In Sonnet 29 Shakespeare's speaker arouses the curiosity of the reader in the first line as he appears alone and "outcast" at the nadir of his life, "in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes." Thus, in this first quatrain, the fist aspect of the poem's theme is presented: the speaker is suffering from the isolation of misfortune.
In the second quatrain, the poet's discontent continues as he desires
this man's art, and man's scope/With what I most enjoy contented least
This discontent is resolved in the third quatrain as the speaker thinks of his friend/lover and
then my state (Like to the lark at break of day arising (simile)
lifts his spirits. After this, the couplet comments on what was expressed in the quatrains: When the speaker reflects on his friend/lover, he realizes that "thy swee love remember'd such wealth brings." Love is the greatest wealth one can possess.
Like all Shakespearean sonnets, Sonnet 29 is written in 14 lines of iambic pentatmeter: one unstressed syllable, followed by a stressed syllabus x 5. [ta DUM, ta DUM, ta DUM, ta DUM, ta DUM] The rhyme scheme is abab,cdcd,efef,gg
Certainly the tone is initially very melancholic, but with the progression of the sonnet, the tone lightens and the speaker realizes the true values of life. Thus, the poem moves from the worldly worries--"fortune" and "fate" and envy, "Desiring this man's art and that man's scope" to the aesthetic: "my state/sings hymns at heaven's gate."
The sonnet is replete with metaphors which elevate the thought to the poetic/artistic levell; for example, "bootless cries" connotes the worldly poverty of the speaker. Much is expressed with the metaphors of "this man's art" and "that man's scope"; the speaker envies the cunning and manipulative abilities of others and skill with people (social acumen) and the range of their wealth, business dealings (economic prowess). Yet, in this self-serving pity, he is roused by the aesthetic as he contemplates the love he possesses and his "state" of melancholy and self-pity rises to the metaphoric "wealth" of the spiritual which surpasses even the wealth of kings.
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