What Is The Mood Of The Poem One Hundred And Twenty Nine
In sonnet one hundred and twenty nine by William Shakespeare, the speaker uses powerful imagery and a dark, ominous tone to convey how lust can seem wonderful at the time, but can eventually hurt a person emotionally and lead them to a the point of no return. In the first quatrain of the sonnet, the speaker states that “lust is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame, savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust.” (3-4) This powerful imagery from this quotation depicts what the speaker believes lusting after someone is like, based off of their experiences. Words like “perjured, murderous, and bloody” produce gruesome images that portray the dark, savage side of love and lust. The word perjor means to willfully lie, while the words murderous
and bloody are usually associated with slaughter or murder. Shakespeare is implying that to lust after someone is to be lied to, or to be willfully slaughtered. The speaker states that lust is “enjoyed no sooner but despised... on purpose laid to make the taker mad,” (5) meaning that people enjoy lust one minute, but immediately despise it the next. “Mad in pursuit and possession so,” (9) people go insane pursuing lust, as it is a “bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe.” (11) These two lines portray how lust makes the pursuers of it go insane, as it is something you deeply want and is blissful in the pursuit of it, but is detrimental to one’s emotions after it is over. The imagery of these two lines is shown in words like “mad,” or “woe,” showing the detrimental effects of lust, while the ominous tone of these lines shows how lust is blissful at first, but leads people to a dark place in the end. Shakespeare concludes this sonnet in the rhyming couplet saying, “All the world knows this, but none knows to shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.” (13-14) This line means all the world knows the dangers that are associated with lusting after someone, but the world does not understand that while lust may be a heavenly experience at first, it eventually leads you to the a hell, or a point of no return. Although lust can seem wonderful at the time, lusting after someone can eventually hurt people emotionally and lead them to the point of no return.
and bloody are usually associated with slaughter or murder. Shakespeare is implying that to lust after someone is to be lied to, or to be willfully slaughtered. The speaker states that lust is “enjoyed no sooner but despised... on purpose laid to make the taker mad,” (5) meaning that people enjoy lust one minute, but immediately despise it the next. “Mad in pursuit and possession so,” (9) people go insane pursuing lust, as it is a “bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe.” (11) These two lines portray how lust makes the pursuers of it go insane, as it is something you deeply want and is blissful in the pursuit of it, but is detrimental to one’s emotions after it is over. The imagery of these two lines is shown in words like “mad,” or “woe,” showing the detrimental effects of lust, while the ominous tone of these lines shows how lust is blissful at first, but leads people to a dark place in the end. Shakespeare concludes this sonnet in the rhyming couplet saying, “All the world knows this, but none knows to shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.” (13-14) This line means all the world knows the dangers that are associated with lusting after someone, but the world does not understand that while lust may be a heavenly experience at first, it eventually leads you to the a hell, or a point of no return. Although lust can seem wonderful at the time, lusting after someone can eventually hurt people emotionally and lead them to the point of no return.