Name: ____________________________________
English 8
William Shakespeares Sonnet 130
Sonnet 130
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.
Period: _______________
Romeo and Juliet
Line Summary
Mistress = my love/my darling/someone he cares
deeply about.
Her eyes arent bright like the sun (playing on the use
of metaphors about nature to criticize traditional
sonnets of the day tone is opposite of sonnet 18)
Dark eyes
Her lips are faint and colorless not bright and red
like coral
She doesnt have beautiful white skin its more of a
Brownish/gray color
She has black, wiry, frizzy, untamed hair
Q1 (Argument/main metaphor): Describes his
mistress using comparisons to nature.
He has seen roses, striped red and white
But his mistress doesnt have rosy red cheeks
He finds more pleasure smelling nice perfume
His mistress, she doesnt smell like perfume
Q2 (Example/Argument being built: Describes
her average appearance by contradicting the typical
tone of sonnets during the time.
He likes to talk with her, but he knows
Music sounds better than her voice He finds her
voice to be unpleasant in some way
Hes never seen a goddess walk on this earth
(Goddesses sway and flow in the heavens)
She is no goddess shes a little clunky, walks
heavily, without grace
She walks on the ground like a human being
Q3 (Twist): Shakespeare opens this quatrain with
a compliment, but continues to describe his mistress
in an unconventional way.
And yet, his views his love for her as rare/hard to
find/special
As rare as any other woman that the poets of the
day exaggerate about he doesnt need to exaggerate
his love for her he loves her for who she is, flaws
and all.
Couplet (Summary): Shakespeare refuses to
exaggerate the love he has for his mistress by using
over the top descriptions of her beauty. Instead, he
simply loves her for who she is.