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William Shakespeare
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The Oxford Shakespeare
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CONTENTS
BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
William Shakespeare
(15641616).
The Oxford Shakespeare: Poems.
1914.
Sonnet CXXIX.
The expense of spirit in a waste of shame
T
HE EXPENSE
of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and till action, lust
Is perjurd, murderous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust;
Enjoyd no sooner but despised straight;
5
Past reason hunted; and no sooner had,
Past reason hated, as a swallowd bait,
On purpose laid to make the taker mad:
Mad in pursuit, and in possession so;
Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;
10
A bliss in proof,and provd, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposd; behind, a dream.
All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.
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