poetry essay on sonnet 130 250 words

Sonnet 130 Analysis Essay

Sonnet 130 is a poem written by William Shakespeare. Sonnet 130 is part of the Fair Youth Sonnets. Sonnet 130 talks about how the speaker will never love anyone as much as he loves his beloved (the “Fair Youth”). Sonnets are lyric poems that people commonly try to analyze through certain perspectives. Sonnets are usually written about a loved one, something the writer really cares about, or an idea that means something to them. Sonnet 130 is one of Shakespeare’s Sonnets.

Sonnet 130 talks about his complete love for somebody and how he will never love anybody as much as he loves this person. Sonnet 130 was written during the Renaissance Period by William Shakespeare. Sonnets were a popular form of short poems because it allowed people to express their emotions and thoughts in a way that could be interpreted differently depending on who you asked about them. Sonnet 130 is part of one of Shakespeare’s bigger collections known as The Fair Youth Sonnets, which talks about his complete love for a male subject referred to as “the young man” or “Fair Youth”.

Sonnet 130 goes into detail how he will never love anyone as much as he loves this person and then ends with a rhetorical question at the end asking himself why that is, since all other things have an end except love which has no limit so why does love have an end? Sonnet 130 is a poem written during the Renaissance Period and Sonnet 130 was written by William Shakespeare. Sonnet 130 talks about how nothing in life matters to him except his lover and that he will never love anyone as much as he loves them.

Sonnet 130 goes into detail about how no matter what happens, or what anyone else thinks of him, that they matter to him but his lover matters more than anything and everything. Sonnet 130 is a love poem written by William Shakespeare where he explains how nothing in the world matters to him other than his beloved (Fair Youth). Sonnets are poems that may be analyzed using different perspectives on who is reading it. Sonnets are usually written about a loved one, something that the writer really cares about, or an idea that may have meant something to them.

Sonnet 130 is part of William Shakespeare’s collection of Sonnets known as “The Fair Youth Sonnets”. Sonnet 130 talks about Shakespeare’s complete love for somebody and how he will never love anybody else as much as he loves them. Sonnet 130 talks about how nothing in life matters to him except his lover and that he will never love anyone else as much as he loves them. Sonnet 130 goes into detail on how no matter what happens, or who thinks of him, that they matter but his lover matters more than anything and everything.

Sonnet 130 starts out by saying “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun”, Sonnet 130 starts out by saying how the speaker’s beloved’s eyes don’t even compare to the beautiful sky. Sonnet 130 then goes into detail that his lover is more radiant than any precious stone or gold because he says “Coral is far more red than her lips’ red”. Sonnet 130 ends with a rhetorical question asking himself why his lover matters so much even though everything in life has an end except love which does not have an end.

Sonnet 130 was written during the Renaissance Period and Sonnets were popular form of short poems during this time because it allowed people to express their feelings and thoughts in a way that could be interpreted differently depending on who you ask about it. Sonnet 130 is part of William Shakespeare’s collection known as “The Fair Youth Sonnets”. Sonnet 130 talks about how nothing in the world matters to him other than his beloved.

Sonnet 130 starts off by saying “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun”, Sonnet 130 starts off by explaining how the speaker’s beloved’s eyes don’t even compare to something as beautiful as the sky. Sonnet 130 goes on say that his lover is more radiant than any precious stone or gold because he says “Coral is far more red than her lips’ red”. Sonnet 130 then ends with a rhetorical question asking why his lover means so much to him even though everything has an end except love which does not have an end.

Sonnet 130 goes on to say “One might think her poor, because she is so fair” Sonnet 130 goes on to say how she may seem like she doesn’t have any money but he explains that his beloved has more than enough. Sonnet 130 was written by William Shakespeare during the Renaissance Period and Sonnets were very popular form of short poems during this time because it allowed people to express their feelings and thoughts without having a certain meaning or way of thinking behind them since Sonnets were ambiguous. Sonnet 130 talks about how nothing in life matters except for his beloved.

Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare, one of the most famous and quoted Sonnets. The Sonnets are a collection of 154 poems published in 1609 and dedicated to “the only begetter of these ensuing sonnets Mr. W.H.” Sonnet 130 is also known as “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” Sonnet 130 is written in the English Language, Sonnets are poems that have 14-lined rhymed stanzas. Sonnet 130 can be found in 1609 book by William Shakespeare called Sonnets.

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 damasked, 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 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. Sonnet 130 is an English Sonnet written by William Shakespeare that talks about how he feels his lover isn’t nearly as wonderful as other men claim their lovers are. Sonnet 130 is one of 154 sonnets known today as Sonnets from the Portuguese, which were published in 1609 . Sonnets are 14 line poems that have rhyming couplets at the end of every two lines.. There are three quatrains and one couplet at the end of Sonnet 130. Sonnet 130 has an English ABABCDCDEFEFGG form. There are three quatrains in Sonnet 130. Sonnet 130 is written in iambic pentameter, which means that there are ten syllables per line with each line having one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable, except for the tenth line that has two stressed syllables to conclude the couplet. The rhyme scheme used in Sonnet 130 is AABCCCDDEEFFE.

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Sonnet 130 Summary & Analysis by William Shakespeare

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
• Poetic Devices
• Vocabulary & References
• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
• Line-by-Line Explanations

"Sonnet 130" was written by the English poet and playwright William Shakespeare. Though most likely written in the 1590s, the poem wasn't published until 1609. Like many other sonnets from the same period, Shakespeare's poem wrestles with beauty, love, and desire. He tries to find a more authentic, realistic way to talk about these things in the sonnet, and gleefully dismisses the highly artificial poems of praise his peers were writing. Shakespeare's poem also departs from his contemporaries in terms of formal structure — it is a new kind of sonnet—the "Shakespearean" sonnet.

• Read the full text of “Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun”

The Full Text of “Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun”

1 My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; 

2 Coral is far more red than her lips' red; 

3 If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; 

4 If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. 

5 I have seen roses damasked, red and white, 

6 But no such roses see I in her cheeks; 

7 And in some perfumes is there more delight 

8 Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. 

9 I love to hear her speak, yet well I know 

10 That music hath a far more pleasing sound; 

11 I grant I never saw a goddess go; 

12 My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. 

13    And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare 

14    As any she belied with false compare.

“Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” Summary

“sonnet 130: my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” themes.

Beauty and Love

• See where this theme is active in the poem.

Love, Personality, and the Superficial

Line-by-line explanation & analysis of “sonnet 130: my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun”.

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 damasked, 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. 

Lines 13-14

   And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare     As any she belied with false compare.

“Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” Symbols

• See where this symbol appears in the poem.

“Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

Parallelism

End-stopped line, “sonnet 130: my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” vocabulary.

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun”

Rhyme scheme, “sonnet 130: my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” speaker, “sonnet 130: my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” setting, literary and historical context of “sonnet 130: my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun”, more “sonnet 130: my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” resources, external resources.

Harryette Mullen's "Dim Lady" — Read the full text of Harryette Mullen's "Dim Lady," a rewriting of Shakespeare's Sonnet 130.

"Sonnet 130" Glossary — A glossary and commentary on Sonnet 130 from Buckingham University.

1609 Quarto Printing of Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 — An image of Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 as it appeared in its first printing, in 1609.

Reading of "Sonnet 130" — Ian Midlane reads "Sonnet 130" for the BBC, introduced by some smooth jazz.

Blazon Lady — See an image of Charles Berger's blazon lady and read Thomas Campion's contemporaneous blazon. 

Sidney's Astrophil and Stella #9 — Read the full text of Sidney's earlier blazon, Astrophil and Stella #9.  

LitCharts on Other Poems by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Sonnet 129: Th' expense of spirit in a waste of shame

Sonnet 12: When I do count the clock that tells the time

Sonnet 138: When my love swears that she is made of truth

Sonnet 141: In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes

Sonnet 147: My love is as a fever, longing still

Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Sonnet 19: Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws

Sonnet 20: A woman’s face with nature’s own hand painted

Sonnet 27: "Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed"

Sonnet 29: When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes

Sonnet 30: When to the sessions of sweet silent thought

Sonnet 33: Full many a glorious morning have I seen

Sonnet 45: The other two, slight air and purging fire

Sonnet 55: Not marble nor the gilded monuments

Sonnet 60: Like as the waves make towards the pebbl'd shore

Sonnet 65 ("Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea")

Sonnet 71: No longer mourn for me when I am dead

Sonnet 73: That time of year thou mayst in me behold

Sonnet 94: "They that have power to hurt"

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Sonnet 130 Analysis

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Published: Mar 13, 2024

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Sonnet 130: My Mistress’ Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun

by William Shakespeare

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 damasked, 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.

Summary of Sonnet 130

• Popularity of “ Sonnet 130”: William Shakespeare , a renowned English poet, playwright, and actor, “Sonnet 130” is a remarkable piece famous on account of its themes of love and appearance. It was first published in 1609. The poem speaks about the shortcomings of the speaker ’s beloved . It also illustrates how he loves her in spite of her flaws.
• “ Sonnet 130”, As a Representative of Love: This poem is an expression of love; the speaker admires his beloved, despite knowing her physical flaws. He explains her physical features are “uncatchy though,” yet she is beautiful in her own way. He talks about his lips, breasts, and hair, which looks like wires sticking on her head, and her cheeks also do not meet the ideal standard of beauty . Also, he talks about her unpleasant voice and compares her stinky breath with perfume. This strange comparison shows his acceptance of her flaws. As the poem progresses, he develops the idea that we should not set high standards in love. He accepts that his mistress is not a godlike figure. She is just an ordinary woman with lots of imperfections, and he admires and loves her despite those qualities.
• Major Themes in “Sonnet 130”: Love, appearances, and admiration are the major themes of this sonnet. The poem presents two things: the worldly standard of beauty and the poet’s definition of beauty. Throughout the poem, he talks about the physical features of his mistress that do not match the standards of beauty. She is not at all stunning or marvelous like a goddess, but he still loves and adores her. To him, she is unique and rare. That is why he does not measure his love on the worldly scale of beauty.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Sonnet 130

literary devices are tools used by writers and poets to convey their emotions, feelings, and ideas to the readers. Shakespeare has also used some literary devices to bring depth to this poem. The analysis of some of the literary devices used in this poem has been discussed below.

• Alliteration : Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession. For example, the sounds of /b/, /w/ and /h/ in “If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head”, the sound of /th/ in “Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks” and the sound of /w/ in “If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun”.
• Consonance : Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of /h/ in “If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun” and the sound of /s/ in “As any she belied with false compare.”
• Enjambment : It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break ; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;

“And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.”

• Hyperbole : Hyperbole is a device used to exaggerate a statement for the sake of emphasis. For example, Shakespeare exaggerates the mistress’ beauty by insulting her by using ordinary objects and contrasting her beauty to objects in nature.
• Imagery : Imagery is used to make the readers perceive things with their five senses. For example,

“ If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damasked, red and white.”

• Metaphor : It is used to compare an object or a person with something else to make meanings clear. For example, “If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head”.
• Simile : It is a figure of speech used to compare something with something else to make the meanings clear to the readers. Shakespeare has used this device in the opening lines of the poem, such as;

“My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun Coral is far more red than her lips’ red.”

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Sonnet 130

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this rhyme .

• Sonnet : A sonnet is a fourteen-lined poem usually written in iambic pentameter . This Shakespearean sonnet consists of three quatrains and a couplet .
• Couplet : There are two constructive lines of verse in a couplet, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme. This sonnet ends with a couplet, which usually reveals the central idea of the poem.
• Rhyme Scheme : The poem follows the ABAB CDCD EFEF GG rhyme scheme .
• End Rhyme : End Rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. Shakespeare uses end rhyme in the poem. For example, “sun/dun”, “rare/compare”, “white/delight” and “know/go.”

Quotes to be Used

The lines stated below are suitable in a speech or lecture to glorify the positive attributes of true love.

“And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare.”

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Sonnet 130 Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

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Background of the Poem

Historical context.

William Shakespeare is probably the most renowned writer in the history of English literature. He wrote more than thirty plays and more than 150 sonnets. His sonnets were published in a collection in 1609. Among these sonnets, sonnet 18, sonnet 29, sonnet 116, and sonnet 130 are the most famous ones.

 Shakespeare’s sonnet collection is usually divided into two parts. This division is made on the basis of the different people these sonnets address. The first part consists of 126 sonnets. These sonnets are addressed to a young guy. The speaker in these sonnets tells him about the mortality of life and the ways he can escape its clutches. These sonnets also stress the role of poetry in immortalizing its subjects. The second part consists of the remaining twenty-eight sonnets. The sonnets of this part are addressed to a female. This character is usually called “dark lady.” The speaker seems to have a troublesome relationship with her and speaks to her in a manner that is not typical of lovers. Sonnet 130 falls in this portion of the sonnet collection and is, therefore, considered to address this lady.  

Literary Context

In the fourteenth century, the Italian poet Petrarch introduced the genre of sonnets. The conventions of this genre were to follow a strict guideline of form and subject-matter. In form, the sonnet was required to be written in fourteen and that its meter should be iambic pentameter. In subject matter, the convention was to praise the beauty of a god-like beloved and narrate the events of the unsuccessful quests of winning her love. The description used to involve many clichéd comparisons where the speaker would compare his beloved with heavenly and worldly symbols of beauty.

Shakespeare, when he wrote his sonnets, followed the conventions of form but deviated in the subject matter. First of all, many of his sonnets did not address a female beloved. They were addressed to a young male. Secondly, the description of the beloved’s beauty is also not the same as the convention. When he addresses the black lady in his last twenty sonnets, he does not alleviate her to the status of gods. He considers her as much imperfect as other humans are.

Sonnet 130 is another example of Shakespeare’s treatment of the conventions of a sonnet. He follows the conventional form and writes it in fourteen lines. He also uses the conventional iambic pentameter and the division of sonnet into three quatrains and a couplet. However, he chooses a subject matter, which is exactly opposite to the traditional themes. He describes the flaws in his mistress’s beauty and stresses that his mistress is human and prone to imperfections.  He says that he will not exaggerate his mistress’s beauty to express his love. Instead, he will accept her for what she is, and that is the real and rare love.

Shakespeare maintains that his mistress is not a goddess but a human, and he is content with it. His mistress does not need to be as red as roses and as white as snow. Her grayish breasts and brownish cheeks are enough for him to love her. In this way, he mocks the conventional analogies by proving that they are mere talks and have no substance.

Sonnet 130 Summary (My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun)

First quatrain.

The speaker opens the poem with the description of his mistress. He says that his mistress’s eyes are in no way comparable to the sun. He says that the sun is far more bright and beautiful than the ordinary eyes of his mistress. He goes on to describe another aspect of his mistress’s beauty by comparing her lips and cheeks to corals. However, this comparison does not go in his beloved’s favor as well. He says that the redness of corals is far more than the redness of his mistress’s cheeks and lips.

In the third line, the speaker compares the whiteness of his mistress’s breast with the whiteness of snow. He says that if snow stands as the standard for whiteness, his mistress’s breast does not qualify for such whiteness. Instead, they are brownish in comparison to snow. He furthers this description by employing another analogy. He says that his mistress’s hair is not something extraordinary. He says that if it is allowed to label one’s hair as wires, it will be right to say that his mistress’s head is covered with wires.

Second Quatrain

In the second quatrain, the speaker describes the different aspects of his mistress’s beauty by comparing her to roses and perfume. He says that he has seen many different variants of roses. Some of those roses were red, some were white, and some were grayish pink. However, connecting roses with his mistress’s cheek seems irrational to him. He says that he has never seen such roses in the cheeks of his mistress.

In the third line of the quatrain, the speaker starts talking about perfumes. He says that there is a great deal of pleasure in the smell of perfumes. At the same time, the breath of his mistress is also pleasurable. However, the pleasure in his mistress’s breath is of lesser degree in comparison to the pleasure of perfumes. He uses the word “reek,” which shows that the breath of his mistress is unpleasant at times.

Third Quatrain

In the third quatrain, the speaker continues his mockery of comparisons of his mistress and the ideal symbols of beauty. He says that it brings a great deal of joy to hear to the voice of his mistress. The moments, when his mistress talks to him, are a source of delight for him. However, he says, there is another sound that is sweeter than his mistress’s voice. This sound is the sound of music, which has a far more pleasing effect on him.

Furthermore, the speaker mocks the comparison of beloveds to goddesses. He says that he has never seen a goddess in his life. Therefore, he has no knowledge of how the goddesses walk. However, he says that he is sure about one thing. He knows that his mistress walks on earth. Therefore, he knows that his mistress cannot be compared to a goddess.  

In the couplet, the speaker says that despite all the shortcomings of his mistress that he has described in the earlier line, he is in deep love with her. He considers his love rare because he is in love with an imperfect lady. He says that his love is as rare as anyone in the world. Similarly, his mistress is as beautiful as other women about whom people lie in their poetry.

Themes in Sonnet 130

Escape from idealism.

The major focus of the poem is to free poetry from the ideal form of description. All of the sonneteers of that time used elaborated analogies to describe how ideal and beautiful their beloveds are. Almost all of these descriptions used to be exaggerated and were no way near reality. In this poem, the speaker mocks this attitude. He does so by describing the features of his own mistress. He employs some of the most common comparisons that were used by the sonneteers and points out the fact that it is not humanly possible to reach that level.

How can someone’s breath be more delightful than the smell of perfumes? How can someone’s breast be as white as snow? How can someone’s lips and cheeks be as read as the coral? How can someone’s hair be like golden wires? How can someone’s voice be sweeter than music? How can someone’s walk match the walk of goddesses? The speaker questions the conventional depiction of beauty by asking these questions and negating them by saying that his mistress’s beauty is not of this level. Furthermore, he declares that all those people that describe their beloveds’ beauty are liars.

This satire not only points out the idealism in poetry but also in all the fields of life. It shows that ideal wishes can never be fulfilled in this world, and the people dealing with such ideal forms are nothing but liars. Humans should ready themselves to accept the world as it is with all its imperfections.

The poem addresses the problem of stereotyping the beauty of females by setting unreachable standards for it. It shows how males have set such out of the world expectations for the beauty of their female partners. We have created a fixed definition of beauty for all of the humans of the world when they are very diverse. Every person is different from another, and such stereotyping of beauty can never work. Rather, it will make the females inferior for not achieving the ideal standards of beauty.

The speaker stresses the point that poets have gone a step further by taking their standards of beauty above the level of goddesses. Such idealism questions the very essence of love. If we are not ready to accept the imperfections of humans, how can we love them? Therefore, the speaker says that his mistress is full of imperfections and that he still loves her as much as others can.

One of the major themes of the poem is love. The speaker is expressing his love for his beloved. In order to do so, he describes and defines his values of love. He says that his love is not based on the physical beauty of his beloved. His beloved is neither as white as snow, nor is her lips red like the coral. Still, he loves her with all his heart.

The speaker appears to have some kind of emotional bond with his mistress. He does not need any perfect physical beauty. Rather, his love is based on true emotions and feelings.

Sonnet 130 Analysis

The poem is a satire on the conventions of idealizing one’s beloved. It uses different devices like hyperbole, metaphor, and simile, to emphasize the absurdity of idealism in love. 

In the first quatrain, the speaker questions the idea of comparing humans to sun and corals. He says that his mistress’s eyes are not like sun and that her cheeks are not red like roses. He also mocks the tradition of comparing one’s breast to snow and hair with golden wires. In order to stress his point, he starts with an alliterative sound pattern in the first line. Similarly, there is consonance in this line which reflects his urgency in attacking the absurd analogies. He also goes on to use hyperbole by exaggeratedly claiming that his mistress’s hair is like black wires. 

In the second quatrain, the speaker points out two more absurd comparisons. He maintains that comparing someone’s cheeks to roses is absurd as he has never seen roses in his mistress’s cheeks. Furthermore, he negates the idea of comparing someone’s breath to perfume. He uses hyperbole and claims that his mistress’s breath reeks to highlight the difference between human breath and perfumes.

In the third quatrain, the speaker continues the same pattern of satire and mocks further traditional analogies. He says that he can neither claim that his mistress’s voice is more delightful nor can he say that she walks like goddesses. In the last line of this quatrain, the speaker employs exaggerated alliteration to express his annoyance with these absurd notions.

In the couplet, the flow of the sonnet takes a turn as the speaker brings volta. He claims that despite all the flaws, he is pure love in his heart for his mistress.

The tone of the poem is thoroughly satirical. The speaker satirizes all the set traditions of elaborated comparisons between one’s beloved and the symbols of beauty. Every line of the poem attacks the said conventions except for the last two lines. In those lines, the speaker takes time to elaborate on his love for his mistress. However, in doing so, he again claims that other lie when they unduly praise their beloveds.

The speaker of this poem is a realist lover. He describes his beloved features that are not so attractive. However, he has a strong belief in his love and says that his love is as rare as anyone in the world.

Rhyme Scheme

The rhyme scheme of this sonnet is traditional ababcdcdefefgg. The first twelve lines make three quatrains with an alternate sound pattern, and the last two lines make a rhyming couplet.

Literary Devices in Sonnet 130

Alliteration.

Alliteration is the repetition of the same starting consonant sound in a line. The very first line of the poem starts with an alliterative sound pattern where the speaker utters the word “My mistress’.” This type of start suggests the urgency in the speaker’s tone and shows that he is desperately trying to say convince the readers. 

In the third line, the speaker compares the whiteness of his beloved’s breast to the whiteness of snow. There the words “white, why” make another alliterative sound pattern. This device emphasizes the difference between the whiteness of the two.

In the fourth line, the speaker compares his beloved’s hair to wires. In this line, there are two alliterative sound patterns. The first pattern is made by the words “be” and “black,” while the  second is made by the words “hair,” “her,” and “head.” This type of repetitive sounds at the start of the words exhibits the disagreement of the speaker with this type of comparison.

In the eleventh line, there is another exaggerated alliteration.

“I grant I never saw a goddess go;”

Here the /g/ sound is repeated three times in the line. Through this device, the speaker conveys his annoyance with the comparison of humans and gods.

Hyperbole is an exaggerated overstatement or understatement in a literary piece. In the sonnet, the speaker exaggerates the flaws of his beloved to prove his point. He wants to prove that the convention of describing human beauty through false comparisons is wrong. In the fourth line, the speaker exaggeratedly says that his beloved’s head is covered with black wires. Similarly, in the eighth line, the speaker says that his beloved’s breath reeks, which is an exaggeration. The purpose of this exaggeration is to highlight the absurdity of the conventional comparisons of humans’ breath with perfumes.

Consonance is the repetition of the same consonant sound in a line. In the first line of the poem, the sound /s/ is repeated three times. In the second line, the sound /r/ is repeated four times. Similarly, /r/ sound is repeated twice in the third line. This clustering of similar sounds makes the poem appealing by giving it a rhyming effect.

Assonance is the repetition of the same vowel sound in a line. The sound /i/ is repeated in the first and second lines of the poem. Similarly, the /u/ sound is repeated twice in the sixth line. This device makes the poem appealing by giving it a rhyming effect.

A metaphor is an implicit comparison between two different things based on some similar quality. In this poem, the speaker compares his beloved’s hair to the wire by saying,

“black wires grow on her head.”

This metaphor serves the purpose of creating an image in the mind of the reader.

A simile is an explicit comparison between two different things based on some similar quality with the help of words like “as” or “like.”

In the poem, the speaker compares his mistress’s eyes to the sun in the first line.

Anaphora is the repetition of the same word at the start of consecutive lines. The third and fourth lines of the poem start with the word “if.” This device gives the poem a rhyming effect.

More From William Shakespeare

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• The Merchant of Venice
• Twelfth Night
• The Taming of the Shrew
• As You Like It
• Much Ado About Nothing
• The Comedy of Errors

Tone of Sonnet 130: Deconstructing Beauty and Love in Shakespeare’s Poetry

William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 stands out for its unconventional tone, challenging the traditional notions of beauty and love. This essay will analyze the tone of the sonnet, exploring how Shakespeare employs irony and realism to subvert the typical idealized descriptions of love prevalent in his era. The essay will examine the poem’s language and imagery, discussing how they contribute to its overall tone and message. It will argue that Sonnet 130 is a powerful statement on the nature of genuine love and beauty, celebrating the imperfections that make relationships real and enduring. The piece will also consider the sonnet’s place within Shakespeare’s larger body of work and its relevance to contemporary understandings of love and attraction. Additionally, PapersOwl presents more free essays samples linked to Poetry.

How it works

• 1 Introduction to Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130
• 2 Challenging Conventions: Parody in Sonnet 130
• 3.1 Mistress
• 4 Subverting Idealization: Real Love in Sonnet 130
• 5 References:

Introduction to Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130

Shakespeare’s sonnets cover matters of the passage of time, love, infidelity, jealousy, beauty, and mortality. Shakespeare was first published in 1609 in a Quarto titled “Shakespeare’s Sonnets.” Only 13 copies of the 1609 edition have survived. There were no other printings. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun,” is one of the most famous. It is a parody of traditional love poetry. In the Early English Books online, there are two available editions.

The first edition, “Shakespeare Sonnets Neuer before Imprinted,” was published in 1609, and it is from the Folger Shakespeare Library. The second edition, “Poems: written by Wil. Shake-speare. Gent,” was published in 1640 by the British Library. The most significant difference between these two editions is that the poem editions published Sonnets 127, 130, 131, and 132 into one poem named “In Prayse of her beauty though black.” Sonnet 127 is the first sonnet in a series of the “dark lady” sonnets. It continues through the final sonnet, 154. This sonnet is called so because the speaker’s Mistress is described as having black hair and eyes and dark skin. In Sonnet 127, the speaker is in love with a woman who is not beautiful in the conventional sense. The speaker explains that because of cosmetics, one cannot tell the difference between true and false beauty, so true beauties have been denigrated and out of touch.

Challenging Conventions: Parody in Sonnet 130

Sonnet 130 is an English Sonnet. The English sonnet has three quatrains, ending with a rhyming couplet. It follows the rhyme scheme of the form abab cdcd efef gg, and it is composed in iambic pentameter. The poem compares his mistress’ appearance to other things and then says how she does not measure up to them. He goes through a list detailing the flaws of her body, her smell, and the sound of her voice. In the end, he describes his real and complete love for her. The first two quatrains compare the Mistress to nature, the sun, snow, and corals; each comparison ends unflattering for the Mistress. In the couplet, the speaker confesses his love for his Mistress by declaring that he does not make false comparisons as other poets do. The poet demonstrates that his Mistress is the ideal object of his affection because of her genuine qualities. She is more worthy of his love than highly idealizing comparisons between nature and other poets’ mistresses that are absurd.

My Mistress’s eyes are nothing like the sun, The speaker introduces the main character in the poem, his Mistress. The speaker immediately opens with his anti-love poem, saying her eyes are not like the sun. He begins with her eyes and will work his way down her body. It would be typical for a lover to compare his mistress’ eyes to the sun by declaring that they radiate and light up the world. Not in this case. Her eyes do not sparkle or are as bright as the sun. Currall is far more red than her lips red, A stereotypical beautiful woman would probably have red lips. When the reader compares lips to coral, she would be thought of as the most beautiful shiny red thing. The color coral is a pinkish color. The speaker says his mistress’ lips are not even close to the color coral, which is not close to being red. It could be said that her lips are pale. Her lips can be compared to a corpse with no blood flowing through the body and therefore giving no color to the body.

If the snow is white, why then her breasts are dun: In the first two lines, the speaker compares his Mistress to other objects, the sun and coral. In this line, he describes her skin as “dun,” a sort of grayish-brown color. If the reddest red is like coral, then the whitest white is the color of snow. A woman’s skin could be praised as having skin as white as snow. Her breasts received the same treatment as her lips. During Shakespeare’s period, a woman with a pale complexion was considered beautiful, comparing her to Elizabeth I, who was the Queen at this time. If haires are wires, black wires grow on her head: A poet would usually compare his mistress’ hair to something soft, smooth, and shiny, like silk. The speaker compares his mistress’ hair to black wires sticking out of the top of her head. The reader can imagine thick, frizzy, and unmanageable hair when reading this line. Fair hair was as fashionable as pale skin. Women would dye or bleach their hair and would wear their long hair down and pin it up once married.

I haue seene Roses damaskt, red and white, But no such Roses see I in her cheeks, During the Elizabethan era, a perfectly beautiful woman had blush red cheeks on her smooth, silky white skin. This line illustrates a bouquet of red and white roses. These lines illustrate the beautiful contrast that blush red cheeks make against the silky white skin. They also provide imagery of the touch of a rose. A rose is soft, silky, and delicate. The speaker has seen these beautiful, flawless roses, but his Mistress does not remind him of them at all. And in some perfumes, is there more delight, Then, in the breath that from my Mistress reeks. The speaker states that some perfumes smell better than his mistress’ breath. A poet would compare his mistress’ breath to mint or something delightful to smell, but the speaker states that her breath stinks. I love to hear her speak, yet well, I know,

That Musicke hath a far more pleasing sound: After all the criticism, the speaker admits that he really does love to hear her speak. Then, he adds that music is “more pleasing” than the sound of her voice. I grant I never saw a goddess go, My Mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. The speaker is stating that his Mistress is not a goddess at all. She does not fly or soar or float along. She walks like a normal person on the ground. A pretentious poet might say, “My mistress walks like a goddess,” but the reader would know that it is fanciful to compare. No one has ever seen a goddess. And yet, by heaven, I think my love is rare, As any, she belied with false compare. The speaker thinks that his love is as wonderful as any woman who was ever misrepresented by an exaggerated comparison. These last two lines are where the speaker changes his tone. They drive his main point to the conclusion that, unlike other poets, he does not need to embellish comparisons. He tells his Mistress he plainly and simply loves her for who she is.

Deconstructing Beauty: Unconventional Comparisons in Sonnet 130

The word mistress is Middle English from the Old French mistress, from master “master.” The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word in the form that Shakespeare used, “A woman loved and courted by a man, a female sweetheart.” The current use of the word is “A woman other than his wife with whom a man has a long-lasting sexual relationship.” Among similar senses of the word in Old French and Middle French are “A woman who is in charge of a child or young person” (c1330), “A woman head of family or household” (c1483), “A female patron” (c1450), “A woman who has the power to control” (c1577), “A woman loved and courted by a man” (c1425). By the late 19th century, this usage was generally avoided as liable to be mistaken for sense, “A woman other than his wife with whom a man has a long-lasting sexual relationship.

The word dun is Old English of Germanic origin. A horse with a coat of a greyish-yellow or sandy color with a darker stripe along the back and a dark mane and tail. It is a dull, dingy brown color, specifically a dull greyish-brown color typical of the coats of donkeys, mice, and other animals. The specific sense is predominant in modern English, but application to other shades of brown, especially where dullness or dinginess is the noticeable characteristic, can be widely found until at least the 19th century.

The word tread is the Old English from “tredan” to Middle English “treden” and Germanic “treten.” In the 14th century, either under Norse influence or by assimilation to verbs of Class IV (Brecon, bræc, broken), the past participle trodden (later trodden, trod, trod) began to be substituted for the original treden, although the latter in its shortened form tred. Tread survived with some to the 17th century and is still in use. At the end of the 14th century, trodden was found in the plural of the past tense, and from the 16th century, “trade” also trod in the singular. The sense of the word transively is “to pace or walk on (the ground).”

Subverting Idealization: Real Love in Sonnet 130

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130’s theme is love. In order to express his love, the speaker had to talk about it, define it, and examine it. The sonnet is a satire of poetic conventions in which his mistress’ eyes are compared to the sun, her lips with coral, and her cheeks with roses. The speaker says his Mistress is nothing like this conventional image but is as beautiful as any woman. He does not mention anything about her personality but focuses on the imperfections of her appearance. Shakespeare mocks the obsession with looks and demonstrates how ridiculous it is for a woman to live up to an ideal of perfect beauty.

Joanne Woolway depicts in her article “An Overview of ‘Sonnet 130’” how Shakespeare shows the speaker’s love for his Mistress in unexpected means by placing himself above the usual poetic practices of “courtly” love. Joanne discusses a form of poetry that was “briefly popular” in the sixteenth century, “Blazon.” ( She explains that Blazon is a term used to describe heraldry, the design, display, and study of armorial bearings. This Practice was usually done through poetry and was used to depict the female body. It would begin with the hair and work its way down, focusing on specific features such as the eyes, ears, lips, neck, breasts, and so on. This form of depiction was great for the style of courtly love poetry that was popular during Shakespeare’s era. “[I]t allowed writers to project an idea of an idealized and distant woman whose features they could admire from afar” .

References:

• Woolway, Joanne. ‘An overview of “Sonnet 130”.’ Poetry for Students, Gale. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/apps/doc/H1420007543/LitRC?u=asuniv&sid=LitRC&xid=25f350df. Accessed 28 Nov. 2018.

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Tone of Sonnet 130: Deconstructing Beauty and Love in Shakespeare's Poetry. (2023, Aug 24). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/tone-of-sonnet-130-deconstructing-beauty-and-love-in-shakespeares-poetry/

"Tone of Sonnet 130: Deconstructing Beauty and Love in Shakespeare's Poetry." PapersOwl.com , 24 Aug 2023, https://papersowl.com/examples/tone-of-sonnet-130-deconstructing-beauty-and-love-in-shakespeares-poetry/

PapersOwl.com. (2023). Tone of Sonnet 130: Deconstructing Beauty and Love in Shakespeare's Poetry . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/tone-of-sonnet-130-deconstructing-beauty-and-love-in-shakespeares-poetry/ [Accessed: 27 Oct. 2024]

"Tone of Sonnet 130: Deconstructing Beauty and Love in Shakespeare's Poetry." PapersOwl.com, Aug 24, 2023. Accessed October 27, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/tone-of-sonnet-130-deconstructing-beauty-and-love-in-shakespeares-poetry/

"Tone of Sonnet 130: Deconstructing Beauty and Love in Shakespeare's Poetry," PapersOwl.com , 24-Aug-2023. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/tone-of-sonnet-130-deconstructing-beauty-and-love-in-shakespeares-poetry/. [Accessed: 27-Oct-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2023). Tone of Sonnet 130: Deconstructing Beauty and Love in Shakespeare's Poetry . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/tone-of-sonnet-130-deconstructing-beauty-and-love-in-shakespeares-poetry/ [Accessed: 27-Oct-2024]

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