Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare

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Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare

• An unconventional love poem about the Dark Lady

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In a conventional love poem the writer would
exaggerate how beautiful his mistress is
My mistress' eyes are more fantastic than the
sun
But in his unconventional love poem Shakespeare
underplays how beautiful his mistress is
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun
He has turned around the convention of
exaggerated praise
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He carries on with the unconventional approach in
the next lines
Conventional desirable feature
Her lips aren't red
Pink-orange colour
Coral is far more red than her lips' red
Something of a cliche
The conventional
Grey brown colour
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun
Is he saying she is not beautiful or is he
saying she is beautiful in a different way?
Can we answer this or do we need to read on?
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In the next lines he moves on to describe other
physical features
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
So she is not conventionally beautiful
Gold wires were used in head-dress and compared
to golden hair
Blondes were more highly rated
mixed
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white
But she doesnt have this complexion
But no such roses see I in her cheeks
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The author moves from how she looks to how she
smells
And in some perfumes is there more delight Than
in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
Smells- the word didnt have a negative
meaning in Shakespeares time
Hes not saying the smell of her breath is
unpleasant - just that perfume smells sweeter
In conventional love poems you would say her
breath was sweeter than perfume
But Shakespeare takes an unconventional approach
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The next feature is the sound of her voice
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That
music hath a far more pleasing sound
Hes not being critical of her voice all hes
saying is that music has a more pleasing sound
In the conventional love poem the writer would
say that her voice was sweeter than music
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The poet describes how his mistress walks
I admit to you
Ive never seen a goddess walk
I grant I never saw a goddess go My mistress,
when she walks, treads on the ground
My mistress walks like anyone else, on the
ground, rather than floating through the air
In a conventional love poem she would be
described as a goddess
Hes stressing his mistress is no goddess.
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So does the poet think that his mistress is
beautiful or what?
The last 2 lines tell us
Direct statement, telling us what he thinks
exceptional
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As
any she belied with false compare.
For emphasis
The poet thinks shes beautiful but doesnt want
to describe her in a cliched way.
She is as beautiful as any woman who is praised
with false comparisons
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A sonnet has 14 lines
rhyme scheme ABAB
The first 12 lines are 3 quatrains
Groups of 4 lines
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun Coral
is far more red than her lips' red If snow be
white, why then her breasts are dun If hairs be
wires, black wires grow on her head.
With a closing couplet
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As
any she belied with false compare.
Sums things up