Sonnet One hundred and twenty-nine by William Shakespeare

literatureoutloud.com

 

 

 

Click here for a complete INDEX

 

Sonnet CXXIX

by William Shakespeare

 

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,

Enjoy'd no sooner but despised straight,

Past reason hunted, and no sooner had

Past reason hated, as a swallow'd bait

On purpose laid to make the taker mad;

Mad in pursuit and in possession so;

Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;

A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe;

Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.

All this the world well knows; yet none knows well

To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.

 

LITERATURE OUT LOUD -- see and hear great literature

Audio narrations with synchronized visual text

daneallred.com

 

Click on the player below to hear the audio version of this sonnet.

Sonnet 129