【正文】 in the other, the social, the artificial man in the most unnatural of surroundings. Shakespeare was baptized in the little parish church at StratfordonAvon on the 26th of April, 1564, three days after his birth. His father, John Shakespeare, was a farmer’s son from the neighboring village, who came to Stratford about 1511, and began to prosper as a trader in corn, meat, leather, and other agricultural products. Shakespeare probably attended for a few years the endowed grammar school at Stratford, where he picked up the “small Latin and less Greek” to which his learned friend Ben Jonson refers. When Shakespeare was about fourteen years old his father lost his little property and fell into debt, and the boy probably left school to help support the family of younger children. In 1582, Shakespeare was married to Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a peasant family, who was eight years older than her boy husband. From numerous sarcastic references to marriage made by the characters in his plays, and from the fact that he soon left his wife and family and went to London, it is generally alleged that the marriage was a hasty and unhappy one. Of his life in London from 1587 to1611, the period of his greatest literary activity, many of his plays were popular and quite a number of them were published in his life time. After his death a collection of his plays, 37 in all, were published in folio form by two of his fiends in 1623. After his enormous success in London, he retired to his native town to live quietly with his wife and daughters. He died on the probable anniversary of his birth, April 23, 1616. It is generally asserted that, if Shakespeare had written no plays, his poems alone would have given him a manding place in the Elizabethan Age. His sonnets, 154 in number, are the only direct expression of the poet’s own feelings，they were published together in 1609.Sonnet 29When, in disgrace1 with Fortune and men’s eyes,I all alone beweep2 my outcast state3,And trouble deaf heav’n with my bootless4 criesAnd look upon myself5, and curse my fate,Wishing me like to6 one more rich in hope7,Featured like him8, like him with friends possessed9,Desiring this man’s art10 and that man’s scope11,With what I most enjoy contented least12.Yet13, in these thoughts14 myself almost despising15,Heply16 I think on thee, and then my state17,Like to the lark at break of day arising,From sullen earth18, sings hymns at heaven’s gate,For thy sweet love remembered19 such wealth20 bringsThat then I scorn to change21 my state22 with kings23.Notes:Sonnet is lyric poem almost invariably of fourteen lines and following one of several set rhyme schemes. Critics of the sonnet have recognized various forms, but only two types need be discussed if the reader will understand that each of them has undergone various modifications. The two basic sonnet types are the Italian or Petrarchan and the English or Shakespearean. The Italian form is distinguished by its division into the octave and the sestet: the octave consisting of eight lines rhyming abbaabba and the sestet consisting of six lines rhyming cdecde, cdcdcd, or cdedce. The octave presents a narrative, states a proposition, or raises a question。 the sestet drives home the narrative by making an abstract ment, applies the proposition, or solve the problem. English poets have varied these requirements greatly. The octave and sestet division is not always kept。 the rhyme scheme is often varied, but within the limitation that no Italian sonnet properly allows more than five rhymes. Iambic pentameter is usually the meter.In the English or Shakespearean sonnet, instead of the octave and sestet, four divisions are used: three quatrains (each with a rhyme scheme of its own, usually rhyming alternate lines) and a rhymed concluding couplet. The typical rhyme scheme for the English sonnet is abab cdcd efef gg. The couplet at the end is often a mentary on the preceding quatrains and an epigrammatic close. The rhythm of the sonnet is iambic pentameter.The sonnet as a form developed in Italy probably in the thirteen century. Petrarch, in the fourteen century, raised it to its greatest Italian perfection and gave it his name, for English readers at least. The form was introduced into England by Thomas Wyatt, who translated Petrarchan sonnets and left over thirty of his own positions in English. Gradually the Italian sonnet pattern was changed, and since Shakespeare attained fame for the greatest poems of this modified type, his name has often been given to the English form.1. in disgrace: disfavor, out of favour2. beweep: weep over/for, lament3. outcast state: condition of being outcast, rejected (1) position as social pariah (state as “status”)。 (2) feelings of unwantedness (state as “state of mind”)4. bootless: hopeless, without remedy, useless5. look upon myself: engage in selfcontemplation The poet is not navelgazing but has bee the spectator of his own predicament.6. like to: like7. one … hope: someone with better prospects, including prospects of wealth (of worldly success. The poet’s despondency ensures that “having more hope than I” also registers)8. Featured like him: having that other man’s looks, and equipped。 with features (by implication, beautiful) like his9. with friends possessed: possessed with friends (with a set of friends)10. art: skill of any kind (involving skill, craft, learning, literary achievement), not necessarily relating to creative art11. scope: freedom, opportunity range of acplishment, plentiful opportunities, mental stamina。 intellectual range12. contented least:（least satisfied） with the things of which I have most。 What it is that the speaker “most enjoy” is not indicated, perhaps his own skill with language.13. Yet: still, even than14. thoughts: considerations, reflections15. myself almost despising: an attributive modifying “thoughts”16. Heply: perhaps。 with a suggest