The expense of spirit in a waste of shame Is lust in action: and till action, lust Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame, Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust; Enjoyed no sooner but despised straight; Past reason hunted; and no sooner had, Past reason hated, as a swallowed bait, On purpose laid to make the taker mad.
It is also one of the most straightforward in language and intent. Born in 1564 Shakespeare was a popular English poet, playwright, and actor. William Shakespeare is England’s most celebrated dramatist and poet. His works have been translated into 80 languages, including Star Trek’s Klingon. Of the 154 sonnets that Shakespeare wrote throughout his lifetime, 126 were written to a figure known as the Fair Youth. Most critics agree that Shakespeare’s sonnets were printed without his consent because the 1609 text seems to be based on an incomplete or draft copy of the poems. The sonnet seems to be placed deliberately at this point, as number 60, to coincide with the 60 minutes of the hour, just as No.12 marks the twelve hours of the day. In the sonnet, the speaker asks whether he should compare the young man to a summer's day, but notes that the young man has qualities that surpass a summer's day.He also notes the qualities of a summer day are subject to change and will eventually diminish.
Sonnet 18 is the best known and most well-loved of all 154 sonnets. Read all of Shakespeare’s sonnets below, along with a modern English interpretation of each one. The remaining 28 poems were written to the Dark Lady, an unknown figure in Shakespeare’s life who was only characterized throughout Sonnet 130 by her dark skin and hair.
The stability of love and its power to immortalize the poetry and the subject of that poetry is the theme. Sonnet 18 is one of the best-known of the 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare.. The text is riddled with errors and some believe that certain sonnets are unfinished.
Shakespeare left behind evidence of a brilliant mind, a wicked sense of humor, and a deep sensitivity to human emotions. Some of Shakespeare's sonnets have the Petrarchan development of ideas, with a volta in line 9, such as sonnets 18, 23, and 29. The expense of spirit in a waste of shame Is lust in action: and till action, lust Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame, Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust; Enjoyed no sooner but despised straight; Past reason hunted; and no sooner had, Past reason hated, as a swallowed bait, On purpose laid to make the taker mad.
The Petrarchan sonnet style was extremely popular with Elizabethan sonneteers, much to Shakespeare's disdain (he mocks the conventional and excessive Petrarchan style in Sonnet 130). Context.