040). Shakespeare is writing about the effort,
pain, and seamen exerted in the immoral act of lust. The “waste of shame” can
also be taken literally to mean the genitals of someone who lusts. The genitals
are corrupted because they are not being used for God’s purpose of procreation.
Lust is a misuse of a man’s seamen because it is not being used to procreate.
Lust is not an act of love: it is just about sex. In the next part of the
stanza, Shakespeare uses very descriptive adjectives to show that lust is “full
of blame” (line 3). He calls lust “perjured, murd’rous, bloody […]/ Savage,
extreme, rude, cruel” (lines 3 to 4). Lust has these qualities “till action”
and “in action” (line 2). He concludes the stanza by warning the reader “not to
trust” lust because it will not lead to good (line 4).
Shakespeare opens the next stanza, by
explaining that lust is “Enjoyed no sooner but despised straight” (line 5).
This line deals with the anticipation that lust makes one have for achieving
lust’s goal of sex, but then after sex, a person hates themselves and the one
they have lusted for because of the morality involved. After the act, people
see the impurity of the whole situation. Shakespeare describes lust taking
people “Past reason” to conquer the one they have “hunted” (line 6). Then after
this illogical hunt is over, “Past reason hated, as a swallowed bait” (line 7).
Shakespeare uses the imagery of a hooked fish to describe a person after lust has
occurred. The person knows they have made a mistake, but they also know they
cannot correct it just like a fish. This also is given another meaning when the
couplet comes along. The fish can be thought of as people who are given this
hook by God. A fish has an instinct to pursue the food, and people have an
instinct to lust. Both fish and people cannot prevent their problems because it
is part of God’s design.
The person who has succumbed to lust or “the
taker” is now “mad” because he or she realizes his or her faults (line 8). The
word “mad” also is used to describe the insanity involved with lust (line 8).
Lust is “Mad in pursuit, and in possession so” (line 9). Lust occupies one’s
mind and is all they can think about when one is lusting. People are “Mad” when
they are trying to lustfully pursue someone because they do not think or behave
logically.
Shakespeare concludes that “Had, having, and in
quest to have, [people are] extreme” (line 10). People do not behave
rationally, but they are not capable of rational behavior under the power of
lust. Shakespeare concludes that the act of sex for the purpose of lust is “A
bliss in proof and proved, a very woe” (line 11). When people have this kind of
sex it is great but afterwards, it is terrible. “Before” the sex takes place
people think it will be a “joy”, but “behind” or after the sex people want to
separate themselves from the incident like it never happened (line 12). People
would like to block out the memory like it was all a bad “dream” (line 12).
The couplet
at the end of the poem gives the reader a meaning to Shakespeare’s deep
description of lust in the rest of the poem. He does not relate lust to a
broader scale until the ending couplet. Before the couplet, Shakespeare does
not let readers know what this description of lust has to do with them. He
knows that everyone knows that lust is filled with problems, but Shakespeare
points out that people cannot avoid it when he says, “none knows well” (line
13). He then gives the reader instruction “To shun the heaven that leads men to
this hell” (line 14). Shakespeare shows the reader that the lust was given to
people by God, but they must attempt to keep it from controlling or ruining
their lives
Posts
