Sonnet 130 Analysis

In “Trout” by David Marlatt and “Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare, both describe their loves in unusual, more complex ways then what is usually written in poetry. “Trout” describes a day where the speaker swims next to his love, and explains to her that she is as beautiful as a trout. Throughout the poem, however, there seems to be a tone of admiration, and the audience cannot hellp but feel that the speaker is giving his love one of the highest praises he can possibley think of. In “Sonnet 130”, the speaker juxtaposes his love to certain elements found in poetry, such as red and white roses, goddesses, and music, and says that in comparison to these she is but average and plain.

An Elizabethan sonnet is a poem that contains 14 lines. Each line is usually 10 syllables long. However, Shakespeare created his own type of sonnet that also has 14 lines, but also follows a rhyme scheme of ababcdcdefefgg. Not only that, but the Shakespearean sonnets also have iambic pentameter which give the sonnets a rhythm or beat by emphasizing every other syllable. Shakespearean sonnets are very similar to those of Petrarchan lovers. The main idea of these sonnets are usually about exaggerated and romantic love. These sonnets were created by a man named Francesco Petrarch. He was an Italian student during the Renaissance who lived in Petrarch, Italy. Petrarch then fell in love with a woman named Laura, and shortly after he began to write sonnets about her. Many people who also lived in the city continued what Francesco had started. The ideal woman of the time and in Petrarchan sonnets was blonde, had a high forehead, had bright eyes, and had pale skin. In the sonnets, they are exaggerated so much that they are almost viewed as angels or goddesses. In William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130,” he compares his “mistress” to the ideal woman from Petrarchan sonnets, and in a way, mocks them for their ridiculous flattery. In “Sonnet 130,” William Shakespeare’s use of similes, metaphors, and tone illustrate the complex nature of love, and reject the cliché concepts of ideal love.

In many ways, Shakespeare’s use of the sonnet form is richer and more complex than this relatively simple division into parts might imply. Not only is his sequence largely occupied with subverting the traditional themes of love sonnets—the traditional love poems in praise of beauty and worth, for instance, are written to a man, while the love poems to a woman are almost all as bitter and negative as Sonnet 147—he also combines formal patterns with daring and innovation. Many of his sonnets in the sequence, for instance, impose the thematic pattern of a Petrarchan sonnet onto the formal pattern of a Shakespearean sonnet, so that while there are still three quatrains and a couplet, the first two quatrains might ask a single question, which the third quatrain and the couplet will answer. As you read through Shakespeare’s sequence, think about the ways Shakespeare’s themes are affected by and tailored to the sonnet form. Be especially alert to complexities such as the juxtaposition of Petrarchan and Shakespearean patterns. How might such a juxtaposition combination deepen and enrich Shakespeare’s

Writers in the sixteenth century had grandiose ideas about love. The renaissance is a period when love poems were common. Many of those poems came in the form of sonnets describing the author’s love interest. These sonnets include flowery language comparing women to objects such as the sun, moon, and stars. William Shakespeare has also used this type of poem to describe women. He has also employed the typical poetic devices in many of his sonnets. However, in Sonnet 130, Shakespeare uses simile, hyperbole, and allegory to parody the conventional sonnets of his time.

In Shakespeare’s sonnet 116 he realistically describes love in more of a romantic way, but still conserves the realism of love lasting through rough times. In this sonnet personification is used to describe how as death approaches, good looks fade, but if two people's love is true, then their deep affection will not end because of this: “Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks / Within his bending sickle's compass come” (lines 9-10). The personification of love and time brings forth the idea of them physically stealing a loved one’s outer beauty; however, if two people are truly in love, the loss of one’s beauty should not matter as described later in sonnet 116 and in the tone. The tone of determination is used to describe how if two people have a strong enough bond, their love should last through the hard times in life: “Love is not love / Which alters when it alteration finds, / Or bends with the remover to remove” (lines 2-4). The affection between two people should not be changed or taken away, if their love does change, then they did not have determination to love in the first place. Both of these sonnets show great representations of

“False love, desire, and beauty frail, adieu! Dead is the root whence all these fancies grew,” (Sir Walter Raleigh). Raleigh portrays the love of poets as false love, which is similar to the way William Shakespeare describes it in Sonnet 130, where he mocks the way other poets exaggerate their muses’ beauty. Though one would assume Shakespeare wrote this sonnet to give to his mistress, he did not, as he was smart enough to know she would never talk to him again if he did. He in fact wrote it to mock Petrarchan sonnets which exaggerated beauty to the point where it was no longer real and it was obvious the poet's love went no deeper than the skin of their mistress. In the sonnet Shakespeare first appears harsh in criticizing his mistress’ beauty, but as the sonnet progresses, he subtly reveals that his love for her is unconditional to ultimately challenge society’s cliched beliefs of love.

In the first two quatrains of the sonnet, Shakespeare uses a tone of criticism to describe his overall thoughts about

Shakespeare examines love in two different ways in Sonnets 116 and 130. In the first, love is treated in its most ideal form as an uncompromising force (indeed, as the greatest force in the universe); in the latter sonnet, Shakespeare treats love from a more practical aspect: it is viewed simply and realistically without ornament. Yet both sonnets are justifiable in and of themselves, for neither misrepresents love or speaks of it slightingly. Indeed, Shakespeare illustrates two qualities of love in the two sonnets: its potential and its objectivity. This paper will compare and contrast the two sonnets by Shakespeare and show how they represent two different attitudes to love.

Stylistically Sonnet shares very few similarities to the two major forms of sonnets. It contains an octave and a sestet as the Petrarchan sonnet does as well. Beyond this sole equivalence, Sonnet takes a sharp right turn and boasts its uniqueness. Rhythmically there are only three lines in Sonnet that show regular iambics. The lines are “then only ten more left like rows of beans” / “and rhymes positioned at the ends of lines” / “blow out the lights, and come at last to bed” (Spacey). There are no other noticeable rhyme schemes at play. The entire sonnet is essentially casual-toned free verse. Another deliberate breakaway from the typical conventions of a sonnet are the multiple enjambments found between lines two and ten. We also see literary devices at play like anaphoras in lines: six, seven, eleven and twelve. Additionally, there is some alliteration in line three, six, and nine. Now that I have touched on the stylistic similarity and differences, I’m going to discuss the tone of Sonnet.

Many men compare try to make their mistress feel special like they are no other by comparing them to false comparisons. The speaker was not afraid to be blunt about his mistress instead of how other men use false comparison and fill their mistress head up. William Shakespeare gives the speaker a blunt tone in Sonnet 130 to convey that he was not bragging on his wife saying she is all this and that. He said things that others compare their mistress to. That is what make his love for his mistress unconditional and very special.

William Shakespeare is recognized for being one of greatest poets of all time. His works are still popular to this day. Many of his works included extended metaphors and similes with rhetorical language and were rooted in the nature of love. Two of his poems that are rather alike, but also very contrastive are “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” and “My mistresses’ eyes are nothing like the sun.” They both contain a core theme of love or anti-love in some aspects. While these two poems are built around the same type of subject, their interpretations come across in separate ways. In contrast to Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” which is a serious love poem that contains imagery and metaphors, Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130” is more negative and humorous but contains imagery and similes.

The second sonnet continues the argument and plea from sonnet one. This time through the imagery of military, winter, and commerce. Once again, time is the great enemy, besieging the youth’s brow, digging trenches in his face and ravaging his good looks. Beauty is conceived of as a treasure that decays unless, through love, its natural increase. By marrying and having children is made possible. The poet tries to scare the young man to marry and have children by showing him his future. When he is forty years old he will be nothing but a “tatter’d weed, of small worth held” because he will be alone and childless. The only thing that the young will have to look back for is his self-absorbed “Lusty days,” empty because

The title of the poem “My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun” suggests that the speaker is not in love with his ‘mistress’. However, this is not the case. Shakespeare uses figurative language by using criticizing hyperboles to mock the traditional love sonnet. Thus, showing not only that the ideal woman is not always a ‘goddess’, but mocking the way others write about love. Shakespeare proves that love can be written about and accomplished without the artificial and exuberant. The speaker’s tone is ironic, sarcastic, and comical turning the traditional conceit around using satire. The traditional iambic pentameter rhyming scheme of the sonnet makes the diction fall into place as relaxed, truthful, and with elegance in the easy flowing verse. In turn, making this sonnet one of parody and real love.

A sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines that rhyme in a particular pattern. William Shakespeare’s sonnets were the only non-dramatic poetry that he wrote. Shakespeare used sonnets within some of his plays, but his sonnets are best known as a series of one hundred and fifty-four poems. The series of one hundred and fifty-four poems tell a story about a young aristocrat and a mysterious mistress. Many people have analyzed and contemplated about the significance of these “lovers”. After analysis of the content of both the “young man” sonnets and the “dark lady sonnets”, it is clear that the poet, Shakespeare, has a great love for the young man and only lusts after his mistress.

Sonnet 6 is notable for the ingenious multiplying of conceits and especially for the concluding pun on a legal will in the final couplet: "Be not self-willed, for thou art much too fair / To be death's conquest and make worms thine heir." Here, as earlier in the sonnet, the poet juxtaposes the themes of narcissism and death, as well as procreation. "Self-willed" echoes line 4's "self-killed," and the worms that destroy the young man's dead body will be his only heirs should he die without begetting a child which shows the theme of death. The whole sonnet is about trying to persuade the man to have a baby hence the theme if procreation. And lastly, the man is being selfish in wanting to die without passing on his beauty.