Sonnet 130 William Shakespeare

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Sonnet 130William Shakespeare
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Surprise non-simile
My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun Coral
is far more red than her lips red
Why then of course! Continuation of negative
comparison
Natural comparison something exotic and red in
colour
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dun brown, with the implication of weathered,
sun-browned skin of a woman who works outside,
perhaps.
Again, a natural, simple image for negative
comparison
If snow be white, why then her
breasts are dun If hairs be wires, black wires
grow on her head.
Coarseness of wire, no soft comparison
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damasked flowered, but also connotations of the
red colour of the damask rose and of damask a
woven material, often of silk
Roses are a traditional symbol of love
I have seen roses damasked, red and white, But no
such roses see I in her cheeks
No pretty blushing, another sign of gentility and
love
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Another sensory description, this time that of
smell
And in some perfumes is there more delight Than
in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
Rather unpleasant imagery, but truthful and honest
Iambic pentameter helps to stress the important
words breath, from, mistress, reeks
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Sounding objective
Being truthful and objective here
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That
music hath a far more pleasing sound.
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Admits his inability to compare with the real
thing alliteration emphasises this
I grant I never saw a goddess go My mistress
when she walks treads on the ground.
The one he loves change of word meaning in the
20th century
Realistic, prosaic
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She is a real woman and he loves her for who/what
she is.
Invoking God
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As
any she belied with false compare.
Made out to be something she isnt
rhyming couplet to end the sonnet sums up and
resolves the argument