In Shakespeare's “ Sonnet 130 ,” the speaker takes a roundabout approach to describing his beloved. He uses every cliché he can think of but says that his mistress is none of them. Her eyes are “nothing like the sun.” Her lips aren't nearly as red as coral.
How does Shakespeare depict his mistress in Sonnet 130?
In Sonnet 130, Shakespeare depicts his mistress as a dark lady who is deficient in beauty as per society’s standard. She does not have eyes as bright as the sun, rosy cheeks, snow-white breasts etc.
What does the speaker compare the lover to in Sonnet 130?
This sonnet compares the speaker's lover to a number of other beauties—and never in the lover's favor. Her eyes are "nothing like the sun," her lips are less red than coral; compared to white snow, her breasts are dun-colored, and her hairs are like black wires on her head. Also Know, what does the speaker suggest in lines 11 12 of Sonnet 130?
What is the meaning of Sonnet 130?
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.
What is the rhyme scheme of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130?
Contemporary poets, such as Philip Sidney and Watson, would use the Petrarchan sonnet for its poetic form, whereas in ‘Sonnet 130,’ Shakespeare mocks all the conventions of it. This sonnet consists of three quatrains, followed by a rhyming couplet. The rhyme scheme of this piece is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
How does the poet describe his mistress in Sonnet 130?
My mistress' eyes are like the sun; her lips are red as coral; her cheeks are like roses, her breasts are white as snow, her voice is like music, she is a goddess.
What does the poet say about his mistress eyes?
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.
What does the speaker of Sonnet 130 mean when he says his mistress treads on the ground?
Maybe the speaker is softening up a little bit. I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress when she walks treads on the ground. Here's another thought that is split over two lines. In line 11, the speaker essentially tells us that he's willing to admit that he's never seen a goddess move.
How does Shakespeare describe the lady he loves?
In "Sonnet 130," Shakespeare describes the woman he loves as a real person instead of exaggerating her beauty. At first, his description seems almost insulting. He says that her eyes are dull -- not bright like the sun. Her lips are more pale than coral.
Does the speaker of the poem love his mistress?
His mistress has bad breath sometimes. The speaker's love for his mistress is as deep as any woman who has been exaggeratedly described by other poets.
Who is the speaker in my mistress eyes?
“Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” Speaker. The speaker of "Sonnet 130" is an anonymous lover.
What is meant by my mistress when she walks treads on the ground?
His mistress isn't a goddess, she doesn't fly or soar or float along. She just walks (treads) like a normal person, on the ground. A pretentious poet might say: "My love walks like a goddess," but we would know that it isn't true. Has he ever seen a goddess?
What is the tone of the poem my mistress eyes?
The tone of the poem is mocking. The tone becomes one of reassurance in the last two lines. The speaker talks about how his true love comes from his mistress' human attributes. He understands that she is not a goddess or the "ideal woman," but to him she is everything.
What type of sonnet is my mistress eyes?
It is a traditional English love sonnet, which is divided into three quatrains and a concluding heroic couplet in the end. The poem consists of external rhymes. Its rhyme scheme has the form abab cdcd efef gg.
How did Shakespeare feel about love?
William Shakespeare doesnt have one specific feeling for love. In his plays he thinks that love can be unfair, confusing, crazy, unpredictable, and uncontrollable. The classic romance that everyone thinks about in Romeo and Juliet.
What is the message in Sonnet 130?
Sonnet 130 is a kind of inverted love poem. It implies that the woman is very beautiful indeed, but suggests that it is important for this poet to view the woman he loves realistically. False or indeed “poetical” metaphors, conventional exaggerations about a woman's beauty, will not do in this case.
How did the author describe love in his sonnet?
Love is depicted as an invincible force that defies time as well as time's effects on beauty and youth, changes such as wrinkles and old age. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks/Within his bending sickle's compass come (Lines 9 and 10). Love, unlike the physical being, is not subject to decay.
What is the tone of my mistress eyes?
The tone of the poem is mocking. The tone becomes one of reassurance in the last two lines. The speaker talks about how his true love comes from his mistress' human attributes. He understands that she is not a goddess or the "ideal woman," but to him she is everything.
What does the title of the poem my mistress eyes are nothing like the sun imply?
The title of the poem “My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun” suggests that the speaker is not in love with his 'mistress'.
What is the main theme of To His Coy Mistress?
The main theme of To his Coy Mistress is The Transience of Life, expressed through a sense of time pursuing us and propelling us into the grave before we have achieved fulfilment. Marvell's tempo and language become more and more urgent as the poem proceeds.
What is the rhyme scheme of my mistress eyes are nothing like the sun?
The poem consists of external rhymes. Its rhyme scheme has the form abab cdcd efef gg. In the three quatrains, alternate rhymes are used. The heroic couplet consists of a rhyming couplet.
What is the form of Elizabethan love poetry?
Contemporary poets, such as Philip Sidney and Watson, would use the Petrarchan sonnet for its poetic form, whereas in ‘Sonnet 130,’ Shakespeare mocks all the conventions of it. This sonnet consists of three quatrains, followed by a rhyming couplet.
What is the meaning of Sonnet 130?
In ‘ Sonnet 130,’ Shakespeare 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. For example, it was not uncommon to read love poems that compared a woman to a river or the sun.
How many sonnets did Shakespeare write?
Of the 154 sonnets that Shakespeare wrote throughout his lifetime, 126 were written to a figure known as the Fair Youth. 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.
What is the rhyme scheme of the poem "Sonnet 130"?
This sonnet consists of three quatrains, followed by a rhyming couplet. The rhyme scheme of this piece is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Shakespeare composed the poem in iambic pentameter with a few variations. It means the meter is based on five beats or iambs per line.
What is Shakespeare's tone in Sonnet 130?
When contemporary poets chose to glorify their loved ones by using hyperbolic expressions, Shakespeare preferred an unflattering and realistic tone in his ‘Sonnet 130’. The speaker of this sonnet ignores all the elevating epithets and stays in solace with his beloved as she is.
What does the poetic speaker spend an inordinate amount of time describing his mistress down to the bare bones?
The lines he spends on her description could very well symbolize his true adoration for the mistress and her looks. For example, her eyes are nothing like the sun and her lips are not rosy.
What does Shakespeare mean by "elongates the distance between two souls"?
It is a matter of seeing a human by her worth in one’s life. Using far-fetched comparisons to elevate a lady actually elongates the distance between two souls. Shakespeare says they are at a similar level. Their love exists on this plane. He loves the lady as she already is.
How many lines does Shakespeare write in Sonnet 130?
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.
What does the speaker say about his mistress?
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.
How many sonnets did Shakespeare write?
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 ...
What does the speaker in these sonnets tell him about?
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.
What is hyperbole in a sonnet?
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.
What does the speaker say about roses in the cheeks of his mistress?
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.
What is the literary context of the sonnet?
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.
Why is the lady in the poem "Sonnet 130" so valuable?
Just as the value of a gemstone might be higher if it is particularly rare, so the lady in this poem is especially valuable and precious because she is rare. In "Sonnet 130," Shakespeare describes the woman he loves as a real person instead of exaggerating her beauty. At first, his description seems almost insulting.
What are some clichés in Shakespeare's sonnet?
One of these clichés is that a beautiful lady's eyes should be "like the sun," and another is that her skin should be as white as "snow.".
What does Shakespeare describe the lady he loves?
In "Sonnet 130" Shakespeare describes the lady he loves as falling short of the common ideals and clichés of beauty, but he loves her all the more for her uniqueness.
What does Shakespeare say about the woman he loves?
In "Sonnet 130," Shakespeare describes the woman he loves as a real person instead of exaggerating her beauty. At first, his description seems almost insulting. He says that her eyes are dull -- not bright like the sun. Her lips are more pale than coral. Her hair is black wires. There are no roses in her cheeks.
What does Shakespeare mean by black wires grow on her head?
He says that her is black - "black wires grow on her head". He says that her breasts "are dun", meaning that they are not pure white but a more faded and average skin tone. In Shakespeare time, pale white skin was the most attractive; browner skin suggested a hard-working or outdoor life.
Why does Shakespeare say that she is not perfect?
He is saying that she is not perfect. Shakespeare does this in reaction to so many love poets that over-glorify their lady loves. The metaphors used by the other poets suggest that the woman are like goddesses and are meant to be worshipped. Shakespeare refuses to make that comparison here.
Why is Shakespeare's love the truer?
His love is the truer love because it's the one that's real.