Sonnet 29

    Shakespeare's 29th sonnet bears a striking resemblance to George Herbert's poem 'Denial'. Both poems begin with the speaker declaring that they have been outcast and left unheard by an unnamed people. The speakers wallow in self pity but eventually find optimism, for Herbert, it is in God and for the sonnet's speaker, it is the thought of the person he loves. This thought is instantly uplifting to the speaker and seems to distract him from the troubles he is facing. He is so happy thinking of his love that he would prefer their mere memory than to live like a king. This lofty statement accentuates both the magnitude of his affection and the severity of his depression if a single thought can so greatly lift his spirits.