Sonnet 29

Objectives

a. determine what Sonnet 29 is all about;

b. discuss the message that Sonnet 29 wants

to convey; and

c. relate the message to a real-life situation

SONNET 29 by George Santayana
What riches have you that you deem me poor,
Or what large comfort that you call me sad?
Tell me what makes you so exceeding glad:
Is your earth happy or your heaven sure?
I hope for heaven, since the stars endure
And bring such tidings as our fathers had.
I know no deeper doubt to make me mad,
I need no brighter love to keep me pure.

To me the faiths of old are daily bread;

I bless their hope, I bless their will to save ,
And my deep heart still meaneth what they said.
It makes me happy that the soul is brave;
And, being so much kinsman to the dead,
I walk contented to the peopled grave.
 SONNET 29
 "Sonnet 29" is about the power of love to positively affect
one's mindset, as the poem argues that love offers
compensation for the injuries and setbacks one endures in
life.

 One thing that is unique about sonnet 29 by George

Santayana is that the topic is social and communal rather
than individual and romantic. This is a poem in which the
poetic speaker defends himself from pessimistic elements in
his society who see death and suffering as inherently tragic.
George Santayana
- George Santayana, an American philosopher, poet, and humanist of Spanish ancestry who
made significant contributions to aesthetics, speculative philosophy, and literary criticism, is
the author of Sonnet 29. He was born in Madrid, Spain, on December 16, 1863. He was the
sole child of Josephine Sturgis and Agustin Santayana, who tragically divorced when he was
just nine years old.
- His early schooling was excellent; he attended the Boston Latin School for eight years.
Santayana obtained his doctorate from Harvard in 1889 and joined the faculty there. At 48
years old, he took early retirement in 1912, and he spent the rest of his days in England and
Europe. On September 26, 1952, he succumbed to cancer.
 
- His first collection of poetry, Sonnets and Other Poems, which contains Sonnet 29, was
published. This particular poetry is about how society sees a certain persona based solely on
its prevailing beliefs.

 
Questions to answer:

1. What does the opening line of the poem

mean?
2. Why does the poet consider the faiths of
old his daily bread?

3. How does the persona deal with the

circumstances he is in
4. How do you view the persona’s
circumstance
 ASSIGNMENT

Find out a short story that shares the same

message as the poem Sonnet 29 and write your
understanding and realization about it.
Thank you, everyone!