Sonnet 131

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Miyuki and Jodie
Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art,
As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel
For well thou know’st to my dear doting heart,
Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel.
Yet in good faith some say that thee behold,
Thy face hath not the power to make love groan;
To say they err, I dare not be so bold,
Although I swear it to my self alone.
And to be sure that is not false I swear,
A thousand groans but thinking on thy face,
One on another’s neck do witness bear
Thy black is fairest in my judgment’s place.
In nothing art thou black save in they deeds,
And thence this slander as I think proceeds.
1
2
3
4
Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art,
As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel;
For well thou know’st to my dear doting heart
Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel.
5
6
7
8
Yet in good faith some say that thee behold,
They face hath not the power to make love groan;
To say they err, I dare not be so bold,
Although I swear it to my self alone.
9 And to be sure that is not false I swear,
10 A thousand groans but thinking on they face,
11 One on another’s neck do witness bear
12 Thy black is fairest in my judgment’s place.
13 In nothing art thou black save in thy deeds,
14 And thence this slander as I think proceeds.
1 You are as severe,
2 As those who are proud to be beautiful, which makes them cruel,
3 You know that in my heart you are,
4 The most beautiful and precious jewel.
5 Yet, some say that you know that you are beautiful
6 Your face is not ugly
7 I won’t dare to say they are wrong
8 I won’t admit that I think they are wrong
9 And to be sure I am not lying to myself,
10 When I think of your face, I think of bad things,
11 I am not the only person who thinks so.
12 I like you for your bad qualities.
13 Nothing about you is bad, except for what to do.
14 And people talk poorly about you because of the bad things that
you do.
1
2
3
4
Thou art as tyrannous so as thou art,
As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel;
For well thou know’st to my dear doting heart
Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel.
5
6
7
8
Yet in good faith some say that thee behold,
Thy face hath not the power to make love groan;
To say they err, I dare not be so bold,
Although I swear it to my self alone.
9 And to be sure that is not false I swear,
10 A thousand groans but thinking on thy face,
11 One on another’s neck do witness bear
12 Thy black is fairest in my judgment’s place.
13 In nothing art thou black save in thy deeds,
14 And thence this slander as I think proceeds.
1
2
3
4
Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art,
As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel;
For well thou know’st to my dear doting heart
Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel.
5
6
7
8
Yet in good faith some say that thee behold,
Thy face hath not the power to make love groan;
To say they err, I dare not be so bold,
Although I swear it to my self alone.
9 And to be sure that is not false I swear,
10 A thousand groans but thinking on thy face,
11 One on another’s neck do witness bear
13 They black is fairest in my judgment’s place.
14 In nothing art thou black save in they deeds,
15 And thence this slander as I think proceeds.

The turn starts at line 9 with “And to be sure that is
not false I swear…”
and ends at line 12 with “ Thy black is fairest in my
judgment’s place.”

This is the turn because until this point in the poem,
the author says that his lover is beautiful and
everyone, despite the fact that her personality is
severe.

At the turn of the sonnet, the author says that he is
lying to himself by saying she is beautiful, but he
likes her for all of her bad qualities.

The author is attracted to his lover for all the wrong
reasons.



“Thy black is fairest in my judgment’s place” (Sonnet 131).
His lover possesses qualities and exhibits behavior that is
typically considered unattractive. (line 10, 13-14).

“A thousand groans but thinking on thy face” (Sonnet 131).

“In nothing art thou black save in thy deeds/ And thence this slander as
I think proceeds” (Sonnet 131).
Despite the fact that the author’s lover is not traditionally
attractive, he feels an uncontrollable attraction to her, and
loves her for her bad qualities. (lines 1 -4)

“Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art/ As those whose beauties proudly
make them cruel/ For well thou know’st to my dear doting heart/ Thou
art the fairest and most precious jewel” (Sonnet 131).

To whom/what does the speaker compare his lover in the first 2
lines?


What metaphor does the speaker use to describe his lover?


“Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel” (Sonnet 131).
What do some others say about the speaker’s lover that he
hesitates to dispute?


The speaker compares his lover to a tyrant and someone who is conceited
(“those whose beauties proudly make them cruel”)
The speaker hesitates to dispute the fact that other’s think that his lover his
beautiful, but he does not.
Explain the paradox in line 12.

The poet says that he is attracted to his lover’s bad qualities.
1
2
3
4
Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art,
As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel;
For well thou know’st to my dear doting heart
Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel.
5
6
7
8
Yet in good faith some say that thee behold,
Thy face hath not the power to make love groan;
To say they err, I dare not be so bold,
Although I swear it to my self alone.
9 And to be sure that is not false I swear,
10 A thousand groans but thinking on thy face,
11 One on another’s neck do witness bear
12 Thy black is fairest in my judgment’s place.
13 In nothing art thou black save in thy deeds,
14 And thence this slander as I think proceeds.

In Pride & Prejudice, Darcy
exhibits very rude behavior
toward Elizabeth

Despite the fact that Darcy
believes Elizabeth is “not
good enough for her,” he is
attracted to Elizabeth

At first Elizabeth despises
Darcy, but grows to like him,
and eventually falls in love
with him and marries him.
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