Before we start analysing the poem, let us quickly contemplate some of the physical beauty ideals found on social media today. The reason why I mention this will make sense in a moment.

Some of these ideals can include a curvy but fit body, flawless skin, full eyebrows, extended eyelashes, high cheekbones, a small nose, full lips and white straight teeth. I'd like you to ask yourself whether these ideals of physical beauty are actually realistic. Can the average woman, without a filter, naturally have all of these features? Most probably not.

The reason why I brought up beauty ideals in today's society is because during Shakespeare's time, the Elizabethan era, there were also certain ideals of beauty that were deemed desirable. These included soft blonde or red hair, a very high forehead, pale white skin, shiny blue eyes, rosy cheeks and red lips. In this poem, Sonnet 130, Shakespeare satirises or mocks his fellow Petrarchan poets of the time. They wrote sonnets that described their partners in highly exaggerated and unrealistic ways.

Let us read through the poem.

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 done? If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damasked red and white, but no such roses see I in her

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.

In summary, the speaker uses a series of anti-compliments to describe his beloved. What initially sounds like insults are in fact compliments. He may seem judgmental and rude, but we soon realise that he is actually sincere in his love for his beloved. In the last two lines of the poem, he states that because she is normal and real, he does not need to exaggerate her beauty or his love for her. He loves her just the way she is, and she is perfect to him.

Shakespeare's refusal to use the hyperbolic language that was popular at the time to describe his beloved ironically emphasises her true beauty as a person.

In the first line of the poem, the speaker states his mistress's eyes are nothing like the sun. Here we have a simile. This is a negative simile because the speaker says her eyes are not as bright as the sun. The second line reads Coral is far more red than her lips is red. The word coral here refers to the stony coloured structures in the ocean that are sometimes bright red in colour. The speaker states that coral is far more red than her lips. This here is a metaphor in which the speaker states that his lover's lips are not as red as the coral in the ocean.

Line three says if snow be white, why then her breasts are done. The word breasts here does not necessarily refer to the lady's chest area, but rather her skin. The speaker describes her skin as done, which simply means that her skin is a dull brownish colour.

This line also contains a metaphor in which his lover's skin is compared to snow. Rather than being white as snow, her skin is brown in colour. During the Elizabethan era, the ideal Elizabethan woman had very pale skin. Pale skin was a symbol of nobility as the wealthy would not have to work outside in the fields and become tanned from the sun.

In line four, the speaker states of his lover's hair that black wires grow on her head. We have a metaphor here in which the speaker compares his lover's hair to black wires.

Rather than having soft blonde or light red hair, which was deemed beautiful at the time, she has dark and frizzy hair. An interesting fact is that products such as bleach and lemon juice were used to lighten women's hair in the Elizabethan era. Some women even went as far as shaving their heads and wearing glamorous wigs.

In line five, the speaker says he has seen roses damasked red and white. The word damasked means decorated with a pattern. In other words, he has seen roses with petals that have red and white patterns. However, in line six, the speaker states, but no such roses see

I in her cheeks. In other words, his beloved's cheeks are not rosy. In this metaphor, the speaker compares his lover's cheeks to red and white patterned roses, saying that her cheeks are not like these roses at all. In lines seven and eight, the speaker says, and in some perfumes is there more delight than in the breath that from mine mistress reeks. In this metaphor, the speaker compares his lover's breath to perfume, saying that perfume smells more pleasant than her breath. Note the word reeks. In our understanding of the word today, if something reeks, it has a terrible smell. However, in Shakespearean times the word had a more neutral meaning. In this context, the word refers not necessarily to something that stinks, but rather to the general idea of exhaling or of a smell being emitted. In other words, the breath emitted from the speaker's beloved is just not as lovely as perfume. In lines nine and 10, the speaker says, I love to hear her speak, yet well I know that music hath a far more pleasing sound. In this metaphor, the speaker compares his lover's voice to music, saying that even though he loves to hear her voice, it is not as pleasing as listening to the sound of music. In lines 11 and 12, the speaker states,

I grant I never saw a goddess go. My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. The word grant means to admit, and the word go means to walk. The metaphor in these two lines is that the speaker mentions that his lover merely walks like an ordinary human being, rather than floating gracefully as a goddess might. Lines 13 and 14 form the rhyming couplet of the sonnet. The speaker concludes the poem by stating, and yet by heaven, I think my love as rare as any she belied with false compare. The words and yet signify the vulture or the turn in the poem, where the speaker will make his point. By heaven is like the expression I swear to God. I think my love, the speaker's beloved, is as rare, meaning unique, special or worthy as any she or woman belied with false compare. Belied means to show something to be false or untrue. False compare simply means flattered or praised with false comparisons. In simple English, the speaker says, I swear to God, I think my lover is as unique as any woman who has been praised with exaggerated and false comparisons.

Unlike others who write sonnets, the speaker didn't need extravagant expressions or fancy comparisons. He can just tell his beloved, plainly and simply, that he loves her for who she is.

Let's recap the commentary Shakespeare was making. Shakespeare cleverly makes use of

Elizabethan beauty ideals while deliberately challenging them. He does this by subtly mocking the traditional metaphors used by poets during the Elizabethan period. The couplet undoes the potential damage done to his reader's faith and confirms that he does indeed love his mistress after the insults he makes in the previous 12 lines. The couplet insists that love does not need these deceptions in order to be real and that women do not need to look like flowers or like the sun to be considered beautiful.

Let's take a look at the form and structure of a Shakespearean sonnet. Note the rhyme scheme of this poem on the right hand side. A Shakespearean sonnet follows a rhyme scheme pattern of A B A B C D C D E F E F G G. A Shakespearean sonnet is made up of 14 lines, three quatrains or three stanzas of four lines each and a final rhyming couplet or the last two rhyming lines of the poem. The turn or the volta occurs in the rhyming couplet in which the tone and the ideas in the poem shift. In this sonnet the first 12 lines seemed like the speaker was insulting his beloved, but the turn in the rhyming couplet made it clear that he was actually complimenting her. The poem is written using the iambic pentameter rhythm. Please keep an eye out for a video in which I explain rhyme scheme and iambic pentameter.

Remember that tone in literature refers to the poet or the writer's attitude or feelings.

In this poem we can say that Shakespeare's tone is satirical, humorous and mocking. He mocks the exaggerated comparisons used by poets writing love poems at the time. However, his tone changes or shifts in the couplet. His tone becomes honest, down to earth, appreciative and accepting.

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