My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; My mistress's 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.
ANALYSIS
dun (3): i.e., a dull brownish gray.
Coral is far more red than her lips;
If snow is white, then her breasts are a
brownish gray;
If hairs are like wires, hers are black and not
golden.
I have seen damask roses, red and white
[streaked],
But I do not see such colors in her cheeks;
And some perfumes give more delight
Than the horrid breath of my mistress.
I love to hear her speak, but I know
That music has a more pleasing sound.
I've never seen a goddess walk;
But I know that my mistress walks only on the
ground.
And yet I think my love as rare
As any woman who has been misrepresented
by ridiculous comparisons.

roses damasked, red and white (5): This line is possibly an allusion to the rose known as the
York and Lancaster variety, which the House of Tudor adopted as its symbol after the War of
the Roses. The York and Lancaster rose is red and white streaked, symbolic of the union of the
Red Rose of Lancaster and the White Rose of York. Compare The Taming of the Shrew: "Such
war of white and red within her cheeks!" (4.5.32). Shakespeare mentions the damask rose often
in his plays. Compare also Twelfth Night:

She never told her love,

But let concealment, like a worm i' the bud,
Feed on her damask cheek. (2.4.118)

than the breath...reeks (8): i.e., than in the breath that comes out of (reeks from) my mistress.
As the whole sonnet is a parody of the conventional love sonnets written by Shakespeare's
contemporaries, one should think of the most common meaning of reeks, i.e., stinks.
Shakespeare uses reeks often in his serious work, which illustrates the modern meaning of the
word was common. Compare Macbeth:

Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds

Or memorise another Golgotha,
I cannot tell. (1.2.44)
belied (14): misrepresented.

with false compare (14): i.e., by unbelievable, ridiculous comparisons.

__________

Sonnet 130 is the poet's pragmatic tribute to his uncomely mistress, commonly referred to as the
dark lady because of her dun complexion. The dark lady, who ultimately betrays the poet,
appears in sonnets 127 to 154. Sonnet 130 is clearly a parody of the conventional love sonnet,
made popular by Petrarch and, in particular, made popular in England by Sidney's use of the
Petrarchan form in his epic poem Astrophel and Stella.

If you compare the stanzas of Astrophel and Stella to Sonnet 130, you will see exactly what
elements of the conventional love sonnet Shakespeare is light-heartedly mocking. In Sonnet
130, there is no use of grandiose metaphor or allusion; he does not compare his love to Venus,
there is no evocation to Morpheus, etc. The ordinary beauty and humanity of his lover are
important to Shakespeare in this sonnet, and he deliberately uses typical love poetry metaphors
against themselves.

In Sidney's work, for example, the features of the poet's lover are as beautiful and, at times,
more beautiful than the finest pearls, diamonds, rubies, and silk. In Sonnet 130, the references to
such objects of perfection are indeed present, but they are there to illustrate that his lover is not
as beautiful -- a total rejection of Petrarch form and content. Shakespeare utilizes a new
structure, through which the straightforward theme of his lover�s simplicity can be developed
in the three quatrains and neatly concluded in the final couplet.

Thus, Shakespeare is using all the techniques available, including the sonnet structure itself, to
enhance his parody of the traditional Petrarchan sonnet typified by Sidney�s work. But
Shakespeare ends the sonnet by proclaiming his love for his mistress despite her lack of
adornment, so he does finally embrace the fundamental theme in Petrarch's sonnets: total and
consuming love.

One final note: To Elizabethan readers, Shakespeare's comparison of hair to 'wires' would refer
to the finely-spun gold threads woven into fancy hair nets. Many poets of the time used this
term as a benchmark of beauty, including Spenser:

Some angel she had been,

Her long loose yellow locks like golden wire,
Sprinkled with pearl, and pearling flowers atween,
Do like a golden mantle her attire,
And being crowned with a garland green.
(Epithal).

Instead of exaggerating the beloved’s physical features by comparing them to the sun, coral,
snow, roses, perfumes, goddesses, the speaker in the Shakespeare sonnet 130 declares that he
can proclaim his love for her while maintaining her humanness.
First Quatrain – “…black wires grow on her head”

Instead of exaggerating the beauty of his lady’s eyes by claiming that they outshine the sun, this
down-to-earth speaker asserts that those eyes are “nothing like the sun.” He fails to describe the
eyes at all, but as he continues through other body parts, he becomes more expressive.

Her lips are not as red as coral, though they are red, just not as red as coral. Her breasts are not
as white as snow; they are actually a shade of brown, as all humans beings are various shades of
brown. And her hair instead of silky strands look more like “black wires” sticking out of her
head.

Second Quatrain – “no such roses see I in her cheeks”

The speaker lets us know that he has experience the beauty of a variegated rose, but he does not
see those roses on the cheeks of his beloved. And he admits that some perfumes are actually
more pleasing to his nose than the breath that exhales from his beloved.

The meaning of the word “reek” has changed somewhat from Shakespeare’s time. It meant
“exhale” or “exudes” in the 16th and 17th century at the beginning of modern English, but now
it designates an unpleasant odor.

Third Quatrain – “I grant I never saw a goddess go,—“

In the third quatrain, the speaker does something that has been conspicuously lacking in the first
and second; he says, “I love to hear her speak . . .” So far the beloved by comparison to the sun,
coral, snow, roses, and perfume has come up lacking, or so it seemed. All of these natural
phenomena seemed to outshine her, but now he has said something positive about her and it
happens to be her voice that he loves.

However, he does admit that even though he loves her voice, he knows it is not as “pleasing” as
music. And although he has never seen a goddess walk, he knows that his beloved just “treads
on the ground.” But, as far as the speaker knows, maybe a goddess would just tread on the
ground also.

The Couplet – “I think my love as rare”

In the couplet, the speaker swears that he loves his mistress just as much as those poets who
exaggerate their beloveds’ features. He loves her simply because she is rare, or a unique
individual.

If he claimed her eyes were like the sun, one who looked would see that they are not, and her
reality would belie, that is, make false, that comparison. The speaker wishes to proclaim his
love but in truthful, human terms; he no doubt believes that that is also rare.

Sonnet 130
Shakespeare's Sonnet CXXX mocks the conventions of the showy and flowery
courtly sonnets in its realistic portrayal of his mistress.
Synopsis

This sonnet compares the Poet’s mistress to a number of natural beauties; each time making a
point of his mistress’ obvious inadequacy in such comparisons; she cannot hope to stand up to
the beauties of the natural world. The first five couplets compare the speaker’s mistress to
aspects of nature, such as snow or coral; each comparison ending unflatteringly for the
mistress. In the final couplet, the speaker claims his love for his mistress by claiming that
while he makes no strive to create false comparison, he loves his mistress as much as any man
could love a woman

Poetic form

The poetic forum uses standard Shakespearean iambic pentameter, following the AB-AB/CD-
CD/EF-EF/GG Rhyme Scheme.

Analysis

Sonnet 130 as a Satire

“This sonnet plays with poetic conventions in which, for example, the mistress’s eyes are
compared with the sun, her lips with coral, and her cheeks with roses. His mistress, says the
poet, is nothing like this conventional image, but is as lovely as any woman” [1]. Here Barbara
Mowat offers her opinion of the meaning behind Sonnet 130; this work simply breaks down
the mold in which Sonnets had come to conform to. Shakespeare composed a sonnet which
seems to parody a great many sonnets of the time. Poets like Thomas Watson, Michael
Drayton, and Barnabe Barnes were all part of this sonnet craze and each wrote sonnets
proclaiming love for an almost unimaginable figure [2]; Patrick Crutwell posits that Sonnet
130 could actually be a satire of the Thomas Watson poem “Passionate Century of Love”,
pointing out that the Watson poem contains all but one of the platitudes that Shakespeare is
making fun of in Sonnet 130.[3] However, E.G. Rogers points out the similarities between
Watson’s “Passionate Century of Love,” Sonnet 130, and Richard Linche’s Poem collection
entitled “Diella.”[4] There is a great deal of similarity between sections of the Diella poem
collection and Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130”, for example in “130” we see, “If hairs be wires,
black wires grow on her head,” where in “Diella” we see “Her hayre exceeds fold forced in
the smallest wire.” [5] Each work uses a comparison of hairs to wires; while in modern sense
this may seem unflattering one could argue that Linche’s work draws upon the beauty of
weaving gold and that Shakespeare mocks this with harsh comparison. This along with other
similarities in textual content lead, as E.G. Rodgers points out, the critic to believe that Diella
may have been the source of inspiration for both homage, by Watson’s “Passionate Century of
Love,” and satire by Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130.” The idea of Satire is further enforced by
final couplet of “130” in which the speaker delivers his most expositional line: “And yet, by
heaven, I think my love as rare, as any she belied with false compare.” This line projects the
message behind this work; demeaning the false comparisons made by many Poets of the time.
[6]

Sonnet 130: Complimentary/Derisive Nature

According to Carl Atkins, many early editors took the sonnet at face value and believed that it
was simply a disparagement of the writer’s mistress.[7] However, William Flesch believes that
the poem is actually quite the opposite, and acts as a compliment. He points out that many
poems of the day seem to compliment the object of the poem for qualities that they really
don’t have, such as snow white skin or golden hair.[8] He states that people really don’t want
to be complimented on a quality they don’t have, e.g. an old person doesn’t want to be told
they are physically young, they want to be told they are youthful, in behavior or in looks.
Flesch notes that while what Shakespeare writes of can seem derisive, he is in reality
complimenting qualities the mistress truly exhibits, and he ends the poem with his confession
of love.

Possible influences

Petrarch

Shakespeare and other great writers would reference each other and each other’s works in
their own writing. According to Felicia Jean Steele, Shakespeare uses Petrarchan imagery
while actually undermining it at the same time. [9] Stephen Booth would agree that
Shakespeare references Petrarchan works however, Booth says that Shakespeare “gently
mocks the thoughtless mechanical application of the standard Petrarchan metaphors.” [10]
Felicia Steele and Stephen Booth agree that there is some referencing going on, they vary
slightly in the degree of Shakespeare’s mockery. Steele feels much stronger about the degree
in which Shakespeare is discounting Petrarchan ideas by observing that in 14 lines of Sonnet
130, “Shakespeare seems to undo, discount, or invalidate nearly every Petrarchan conceit
about feminine beauty employed by his fellow sonneteers.” The final couplet is designed to
undo the damage Shakespeare has done to his reader’s faith that he indeed loves his “dusky
mistress.” Steele’s article offers Stephen Booth’s paraphrasing of the couplet: “I think that my
love is as rare as any woman belied by false compare.” Helen Vendler, who is also referenced
in Steele’s article states that the final couplet would read; “In all, by heaven, I think my love
as rare/ As any she conceived for compare.” All three of these authors; Steele, Booth, and
Vendler believe that in this couplet, Shakespeare is responding to Petrarchan imagery because
other sonneteers actively misrepresent, or “belie” their mistress‘ beauty. Sonnet 130 talks of
all the girl's negative features but Shakespeare says, "I don't care, I still love her."