Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare An unconventional love
Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare An unconventional love poem about the “Dark Lady”
A sonnet has 14 lines rhyme scheme The first 12 lines are. Groups of 4 lines ABAB 3 quatrains 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. http: //marrasouk. com Sums things up!
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 Shakespear underplays how beautiful his mistress is: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; has turned around the convention of exaggerated praise http: //marrasouk. com
He carries on with the unconventional approach in the next lines Conventional Pink-orange colour. Her lips aren't red desirable feature Coral is far more red than her lips' red Something Grey brown colour of a cliche. The conventional 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? http: //marrasouk. com
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 Gold wires were used. Blondes were more conventionally in head-dress and highly rated beautiful ompared to golden hair mixed I have seen roses damask'd, red and white But she doesn’t have this complexion But http: //marrasouk. com no such roses see I in her cheeks;
The author moves from how she looks to how she smells And in some perfumes is there more deligh Than in the breath that from my mistress reek He’s not saying the smell of Smells- the word didn’t have a her breath is unpleasant negative meaning in just that perfume smells sweeter Shakespeare’s time In conventional love poems you would say her breath was But Shakespeare takes an sweeter than perfume unconventional approach http: //marrasouk. com
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; He’s not being critical of her voice: all he’s 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 http: //marrasouk. com
The poet describes how his mistress walks I admit to you I’ve 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 He’s stressing his mistress is no goddess. described as http: //marrasouk. com a goddess
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 For emphasis As any she belied with false compare. The poet thinks she’s She is as beautiful but doesn’t want any woman who is praised to describe her in a cliched way. with false comparisons http: //marrasouk. com
- Slides: 9
