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Shakespeare, William: CXXIX. Sonnet

Portre of Shakespeare, William

CXXIX. Sonnet (English)

The expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and till action, lust
Is perjur’d, 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 prov’d, a very woe;
Before, a joy propos’d; behind, a dream:

   All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
   To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.



PublisherBudapest, Magvető Kiadó
Source of the quotationSzerb Antal: Száz vers. Negyedik kiadás. 222. p.

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