"When to the Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought"

When I read the title of William Shakespeare's "When to the Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought" I believed that I was going to be reading a poem that depicted a quiet place where one goes to be lost in peaceful, serene thoughts.

After reading the sonnet, however, I found it to be quite bittersweet and depressing. In actuality, the poem depicts a sorrowful person looking back upon a very sad life. This person remembered the death of friends and love(s) that had been lost. The narrator states that if the losses were restored (brought back) then the main character would no longer feel sorrow. Yet, it is unlikely that those which were lost will return; thus, it is probably that the protagonist will remain sorrowful and depressed.