Shakespearean Sonnets
9 Easy Steps to Attacking Sonnets
1. Read the sonnet aloud.
2. Identify the quatrains and couplet by numbering each
line; draw a line separating each quatrain and the
couplet.
3. Identify and label the rhyme scheme.
4. Annotate the first quatrain by labeling the syllables,
identifying iambic pentameter.
5. Read the sonnet aloud.
6. Circle and define any words that are unfamiliar.
7. Describe the figurative language present in each line or
groups of lines; take notes in the margin.
8. Summarize/paraphrase each quatrain, and then the
couplet; use your notes as a guide.
9. Infer the theme of the sonnet.
SONNET 130
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 damask'd, 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.
SONNET 130
(1) 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.
___________________________________________
(5) I have seen roses damask'd, 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.
___________________________________________
(9) 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:
___________________________________________
(13) And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
SONNET 130
(1) My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; a
Coral is far more red than her lips' red; b
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; a
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. b
(5) I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, c
But no such roses see I in her cheeks; d
And in some perfumes is there more delight c
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. d
(9) I love to hear her speak, yet well I know e
That music hath a far more pleasing sound; f
I grant I never saw a goddess go; e
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: f
(13) And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare g
As any she belied with false compare. g
Iambic Pentameter
Definition: a common meter in poetry consisting of an unrhymed line
with five feet or accents, each foot containing an unaccented syllable
and an accented syllable…thus, totaling 10 syllables per line
Etymology: French iambique ‘of a foot or verse’ and Greek pentameter
‘measure of five’
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Iambic pentameter is the most common meter in English verse (line). It consists
of a line 10 syllables long that is accented on every second beat.
(1) My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; a
Count the syllables - there should be 10, and label each accented syllable.
(1) My – mis – tress – eyes – are – no – thing – like – the – sun; a
SONNET 130
(1) My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; a
Coral is far more red than her lips' red; b
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; a
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. b
(5) I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, c
But no such roses see I in her cheeks; d
And in some perfumes is there more delight c
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. d
(9) I love to hear her speak, yet well I know e
That music hath a far more pleasing sound; f
I grant I never saw a goddess go; e
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: f
(13) And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare g
As any she belied with false compare. g
SONNET 130
(1) My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; a
Coral is far more red than her lips' red; b
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; a
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. b
(5) I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, c
But no such roses see I in her cheeks; d
And in some perfumes is there more delight c
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. d
(9) I love to hear her speak, yet well I know e
That music hath a far more pleasing sound; f
I grant I never saw a goddess go; e
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: f
(13) And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare g
As any she belied with false compare. g
dun = dull, grayish brown, dark, gloomy
damask’d =
mistress = a woman who has authority, control or power
belied = to show to be false; contradict; to misrepresent
Quatrain 1 =
Quatrain 2 =
Quatrain 3 =
Couplet =
Theme =
Now it’s your turn! Complete steps 1-9 on the following sonnet.
Sonnet 18
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.