TH'EXPENSE OF SPIRIT'

This is one of Shakespeare's sonnet. It follows the Elizabethan model, so it is organised into three quatrain and a rhyming couplet, following the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG .

This sonnet is about lust, the sexual desire of men. The human being is physically attracted by sex, and since men are made of lust they are often unable to control passions.

The sonnet can be divided in 4 section: in the first one the poet gives a definition of lust, he communicates to the reader he has a negative idea of it. As a matter of fact he states that, on one hand people need sex because they want to satisfy  their desire, on the other hand, after consuming lust, they recognise it is mainly a dream.

In the second part the poet writes a summary of the process: at first men want extremely to have sex, then they hate lust until becoming mad.

In the third section the speaking voice poses in contrast desire and hate; at the and he gives a negative conclusion writing that everyone know everything about lust, but they can not avoid it.

From this sonnet the reader can understand that Shakespeare speaks about lust as about a drug, this because it makes people lose their minds, it is a form of madness.