Shakespeare (sonnet 25):
Let those who are in favor with their stars
Of public honor and proud titles boast,
Whilst I, whom fortune of such triumph bars,
Unlooked for joy in that I honor most.
Great princes' favorites their fair leaves spread
But as the marigold at the sun’s eye,
And in themselves their pride lies burièd,
For at a frown they in their glory die.
The painful warrior famousèd for worth,
After a thousand victories once foiled,
Is from the book of honor razèd quite,
And all the rest forgot for which he toiled.
Then happy I that love and am belovèd
Where I may not remove nor be removèd.
I don't understand the basic meaning of the bolded line. Where is the verb? Is it "joy" = "to feel enjoyment"?
Could we rephrase it thus:
Whilst I, whom fortune of such triumph bars,
Unlooked-for, feel enjoyment in the things I honor most.
One other option I came up with is "I boast in unlooked-for joy", but then I cannot make sense of the rest of the sentence: "in that I honor most".
But wait, my first option is also shaky, because it's "that" and not "what" (I honor most).
Answer
Your intuition is correct. The early modern 'joy' was a verb as well as a noun. So the meaning is essentially:
So I - whose fortune has only been to be someone unimportant - being unknown, take pleasure in the thing I honor most (the object of my unrequited love). But whereas courtiers' and soldiers' joy is shallow and easily overturned, I can never be rejected as my beloved doesn't even know I want her [or him - this is a point of contention].
Phonically I think the stressed syllable helps hint that it's a verb, too.
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