Guest
Sonnet 130 takes the unconventional route of describing one's beloved plainly. It satirizes the notion of florid prose and instead goes for something realistic that one can relate to; eyes that don't resemble the sun, lips that do not take after the coral hue, the scent of perfume dissipates, the voice lacks a rhythmic touch, and yet she is as comely as any woman. Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun by William Shakespeare My mistress' 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 damasked, 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.
