Sonnet 130

perfect, while in Sonnet 130, the poet is mocking typical beauty standards. The first stanza of She Walks in Beauty starts off with the speaker admiring his love: "She walks in beauty, like the night/ Of cloudless climes and starry skies..." (Byron, 1-2). Byron is idolizing his partner by stating that she is as lovely as a cloudless night with bright stars. This alliteration and imagery helps persuade the tone of admiring and peaceful, she has the best of both. The beginning of Sonnet 130 is the…

about whom the speaker is talking, instead of the typical praise of the mistress, which is the more frequent path a poet takes on a love sonnet. Indeed, the untraditional and seemingly rude comparisons are what makes Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130” different than the love sonnets of his time. After reading the examples, one is led to believe that the purpose of this sonnet was to belittle a specific woman. At the end, however, the speaker essentially says that he still loves this mistress, to the…

center idea of many works. For example, sonnets are usually filled with excessive metaphors and an idealistic viewpoint of a specific individual that the writer has fallen in love with. However, both "Sonnet 130" by William Shakespeare and "Sonnet 23" by Louise Labé utilize the format to bring a different perspective. Shakespeare's sonnet is more humorous, while Labé's takes on a more serious approach to showcase the injustice the speaker faces. In "Sonnet 130," the speaker's subject is his own…

this woman and the great distress relayed upon the speaker due to his inability to attain her love (Daniel, 9-10). Contrary to the emphasis on the admiration of an unattainable lover seen in Daniel 6, Shakespeare’s portrayal of the woman throughout Sonnet 130 utilizes strong language to emphasize the reality of love. Comparisons such as “my mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun,” and “in some perfumes is there more delight than in the breath that from my mistress reeks,” emphasize the…

poem “Sonnet 130,” Shakespeare’s viewpoint towards his lady is very controversial. In the seventeenth century, society had a distinct idea of how the women were portrayed. All women desired to look like Queen Elizabeth…

This week’s section of Edward Hirsch’s book, How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry, places great emphasis on the role of the poet as a herald of the pleasures and pains of the human experience who maintains a delicate balance between speaking of universal emotions and experiencing them as an individual. Through several lyrical poetic forms that employ both figurative and literal language, in chapters 5-8, Hirsch examines poets who cipher and decipher what it means to be human. In…

noise overhead” (132). Now compare it to Shakespeare’s Sonnet 30: “Then I can drown an eye, unused to flow, for precious friends hid in death’s dateless night” (130). Both passages are about missing someone. The former is direct…

these writing styles help me see that all texts reveal a startling truth; a philosophy. This leads me to ask: to what extent is literature more about philosophy than technique? As I read "My mistress ' eyes are nothing like the sun” (Sonnet 130), I cannot help but notice Shakespeare 's use of figurative language. His writing style intrigues me as it effectively conceals the reasoning behind the poem. At first, I find it surprising that he speaks negatively about his "mistress" when…

of figurative language adds deeper meaning to the writing in sonnets and other form of poetry and this is continuously demonstrated throughout Shakespeare’s work. As love is the central theme of most of Shakespeare’s sonnets, his writing exudes many tones, including passion, disgust, anger and hope. Seemingly similar in writing form and word use, Sonnet 130 and Sonnet 30 differ in themes, tone and situation. To begin with, Sonnet 130 demonstrates the relationship the speaker has with his wife…

Week Two, DB2 Prompt 1 1. Shakespeare's sonnet "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun" begins with what might be called a reverse simile (an anti-simile?). Throughout the poem, the speaker alludes to common figurative language for describing a woman's beauty in the love poetry of his day: e.g., eyes like the sun, lips like coral, breasts as white as snow, rosy cheeks, perfumed breath, musical voice. What is Shakespeare doing with these familiar examples of figurative language in this poem?…