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.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound.
I grant I never saw a goddess go:
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
Notes
NOTES
Form:
sonnet: ababcdcdefefgg
4. wires. Ladies' hair was often compared to golden wire in Elizabethan poetry.
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Comments
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Reality vs B.S
From guest Alyssa (contact)
Kristin had it right, Shakespeare was also teasing the other greats poets at the time whom compared the one the loved through rose collored glasses, as we all do when in love. Yet when you can love one for all they are inside and out, realistically, your love is real. This poem is actually very romantic. -
Love sees and accepts
From guest Donald (contact)
The persona’s words describing beauty to show the real and rear beauty of the mistress demonstrates that the person does not want to exaggerate the appearance of his mistress, for by doing so will make it unrealistic that he might present a wrong picture to the mind of the one reading. -
Romanticism v. Realism
From guest Kristen (contact)
Shakespeare's writing here demonstrates a strong motion away from romanticism (a category in which the vast majority of prose from this period falls into) and towards realism. However, he is also illustrating that realism does not have to be negative. In this instance, one could argue that his realism conveys stronger emotions than romanticism would be able to, because rather than ignoring the flaws he sees in his mistress, he is accepting and loving them as a part of her. The woman in the poem may not even exist, and this sonnet may in fact be a means of commenting on the effects of romanticism. -
I have found that although my own lover is plain in looks with outside flaws, the person she is inside and the love I feel for her makes her beautiful. It is a feeling that is strong within me. This is why I can identify with this poem. Love conquers all.
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Sonnet 130
This is a great poem- he states that no matter how much is wrong with his love, he still loves her and thinks she is beautiful. -
sonnet 130
From guest Lunar Emmosity (contact)
He sees her flaws and shares them instead of keeping it inside of him, and judging his mistress inside. He tells us no matter how many flaws she has in her walking, hair and skin, he will still love her. -
sonnet 130
From guest manjumali (contact)
if that lady saw that poem i bet she would kill him. but im glad he kind of shared his opinoin out in the open but i think he should of atleast said it to her in person. -
He loves her for what she is and does not compare her to false images (like todays super models!). However, this is not a poem he should freely share with her unless he is sure she has a cast iron self esteem! Great stuff!
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the real meaning of the "dark lady"
From guest william (contact)
She was never...EVER...a person Shakespeare knew. It was always related to whom he wrote the sonnets to. The Dark Lady is a fantasy woman of the young man, who preferred imagining a love life than actually having one. The young man's imagination has the potential of consuming his entire life. -
From guest Pearl (contact)
I really love this poem-it has a quite dark feeling to it. He's talking about how this women he once loved, loves him no more ad he sees that inside, she's truly not beautiful even if she's pretty on the outside... -
VERY GOOD
I like this poem because its differet from the rest of the poems from that time. In this poem the woman isn't compared to a goddess but is praised for her actual qualities and loved for who she is. -
We like this poem because it's not like the rest of the poetry from that time. In this poem the woman isn't compared to a goddess but is praised for her actual qualities and loved for who she is.
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I have only read a few of Shakespeare's sonnets, but of those few, this is definitely my favorite. I've always been a huge fan of inner beauty, and this poem makes it clear that you don't need to be beautiful on the outside to have a beautiful heart worth loving. I would love to shove this in the face of a shallow person I know and show her that it's not important to be the most attractive human being in the world. This poem shows that it is unrealistic to put women on pedestals like they are godesses, because beauty fades. It's what's inside that counts.
It's after midnight, I'm rambling, I will shut up now.
kayla* -
i agree, although she is not perfect he still loves her.
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romanza on Dec 15, 2003, 10:29 p.m.
peridot parrot Poet for 37 critiques. said:
This is a poem that mocks courtly love and the pastoral poetry. Shakespeare doesn't say that she is ugly but normal. This was vastly different from the love poetry of that time which compared their lady to angels, stars and etc
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GUILTY!!!! HE DONE IT WITH E1!
I think it was Elizabeth the first, he just tried to lead us off track with the whole BLACK WIRE HAIR thing. But Elizabeth definetly had wires for hair! -
For Hannah: This poem is the best. No mushy stuff; no turning the woman into a goddess on earth; just flat honesty and at the end saying he loves her and holds her rare even if she's NOT the ideal of beauty, grace, and perfection.
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