The poem emphasizes the negative emotions incurred by succumbing to the sexual act, and even by the desires that serve as its impetus. The speaker says that sex is “Th’ expense of spirit in a waste of shame” (1). Before lust is consummated, it becomes ruthless and petty, and immediately afterwards the partners feel guilt. But despite the knowledge that the world has of these negative effects, it does not stop people from participating in the act.
Ironic Use of the Sonnet Form
Shakespeare’s poem is a sonnet written in iambic pentameter. But while this form contributes to the effect and expectations of love poetry in other works of the time, Shakespeare's poem works in exactly the opposite way. This sardonic exhortation betrays the expectations of the sonnet as an amorous form. The reader begins expecting the sonnet to be full of love and positive words, but as they read, those anticipations are dashed. The fact that the reader begins with one expectation that must change as they read makes the negative vein of the poem even more powerful and effective, and mirrors the altered emotions resulting from the consummation of love.
Progressive Lines
Another technique used to parallel these altered feelings comes in the form of the progressions and alterations of previously used lines. Lines such as “Mad in pursuit, and in possession so” (9) and “A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe” (11) show the progression of actions and feelings as a result of consummation. The final lines utilize the same method: “All this the world well knows; yet none knows well/ To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.” Here, as in line 11, the use of opposing words like “heaven” and “hell” aid in the conveyance of the speaker’s point.
Word Usage
Shakespeare’s poem, in stark contrast to the usual expectations of a love poem, includes two full lines of vitriolic and connotatively negative words: “…perjured, murd’rous, bloody, full of blame,/ Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust.” (3-4). Such words help the reader to understand the mindset of the speaker and the depths to which his despair reaches. A trochaic inversion also appears with the word “Savage,” making it even more effective due to its tendency to stand out from the rest of the line. He does partake in wordplay, but in a stark and honest way. Shakespeare’s speaker uses a rather non-genteel approach to the word “spirit” in the first line, as it also means semen, in addition to energy and essence.
Readers may be used to Shakespeare's poems, and sonnets in general, as purveyors of the joys and delights of love. But the harsh tone of "Sonnet 129" paints a different picture, by twisting the expectations of the poetic form. This manipulation makes the poem's dark message even more effective.
