Could someone explain this shakespeare sonnet to me please?

Question

When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

COuld you explain what it means stanza by stanza?? and the overall message, i don't understand it at all!! thank you very much.

Answer 1

The sonnets are a group -- and they are thought to all be written for the same person (some say a young man)

He loves this person dearly -- in this sonnet he is upset because he is an outcast -- he compares himself to those more fortunate and is blue, but then he remembers how he loved the sonnet's subject and feels better --

You need to do some research into the things going on around and in Shakespeare's life and the ideas about who these sonnets. Check out the website below it explains it well

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Could someone explain this shakespeare sonnet to me please?
When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this...

Answer 3

It's my favorite Shakespeare sonnet....
1) When everybody despises me, and I'm all alone, I call on God for help without result, and I curse my fate
2) I wish I had better prospects, more friends, more talent, more resources, and I'm frustrated with my favorite things,
3) Then if I happen to think of you, I'm like a lark at dawn, flying from my nest on the ground into the sky, singing to heaven.
4) When I remember your love, I don't want to change places with anybody!
[The male skylark referred to here, flies straight up and hovers, singing on the wing; they say it flies so high, that you can't see the bird but you hear the music. It's like a song from heaven.]
Wordsworth also wrote about the skylark:
http://www.drpsychotic.com/classic_writings/to_skylark_wordsworth.html
I read this poem in high school, and I think I liked it because of the adolescent insecurities it expresses so eloquently.

Answer 4

In brief:

When I'm all alone and everything's going wrong
I find myself growing bitter, and envying other people their looks, their talents, their good fortune
But then I think of you, and my entire mood changes
And I remember that the real riches are the riches of your love, and I would not change places with anyone, not even kings

Basically - material things ain't got nothing on love, baby. And the sonnet makes reference to the purifying, redeeming power of love - when he thinks of his lover he compares the experience to hearing a lark singing at the dawn of a new day, calling forth the glorious sunrise. Just thinking of his love makes him a better person, he immediately forgets all his spiteful thoughts.

Answer 5

1. when I'm out of luck and and feel like nobody likes me
2. I cry about it by myself
3. and pray prayers that go nowhere, to a god that doesn't listen
4. and when I am feeling sorry for myself, and say so
5. wishing that I was more like Donald Trump
6. and that I was better looking and had more friends like him
7. wishing that I was more talented and smarter
8. and I'm unsatisfied with the things that I usually like the best
9. When I'm depressed like that and almost hate myself
10. I think about you with joy, and then my depression
11. becomes like a small bird that wakes up at dawn
12. in the cold, miserable mud, and flies up into the sky singing as if he were in heaven.
13. Because when I think about how much I love you, it makes me so happy
14. That I wouldn't really trade places with a guy like Donald Trump for all the tea in China.

The overall message is:

When I am feeling like a loser, I think of you and then everything is ok.

Answer 6

My favorite sonnet. Not difficult at all. Let me say it in other words.

When I am broke and everyone is mad at me
I sit alone and feel sorry for myself
And bother God with my problems
and curse my bad luck
wishing I was somebody rich like Brad Pitt
That I looked like him and had a lot of friends like he does.
I wish I could write like James Patterson and was smart like Bill Gates
And at these times, the things I enjoy just dont cut it for me
But at these times when I almost despise myself
I think about you
and then my mood rises and I am ecstatically happy
and I sing happy songs
Thinking about your sweet love makes me so rich in spirit
That I wouldnt even trade places with the King of England.

Pretty simple huh? The sonnets arent really that hard. Now here's the kicker. This sonnet was written by Shakespeare to a man expressing his love for him. 18 - 126 were all written to a young man. The words Fortune and Men's Eyes were used as the title of a play about homosexuals in jail. Shocked???? You shouldnt be. C.

Answer 7

The poet says that when he is in his unfortunate state of poverty and is all by himself he usually cries woefully and complains to God about his state of affairs and curses his destiny for having landed him in such a miserable condition .He at that time prays that he would be placed in a better position with better prospects in every field.He hopes for features which would be better, he wishes for the charm and talent of a more successful person.(8 lines)
In the next lines he says that even in these hateful thoughts he chances to think of thee(his beloved) and then his whole state , meaning his whole stance changes,,,he likens himself to a bird who rises full of life and happiness in the morning to chirp and bring in a new day... thus thinking of his beloved his reaction changes as he looks frowared to a new day..
in the last 2 lines...the couplet " for thy sweet.....my state with kings" he reinforces his acceptance of his fate as it is and says that since he has the love of his beloved and its memories he needs nothing more and therefore he would even be ready to scoff at all the wonders and richness of kings as they lack the love that he has and all its wealth.