莎士比亚29首诗鉴赏

思想战线2009 年人文社会科学专辑第35 卷№. 2009

Vol. 35

浅析莎士比亚第29 首十四行诗

On Shakespeares Sonnet 29

佟晓牧①

Abstract: “When in disgrace with Fortune and mens

eyes”，Shakespeares sonnet 29 impresses

the readers with its rich images，diction and profound

meaning. Through a study of the form that the

poem has taken，of its imagery and particularly of its

diction，we can sense how great love is. It is

love that keeps the speaker grounded and brings him

back from the brink of destruction when the world

treats him unkindly. Love is the center of the his life，the

sunshine on a cloudy day.

Key words: form; diction; meaning

William Shakespeare ( 1564 ～ 1616) ，one of

the Englands greatest poets，wrote 154 sonnets in

his life. It is believed that the last 28 sonnets are

addressed to a woman and the first 126 sonnetes are

addressed to a young man，which mainly sing the

greatness of love and his friendship with the young

man. Sonnet 29 is one of them. This sonnet impresses

me most with its rich images，diction and profound

meaning. Through a study of the form that the

poem has taken，of its imagery and particularly of its

diction，we can sense how great the love is. It is

love that keeps the speaker grounded and brings him

back from the brink of destruction when the world

treats him unkindly. Love is the center of the his

life，the sunshine on a cloudy day.

Stylistically，it is a typically Shakespearian in

its form. It is written in iambic pentameter，using

the rhyme scheme a b a b，c d c d，e f e f in the

first twelve lines and then concludes it with a rhyming

couplet g g. For this sonnet，the first eight

lines，which begins with“when”，establish a conditional

argument and show the poets frustration with

his craft. The third quatrain，beginning with“yet”

similar to other sonnets“But”，and resolving the

conditional argument，presents a splendid image of a

morning lark that“sings hymns at heavens gate. ”

This image epitomizes the poets delightful memory

of his friendship with the youth and compensates for

the misfortune he has lamented. And then，the ending

couplet sums up the meaning of the sonnet. This

is the convention of logical and rhetorical organization

that governs Shakespearian sonnets，namely“a

structure of two parts laid over four. The two parts

are the three quatrains，on the one hand，and the

concluding or revolving couplet，on the other. ”So

in most Shakespearian sonnets，“The turn normally

occurs at the beginning of line 13. Each of the quatrains

should serve in its own way to complicate the

situation or to advance the dilemma which is the

couplet  s business to resolve. ”It is through the

choice of the structure that the poet hints that the

most important part of the sonnet is not in his depression

and anxiety presented in the quatrains. Instead，

it lies in the final independently rhymed couplet，

the last two lines which help bring about the

turn and also the climax of the poem.

While moving from quatrain to quatrain，we

may be also impressed by its rich imagery. The image

brought about in lines 9 ～ 12 are critical points

in the sonnet as it changes the focus of the sonnet.

The first portion of the sonnet focuses on a great deal

of challenge and misfortune. Yet，through the invocation

of the love subject of the speaker，we begin to

see how the power and redemptive spirit of love can

be transformative. The simile which helps to evoke

this would be the use of the bird. When Shakepeare

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①作者简介: 佟晓牧，云南大学大学外语教学部讲师( 云南昆明，650091) 。

describes“the lark at the break of day arising”，one

begins to see how there is a certain powerful element

within the love that can help to reconfigure trying

circumstances into ones of triumph and rebirth. The

negative element of thoughts which are described as

“despiring”is countered with the power of love，

which is seen as a type of dawn. The song of the

bird or “lark”is one that recasts negativity and

challenge into one that transcends“sullen earth”. It

is extremely powerful in its description of joy.

A good poet always“strives for precision and

richness in the words he or she uses in his or her poetic

creation. ”In terms of diction， the uses of

“state”unify the sonnet ＇s three different sections:

the first eight lines，lines 9 through 12，and the

concluding couplet，lines 13 and 14. The repetition

of the word“state”in lines 2，10 and 14 indicates

its significance. The different meanings of state-as a

mood，a condition，a state of mind，an estate or a

persons status in life-contrast the poets sense of a

failed and defeated life to his exhilaration in recalling

his friendship with the youth. One state，as represented

in lines 2 and 14，is his state of life; the