William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29, although using the English, or Shakespearian, rhyme scheme retains the classic Petrarchan turn after line 8, where the mood shifts from one of despair and bleak self-disparagement, to one of hope and joy. In the first 8 lines, the narrator compares himself with others and finds himself lacking. In line 9, we discover that there is a single thing which prevents the narrator from sinking into despair, and that is the thought of his beloved. This change is like that of daylight entering into the “dark night of the soul”. The image of joy after despair is compared to a lark singing happily at first light after a long physical night. Thus the mood is joy and hope.