Sonnet 130 Analysis

The consistency of rhyme scheme helps underscore Shakespeare's thoughts by emphasizing certain words. Looking at the first two lines of each quatrain and comparing the rhyme with the second two lines of the quatrain, one may see some interesting pairing of words. "Sun" (line 1) and "red" (line 2) versus "dun" (line 3) and "head" (line 4), "white" (line 5) and "cheeks" (line 6) versus "delight" (line 7) and "reeks" (line 8) and finally "know" (line 9) and "sound" (line 10) versus "go" (line 11) and "ground" (line 12). The words completing the first two lines in each quatrain, when paired together, describe something pleasant while the words paired in the second two lines describe something unpleasant. This helps strengthen Shakespeare's message

In life people sometimes face different tribulations that bring them down such as being judged for their physical appearance or even the way they are. Writers in literature who are known to write about romantic things sometimes use this as a way to create things to write about. In sonnet 130, Shakespeare helps us understand that even though his wife has different flaws he still loves her for who she is as a person. Shakespeare uses a critical and judgmental tone to show that even though he compares his mistress to all of these things he still loves her even though her physical appearance isn’t the best.

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.

Shakespeare follows the English style of sonnets, while Collins partially follows the Petrarchan style. Both sonnets include fourteen lines, a defining feature of the sonnet form. “My mistress’ eyes are…” consists of three quatrains that describes his argument on love cliches, and ends with a couplet, the turning point of English sonnets. The sonnet consists of ten syllables each line, following the rhythm of the iambic pentameter rule. Shakespeare’s sonnet follows the usual rhyme scheme of an English sonnet: abab cdcd efef gg. Collins attempts to stray from the general sonnet principles in contrast with Shakespeare. “Sonnet” loosely follows the Petrarchan style, as the lines are grouped into one octave and one sestet in structure. Collins’s “Sonnet” does not have a rhyme scheme, nor does the poem follow iambic pentameter. His sonnet does, however, present his turn in line 9, the beginning of the sestet. Collins begins poking fun at English sonnets in the octave, but then turns to joke at Petrarchan forms. Both sonnets have a lighthearted, humorous tone and parody classic styles of sonnets in different ways.

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.

Billy Collins, in his sonnet “Sonnet,” describes the content of sonnets in general, the Elizabethan sonnet, and the Petrarchan sonnet. Collins develop this idea, by stating that “All we need is fourteen lines,” to explain to a reader that all sonnets consist of fourteen lines; secondly, he metaphorically describes how a sonnet’s purpose is to “launch a little ship on love's storm-tossed seas,” to show the reader that sonnets are normally meant to be about love and the complications that come with it; thirdly, by stating that the “iambic bongos must be played and rhymes positioned at the ends of lines,” he metaphorically describes the rhythmic and rhyming limitations of the Elizabethan or Shakespearean sonnet; fourthly, he states that “ the

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.

“To my Dear and Loving Husband” written by Anne Bradstreet, is the story of a woman admiring love for her husband. On the other hand, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” written by William Shakespeare, is the story of the love a man feels for an imperfect woman. Although the two poems are about love, they interpret it in different ways through rhythmic structure, and emotional expression. “To my Dear and Loving Husband” has an impeccable rhythmic alignment. It starts with repeating “if ever” three times in the first three lines.

Poetry has always had a common theme where lovers are portrayed as goddess-like, based on their beauty and love. However, in William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130,” written as an English sonnet, the speaker has a different vision, as he realizes that his lover’s beauty cannot be compared to that of a goddess, nor can it be found in nature for she is just a typical human being. His love for her is eventually shown, but without the use of the cliché image of beauty. Shakespeare’s use of metaphors, contrast, language and structure demonstrates that love is complicated and that real beauty is unrealistic and impossible to live up to.

By doing so, Shakespeare further implies that it is not the physical perfections, or having a voice as lovely as music that make up love, but rather personality and more skin-deep qualities that make up true love. The utilization of excellent diction, and the use of paradox and allegory techniques throughout conveys to the reader the admirable tone the speaker seems to have for his love, and the realistic point Shakespeare tries to prove in that love is not just simply looks, but character and quality of a person that form a truer and deeper bond.

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.

Donne even goes so far as to command God to destroy the person he has

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.

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.