But no such roses see I in her cheeks; He loves her for what the reality is, and not because he can compare her to beautiful things. So sonnet 130 belongs to a subset of poems that delve into this relationship, expressing pain, delight, anguish and playfulness. Imagine that, comparing your lover's hair to strands of thin metal. Critical analysis of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 compares the speaker’s lover to a number of other beauties—and never in the lover’s favor. Most authors embellished their women’s physical characteristics, but Shakespeare’s 130th sonnet states that his mistress lacks most of the qualities other men wrongly praise their women for possessing, such as eyes like the sun or lips … "Sonnet 130" is a Shakespearean sonnet, a form that was popularized (but not actually invented) by Shakespeare. The will of man is by his reason sway'd, And reason says you are the worthier maid" (II.ii.115-118). Sonnet 130 satirizes the tradition – stemming from Greek and Roman literature – of praising the beauty of one’s affection by comparing it to beautiful things, typically in a hyperbolic manner. “Sonnet 130” is a satirical sonnet by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets in total, with sonnets 127 - 154 addressed to the mysterious 'Dark Lady', a possible real-life lover of the poet. Form and structure. If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. Shakespeare Sonnet … Through this sonnet, the speaker defends his love … in the orient when the gracious light by William Shakespeare. Please support this website by adding us to your whitelist in your ad blocker. It is also one of the few of Shakespeare's sonnets with a distinctly humorous tone. It uses different devices like hyperbole, metaphor, and simile, to emphasize the absurdity of idealism in love. He finds coral more reddish than her lips. Critical Analysis of Shakespeare's Sonnet 130. Sonnet 130 contains several literary devices that enhance the texture of the sound and reinforce certain tropes. Shakespeare Sonnet 130 Analysis: My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun This is a short summary of Shakespeare sonnet 130. He goes so far as to condemn the smell of her, and the sound of her voice. Now we know that Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets and the first 126 of these are addressed to a man, and the last number (so 127 to the end) … these ones are addressed to a woman. By contrast, poets who compare their lovers to nature are not really describing them as they are, but idealizing them – and therefore, the poet seems to hint, they cannot love their beloved as much as he loves his mistress. And yet, / by heaven, / I think / my love / as rare As an / y she / belied / with false / compare. That music hath a far more pleasing sound; Her breasts are a dull grey-brown colour, not snow white. Preferences? Sonnet Analysis-Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare I will be writing about “Sonnet 130” that was written in 1609 by William Shakespeare.The theme of this sonnet is romance, but it isn’t the conventional love poem were you praise your mistress and point out to the readers all the ways in which she is perfect and the best. Ads are what helps us bring you premium content! Its message is simple: the dark lady's beauty cannot be compared to the beauty of a goddess or to that found in nature, for she is but a mortal human being. For example: My/eyes/white/why/wires//wires/I/my/I/I/I/I/My/by/I/my/belied. I have seen roses damask’d, red and white, Some say that in Shakespeare's time the word reeks meant to emanate or rise, like smoke. I grant I never saw a goddess go; If the classic, lovely and fragrant English Rose is absent, at least this mistress has no pretence to a sweet smelling breath. Please log in again. It parodies other sonnets of the Elizabethan era which were heavily into Petrarchan ideals, where the woman is continually praised and seen as beyond reproach. By accepting her faults: In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes, For they in thee a thousand errors note; (from Sonnet 141). The poetic speaker opens Sonnet 130 with a scathing remark on his beloved’s eyes: they are ‘nothing like the sun‘. Subscribe to our mailing list and get new poetry analysis updates straight to your inbox. And in some perfumes is there more delight. 2015 Sonnet 130 Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130” uses imagery to compare his lover to other objects in order to convey his true feelings towards his mistress. Sonnet 130 is like a love poem turned on its head. In being brutally open, candid and unconventional, the speaker has ironically given his mistress a heightened beauty, simply because he doesn't dote on her outward appearance. The rhetorical structure of Sonnet 130 is important to its effect. In the first quatrain, the speaker spends one line on each comparison between his mistress and something else (the sun, coral, snow, and wires—the one positive thing in the whole poem some part of his mistress is like. Scholars have attempted to illustrate the difference of tone between them by stating that the Fair Youth sequence refers to spiritual love, while the Dark Lady sequence refers to sexual passion. And she has dark hair that stands out like wires. Writers such as Edmund Spenser in his Epithalamion and Sir Philip Sidney in Astrophil and Stella. What's your thoughts? We get little glimpses of her in this poem. William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-Upon-Avon to an alderman and glover. Andrew has a keen interest in all aspects of poetry and writes extensively on the subject. Sonnet 130 is an English or Shakespearean sonnet of 14 lines made up of 3 quatrains and a rhyming couplet, which binds everything together and draws a conclusion to what has gone before. He also mocks the tradition of comparing one’s breast to sno… Some scan it as purely iambic, others find an inverted iamb - a trochee - after the comma: If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun. A Shakespearean sonnet has fourteen lines. This sonnet is very much an individual's take on the beauty of their mistress. In fact, women are almost deified in many sonnets. When a line of poetry is changed like this there is often a special emphasis placed on the meaning of certain words and phrases. He began a successful career in London as part of the King’s Men, working as a writer, actor, and part-owner. Many of his plays were actually published throughout his lifetime, however it was only in 1693 that a collection of all his works was published – posthumously. Therefore, the imagery used throughout the poem would have been recognizable to contemporary readers of the Sonnet because it was playing with an established tradition that contemporary poets would have made use of quite frequently, so far as to lead it to become cliché. William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130, also known from its first line as “My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun”, is a fourteen-line poem in which an unnamed male speaker describes various aspects of his mistress. True love isn't reliant on some illusive notion of perfect beauty. Elise has been analysing poetry as part of the Poem Analysis team for neary 2 years, continually providing a great insight and understanding into poetry from the past and present. Discussion of themes and motifs in William Shakespeare's Sonnet 130. eNotes critical analyses help you gain a deeper understanding of Sonnet 130 so you can excel on your essay or test. He largely contributed to poetry and pioneered the sonnets which have been coined the Shakespearean sonnets. She hasn't a musical voice; she uses her feet to get around. I have seen roses damask’d, red and white, But no such roses see I in her … Usually, most Elizabethan love poetry was written in the tradition of the Petrarchan sonnet. For example in line 12 there is an alternative to the orthodox: My MIStress, WHEN she WALKS, treads ON the GROUND. Of the 154 sonnets that Shakespeare wrote throughout his lifetime, 126 were written to a figure known as the Fair Youth. wires - many females wore golden wires in their hair as a hallmark of beauty, damasked - variegated rose of pinky red and white. After logging in you can close it and return to this page. In Sonnet 130, William Shakespeare uses the poetic device of satire in order to convey the main theme of his poem to the reader. Not so the woman of sonnet 130. The poet, openly contemptuous of his weakness for the woman, expresses his infatuation for her in negative comparisons. (It was later published in the 1609 edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets.) If snow is white, her skin is not – dun is another word for grey-brown; her hair is described as black wires, and she does not have a pleasant flush to her cheeks. As any she belied with false compare. Like his other sonnets, William Shakespeare’s sonnet 130, My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun, has a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. Line 5 begins with an inverted iamb - a trochee - placing emphasis on the first person I. Its meter is iambic pentameter and it follows a regular rhyme scheme. The poetic speaker, rather than elevate her, brings her further down to earth. Shakespeare doesn't hold back in his denial of his mistress's beauty. The Poetry Handbook, John Lennard, OUP, 2005. The idea behind the Elizabethan tradition of love poetry was to elevate one’s love to a near unachievable plane; to make a mortal woman read in such a manner that she became elevated to near goddess status. Shakespeare wrote the sonnet sometime before 1609, which is when the sonnet first appeared in a quarto containing every … His poems are published online and in print. In this case, though, Shakespeare spends this poem comparing his mistress's appearance to other things, and then telling us how she doesn't … Please continue to help us support the fight against dementia. And in some perfumes is there more delight I love to hear her speak, yet well I know Sonnet 130 is an English or Shakespearean sonnet. The third quatrain introduces the reader to the mistress's voice and walk and offers up no extraordinary claims. Sonnet 130 is a parody of the Dark Lady, who falls too obviously short of fashionable beauty to be extolled in print. Usually, if you were talking about your beloved, you would go out of your way to praise her, to point all the ways that she is the best. Sonnet 130is starkly different in theme than Shakespeare’s other sonnets. He is widely regarded as the greatest English writer of all time, and wrote 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and 38 plays, though recently another play has been found and attributed to William Shakespeare. Coral is far more red than her lips’ red The difference between the Fair Youth and the Dark Lady sonnets is not merely in address, but also in tone: while the Fair Youth sequence use mostly romantic and tender words, the Dark Lady sonnets are characterized by their overt references to sex and bawdiness. For example, the word red occurs twice in the second line, as does wires in the fourth. Structure. Sonnet 130: My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun by William Shakespeare, Sonnet 64: When I have seen by time’s fell hand defaced by William Shakespeare, Sonnet 57: Being your slave, what should I do but tend by William Shakespeare, Sonnet 58: That god forbid, that made me first your slave by William Shakespeare, Sonnet 141: In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes by William Shakespeare, Sonnet 93: So shall I live, supposing thou art true by William Shakespeare, Sonnet 7: Lo! Note the use of the phrase far more in lines 2 and 10 which underlines the importance of the colour red and sound of music, making them stand out from the crowd. Others claim it did mean smell or stink. The poem is a satire on the conventions of idealizing one’s beloved. Shakespeare's sonnet aims to do the opposite, by indicating that his mistress is the ideal object of his affections because of her genuine qualities, and that she is more worthy of his love than the paramours of other poets who are more fanciful. MY MIStress, when SHE walks, TREADS on the GROUND. The dominant metre is iambic pentameter, five iambic feet per line, non-stressed syllable followed by a stressed in daDUM daDUM fashion. It is quite a stretch to reach this conclusion, and it is not the popular interpretation of Sonnet 130, however an argument can be made that the poetic speaker spends an inordinate amount of time describing his mistress down to the bare bones. The login page will open in a new tab. She speaks and walks normally. This enlarges the range of rhyme sounds and words the poet can use and allows the poet to combine the sonnet lines in rhetorically more complex … The speaker compares her with beautiful things, but he cannot find a similarity. We respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously. Analysis Of Shakespeare 's ' Sonnet 130 ' 1048 Words | 5 Pages. The … There is a subtle but noticeable difference in rhythm between these two. With this idea, one can make the assumption that Shakespeare’s argument is accepting the normality of … Sonnet 130 ‘My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun’ (… Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. For the complete list of 154 sonnets, check the collection of Shakespeare Sonnets with analysis. Subscribe to our mailing list to get the latest and greatest poetry updates. Sonnet 130 is often taken as a satire of the type of courtly love poetry that was so popular in the late sixteenth … Join the conversation by. In the Sonnet Shakespeare characterizes the Dark Lady’s appearance with metaphors, which are extraordinarily out of character for the Petrarchan traditions. Continue reading for complete analysis and meaning in the modern text. It is highly recommended to buy “The Monument” by Hank Whittemore, which is the best book on Shakespeare Sonnets. In William Shakespeare’s (1564 - 1616) “Sonnet 130”, published 1609 in his book “Shakespeare’s Sonnets”, the speaker talks about his mistress who does not correspond with the ideals of beauty. My mis / tress' eyes / are noth / ing 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.I have / seen ro / ses dam / asked, red / and white, But no / such ro / ses see / I in / her cheeks; And in / some per / fumes is / there more / delight Than in / the breath / that from / my mis / tress reeks. The poet wants to continue his sexual relationship with his mistress, but she is already bursting with lovers: "Whoever hath her wish, thou hath thy Will, / … There are a possible two trochees after the comma: If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. As he continues to write, he admits that he has never seen a goddess go, but his mistress walks on the ground. This is a short summary of Shakespeare sonnet 120. Instead of going with the norm of how one is supposed to view a woman, he intentionally goes against the cliché to focus on her … Shakespeare wrote the sonnet as a parody of traditional love poetry, which typically overexaggerates how beautiful and wonderful someone is. he is able to confess his alternative love. The second line focuses on the mistress's lips and informs the reader that they are not that red, not as red as coral (the marine corals), again the perfect colour for the perfect female. Most of his sonnets praise his lover’s beauty, wit and worth. For example, it was not uncommon to read love poems that compared a woman to a river, or the sun. These first two lines are caesura-free, there is no natural pause for the reader, and the iambic beat is dominant. In this sonnet … The speaker (the poet) is again implying the ordinariness of his lover's looks and voice. She doesn't have rosy cheeks, even if the speaker has seen plenty of natural damask roses in the garden. Literary Analysis of Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare Published by James Taylor William Shakespeare is known to be a great figure behind ancient literature, and his relevance still stands to date. In lines three and four the anatomy of the mistress is further explored in unorthodox fashion. In this sense sonnet 130 is an anomaly, a unique poem that flouts the rules of convention and breaks new ground in the process. Analysis of William Shakespeare’s My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like The Sun; What is Its Rhyme Scheme? Shakespeare talks about her hair, the color of her skin, etc. By usurping Petrarchan ideals and highlighting the mistress's 'errors', the speaker arguably succeeds in strengthening the bonds of that love. When Shakespeare was writing this sonnet it was all the rage to compare a lover's eyes to the sun and sunlight - Shakespeare completely negates this, using the phrase '. Shakespeare’s major theme of Sonnet 130 is criticism of poetic writing, as Shakespeare uses satire and parody of his lover’s beauty in order to point out just how ridiculous the hyperbole … I love / to hear / her speak, / yet well / I know That mu / sic hath / a far / more plea / sing sound; I grant / I nev / er saw / a god / dess go;My mis / tress, when / she walks, / treads on / the ground. This is nitty gritty reality Shakespeare is selling the reader. The second quatrain takes the reader a little deeper and in the paired lines five and six the notion that this mistress is not your ideal female model is reinforced. Connections to A Midsummer's Night Dream "Not Hermia but Helena I love: Analysis "Not Hermia but Helena I love: Who will not change a raven for a dove? Sonnet 130 stands alone as a unique and startlingly honest love poem, an antithesis to the sweet conventions of Petrarchan ideals which were prominent at the time. Line 12 begins with a strong spondee - two stressed syllables - which reinforces the personal again. Not only is the speaker being blatantly honest in this sonnet, he is being critical of other poets who put forward false claims about woman. However, there are lines which differ from this steady, plodding beat. The remaining 28 poems were written to the Dark Lady, an unknown figure in Shakespeare’s life who was only characterized throughout Sonnet 130 by her dark skin and hair. If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; Internal rhymes create resonance and echoes, binding lines and meaning and sounds. Being the 'upstart Crow' that he was, he couldn't help but mock the other writers who were sticking to the Petrarchan model. So to the final couplet, a full rhyming affirmation of the speaker's love for the woman, his mistress. Shakespeare presents Sonnet 130 as an archetype in the structual form of the Sonnet. Written from a first person perspective, I and My occur 11 times. He produced most of his work in a 23-year-period. Certainly in the context of the previous line - some perfume - the latter meaning seems more likely. Contemporary poets, such as Sidney and Watson, would use the Petrarchan sonnet for its poetic form, whereas in Sonnet 130, Shakespeare mocks all the conventions of it. The Interpretation Of Love In Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 After reading the sonnet in its entirety, the tone can be set as mocking and sarcastic to other poets illustration and perception of love in poems. The breasts of his beloved are very dark when compared by the whiteness of snow. Note the comma in both lines, a parallel, so the reader has to pause, breaking the rhythm, telling us that this is no ordinary poetic journey. Every single person that visits PoemAnalysis.com has helped contribute, so thank you for your support. Some are more melancholy than others, but no sonnet seems insulting – except this one! My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun If you compare the stanzas of Astrophel and Stella to Sonnet 130, you will see exactly what elements of the conventional love sonnet Shakespeare is light-heartedly mocking. Other lines are ambiguous and it is up to the reader to decide where the stresses/beats fall. Sonnet 130 is an English or Shakespearean sonnet of 14 lines made up of 3 quatrains and a rhyming couplet, which binds everything together and draws a conclusion to what has gone before.