The Expense Of Spirit In A Waste Of Shame (Sonnet 129)

Song from Rufus Wainwright's album "Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets" 2016
The Expense Of Spirit In A Waste Of Shame (Sonnet 129) Lyrics for Rufus Wainwright's album


"The Expense Of Spirit In A Waste Of Shame", Shakespeare's sonnet 129 sung by Anna Prohaska for Rufus Wainwright's album "Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets"


The expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and till action, lust
Is perjured, 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 proved, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.
All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.

Read more: Rufus Wainwright - 9 Shakespeare Sonnets Lyrics
The Expense Of Spirit In A Waste Of Shame sonnet 129 Rufus Wainwright 9 Shakespeare Sonnets Lyrics