Sonet 130
by
William Shakespeare
Evan Miller and Jake
Weidman
Shakesperian Insult Generator
Shakespeare Insults List
Insult Generator
Shakespeare
Shakespeare Facts
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Married to Anne Hathaway, 8 year age difference
Macbeth is thought to be one of the most produced plays ever,
with a performance beginning somewhere in the world every
four hours
Shakespeare never actually published any of his plays
Shakespeare's family were all illiterate
All of his grandchildren died. He has no descendents
Recitation by Alan Rickman
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.
The Form
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Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 is written in
Petrarch form
• Written in Iambic Pentameter
• A famous form of a traditional love sonnet
• However, in this case Shakespeare is
•
mocking this traditional love form
Instead of speaking highly of his love, he is
instead giving her backhanded compliments,
if they can be considered compliments at all.
Form Continued
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However, in the end, Shakespeare finally
confesses his true love for his wife even
though he has not boosted her image.
The main point of this poem is to pull a
large joke over the traditional forms of
“love poetry” that was very common
during the time period.
Modern Interpretation of Sonnet 130
My mistress's eyes are not at all like the sun;
Coral is much more red than her lips;
If snow is white, then her breasts are certainly not white as snow;
If hairs can be compared to wires, hers are black and not golden.
I have seen roses colored a combination of red and white (thus pink),
But I do not see such colors in her cheeks;
And some perfumes give more delight
Than the breath of my mistress.
I love to hear her speak, but I know
That music has a more pleasing sound than her voice;
I also never saw a goddess walk;
But I know that my mistress walks only on the ground.
And yet I think my love as rare
As any woman who has had poetic untruths told about her beauty
with false comparisons.
The English/Shakespearean Form
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Contains 3 quatrains of alternating rhyme.
The form is as follows: a b a b
cdcd
efef
gg
Shakespeare often also places a “turn” around
line 9 of every sonnet (Usually just before the
3rd quatrain.)
Example of the form in 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.
Quick Review Question
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What was the name of Shakespeare’s
wife and how many years older was she
than him?
Love Song Written to Mario Kart
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Works Cited
Jones, Candace, and Kate MacKinnon. "Sonnet 130." Saint Thomas University. 15 May 2009
<http://www.stthomasu.ca/inkshed/inkshed22/130.htm>.
Miller, Nelson. "Basic Sonnet Forms." Sonnet Central. 15 May 2009
<http://www.sonnets.org/basicforms.htm>.