Figurative Language In Sonnet 130 By William Shakespeare

Sonnet 130 Have you ever read a poem and did not understand it, even after reading it over and over again? Authors use things such as figurative language in order for you to have to think to figure out the poem is saying. Knowing what figurative language is may help you figure out the poem. Figurative language is “used with a meaning that is different from the basic meaning and that expresses an idea in an interesting way by using language that usually describes something else.” (Merriam Webster) This means what the author is not directly saying what they actually mean. William Shakespeare uses figurative language well because he uses it to explain how he can still be a good poet and write a good poem without writing a love poem or being romantic. In sonnet 130 he shows all his mistresses’ flaws. He says that her features are not as great as things like the sun, snow and roses. But some things he says her features are compared some not so pleasant things such as black wire. But in the end he tells her that she is rare and that she doesn’t need to be compared to things. In Sonnet 130, the …show more content…
In the end he says “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare/as any she belied with false compare.” (Shakespeare 772) Shmoop.com says “the speaker thinks that his lover is as wonderful as any woman who was ever misrepresented by an exaggerated comparison.” (Shmoop Editorial Team) What Shakespeare is saying in the last two lines is his mistress is rare and that she is falsely compared to those things he wrote about. Shakespeare wrote this sonnet to joke that he could still be a good poet even if his poetry isn’t a love poem or romantic. He can us figurative language and write out a poem like this pointing out all of someone’s flaws and it still be a good poem and people still admire it 400 years