In the long introductory clause, what does the speaker say he envies?

In this sonnet, the speaker envies a lot of things.

• He envies people who are more hopeful than he is.


• He envies someone who is, presumably, better looking than him.


• He envies people who are surrounded by friends.


• He envies one man's skills


• He envies another man's freedom

But overall, really, what he envies is not such a big deal in this poem.  What's really important is that when he thinks about his love, all of his envies and all of his discontents fade away.  So in that sense, the envies are just a set up for what's really important in this poem.