This week’s poem is Shakespeare’s Sonnet 129, affectionately referred to by me as “Lust in Action.” As you may recall, the poem was the textual focus of the very first episode of Texting. Press play above for my dramatic reading of this Shakespearean gem. The full text appears below:
Th' expense of spirit in a waste of shame Is lust in action; and till action, lust Is perjured, murd'rous, bloody, full of blame, Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust, Enjoyed no sooner but despisèd straight, Past reason hunted; and, no sooner had Past reason hated as a swallowed 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.