Sonnet 130 - William Shakespeare

Question 1

Structure

Answer 1

-written in iambic pentameter
- Each of the first four lines is marked with punctuation at the end of the line to create a long pause and to separate out each of these lines as a separate observation. This allows the reader a moment to imagine the description and also helps to highlight the rhyme scheme, ABAB, by pausing after each rhyming sound.

Question 2

Introduction

Answer 2

Sonnet 130, written by world-renown dramatist and influential writer, satirises the traditional notions that Petrarchan sonnets would exhibit, that of unavailable love and of fair and pure beauty. Shakespeare tries to find a more authentic and firm description of women and their various differences, boldly subverting modern beauty expectations for women and emphasising how beauty is found in all, no matter their appearance.

Question 3

Analyse the first line :
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun

Answer 3

‘My mistress’ - possessive determiner, alliteration, offer a strong, lyrical opening to this untraditional sonnet.
- suggests she’s his, in petrarchan sonnets the woman are unavailable, this goes against the usual subjects the petrarchan sonnets are written about.
‘nothing like the sun’ - negative simile
- Comparing the eyes to the sun is a typical cliché of the time and the speaker asserts the opposite, for humorous effect. This line uses litotes to emphasise the ‘dark lady’s’ lack of usual beauty which was cherished

Question 4

Analyse these lines: (hint 4 ish)
Coral is far more red than her lips red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

Answer 4

‘If… why then’ - conversational tone to add to the ironic mocking tone
‘far more’ - adverb that modifies the adjective ‘more’
‘lips red’ - goes against beauty standards, isn’t conforming.
- Red is a colour associated with love, passion and romance, but here, the speaker says her lips are not so red, suggesting a lesser passion than a reader of a sonnet might expect
‘white’ - suggests innocence/purity, she is not innocent/ pure, could also mean virgin which means she’snot chased, different from normal sonnets.
‘dun’ - dull, not enchanting and pure and ‘white’ as she doesn’t have that quality of innocence, could also imply that if she isn’t a virgin anymore, then she’s seen as ‘tainted’ and dirty
‘lips’ and ‘breasts’ - lexical set of physical attributes

Question 5

Analyse these lines: (hint 4 ish)
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
…
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;

Answer 5

‘wires’ - course, rough, perhaps how he views her personally, also all the poem suggests that she is perhaps not of high status and therefore her physical attributes are less than.
Repetition of the word ‘wires’ in the line adds emphasis to this unflattering description and rejecting the ideal of golden, silky hair.
‘black wires’ - subverts beauty standards at the time, stark contrast, again her ‘black’ hair is contrast to those of wealth who’s hair is primarily seen as gold and luscious, implying poverty vs wealth
‘such roses see I’ - connotes romantic notions, her lack of ‘romance’ implies her lover-less nature and a lack of warmth
- inverted syntax to keep in line with the metre

Question 6

Analyse these lines: (hint: 2 ish)
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
…
I grant I never saw a goddess go;

Answer 6

‘yet well I know’ - This honest and loving moment is juxtaposed with the harsh reality which follows. The contrast is made clear with the conjunction ‘yet’ which follows the caesura at the semi-colon. The pause in the middle of the line alerts the reader to the fact that a contrast is coming, and reality will attempt to negate the compliment.
‘I grant I never saw a goddess go’ - - - Comparing a lover to a goddess is another common trope of love poetry, with the effect being to idealise the object of the poem. In this cases, the speaker’s humorous tone makes it clear that he has never seen a goddess and is mocking the typical petrarchan sonnets.
Humour is emphasised by the use of alliteration of the ‘g’ sound in ‘grant … goddess go’.

Question 7

My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground;

Answer 7

’ treads’ - Instead of floating magically like a goddess as the usual sonnets would prefer to depict, the speaker literally grounds his description of his mistress with the factual acknowledgement that she walks on the ground
- In this line, the speaker returns to visual imagery, helping to round off the poem in preparation for the closing couplet. The use of pauses gives it a slow, measured feel, again grounding the description in reality.

Question 8

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare

Answer 8

‘And yet…’ - This line marks the volta, the turning point in the poem, highlighted by the phrase ‘And yet’. In this final rhyming couplet, the speaker reveals his true feelings of love and respect that he has for his mistress. Despite her flaws and his lack of effusive, excessive descriptions, he feels his love for her is real, true and special.