William Shakespeare sonnet 29 When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes 

_

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 possessed,
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 remembered such wealth brings 

That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

The emotional  state  of  the speaker  in Sonnet  29  is  one  of  depression: in the first  line,  he  assumes  himself  to  be  "in disgrace  with fortune," meaning  he  has been having  bad  luck.  He  also feels  in disgrace  with "men's eyes,"  implying  that  the  general public  looks on  him unfavorably.  This could be  real  or  imagined, but it  is  enforced in line  2, when he bemoans his  "outcast  state." Here,  "state"  refers to  a state  of being, and  in this  case, he  is cast  out  from society. Lines  3-4 make allusion to  Job  of the  Old  Testament  in the Bible, who  was cast out  onto  a dung  heap  and  called to  a God who didn't listen.  The  poet  finds himself  in the  same  situation: Heaven personified is  God, and  in this  case  he  is  "deaf,"  making  the poet's  cries "bootless," or  useless.  The idea of  cursing  one's  fate  also  hearkens  to  Job, who cursed  himself  after  falling  out of  God's favor. The speaker finds  himself  envying  what  others have,  and  in lines 5-9 he sees  almost  everyone  as  having  something  he  lacks. He  wishes to be  like  "one  more  rich in hope,"  perhaps  meaning  hopeful or  literally wealthy;  "featured like  him," refers  to  someone  who  is  handsome,  with beautiful  features;  and  another  is "with friends possessed,"  or  popular, unlike  the  poet  (as  has been established in the first  two lines).  In line  7, he envies  the  artistic talent  of  one  man, and  the opportunities afforded someone  else.. He  might  be  here  referring  to  Mr.  W.H. The simile  of  a lark  is  developed in lines  10-12,  when the speaker describes  the  effect  that  a thought  of  his  love  has on  his "state,"  or emotional  well-being. The fact  that  the lark  rises  from  the  "sullen earth" at  "break  of  day" implies  that  the  day  is much  happier  than the night;  day  break  is  compared  to  the  dawning  of  a thought of  the beloved.  As the  lark  "sings hymns at  heaven's gate," so  the poet's  soul is  invigorated  with  the thought of  the  dark  lady, and  seems to  sing  to the  sky with rejuvenated  hope. 

However, the  sonnet  ends on a  happy  note,  because  the poet  thinks about his  lady  love.  This  makes him  happy  as a larl, and  brings him such a  wealth of  happiness  that  he is not  willing  to  exchange  his state with any  king.  Here,  "state"  is a  pun: it  carries  the  meaning  of emotional  well-being, as it  did earlier  in the  poem,  and  suggests that the  love  of  dark  lady  makes  the  speaker  so  happy  that  all  the  wealth of a king  would not  be  better.