Sonnet 129

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.


In sonnet 129, Shakespeare suggests that lust is an animalistic urge that drives human sexual action and ultimately leads to shame. The sonnet traces the different stages of lust in order to exemplify that lust leads to one’s downfall. The first stanza identifies what lust is and it describes lust as a negative desire. The first line calls lust an “expense of spirit” which suggests that it is costly to the spirit to lust and that you must sacrifice something in order to do something. It can be seen as something that contaminates the soul. The speaker goes on to add that it is a “waste of shame” which portrays it as shameful. Lust is also a waste because it is an unnecessary evil. The last two lines of the stanza list adjectives to describe lust and that suggest that lust is extremely sinful and dangerous. Lust parallels the devil which the intense immoral descriptions of it such as “perjured, murderous, bloody, and full of shame”. Lust is portrayed more like a living entity than a controllable emotion. Lust seems to have a mind of its own that allows it to over a man and use his sexual desires to compel him commit horrendous acts. Other descriptive words for lust such as “Savage, extreme, rude and cruel” connotes that lust is very animalistic. It represents a lack of self-control and sophistication.

The second stanza describes the effects of lust after the thing that you have been lusting over has been achieved. However even after it is obtained, lust continues to be a negative force that robs the person exemplifying it of their happiness. Lust makes a person feel crazy and “mad”. By definition, feelings of lust can never be quenched because lust is the desire for something(often sexual) that you cannot obtain. As a result, if you do happen obtain, you will begin to lust over something else that is currently unachievable. The line “Enjoy’d no sooner but despised straight” suggests the happiness of obtaining what you have lusted over is immediately replaced by self-deprecation and a realization that what you are doing is wrong and sinful.

The third stanza illustrates the false illusion that lust causes one live under. Lust causes the thing lusted over to appear to be something good and necessary to have. However this is a façade that results from the blocking of proper reasoning. Lust drives someone to become “mad in pursuit” so they become fully engaged in the pursuit and will do things that they wouldn’t normally do to obtain the thing that they are lusting over and they may do something “extreme”. The speaker finds paradoxical happiness in realizing that lust is “a very woe” and only leads to sadness.

The couplet compares lust to heaven and hell to portray the true nature of lust. Lust appears to be heaven by causing you to chase things you desire. However in actuality lust will drive you to hell because it taints the soul by causing you to chase sinful things. The line, “All this the world well knows; yet none knows well” points out the irony that though it is widely known that lust is evil, people neglect that and continue to lust.