1. Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare
An unconventional love poem about the “Dark Lady”
Shakespeare wrote over 20 poems about the Dark Lady who remains a mysterious figure. We try and build up a picture of her from the poem.
Images of the authors are courtesy of The University of Texas at Austin.

2. But in his unconventional love poem Shakespeare
In a conventional love poem the writer would exaggerate how beautiful his mistress is:
My mistress' eyes are more
fantastic than the sun;
But in his unconventional love poem Shakespeare
underplays how beautiful his mistress is:
What effect does this line have on the reader? “My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;” Does it make us wonder what her eyes are like?
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
He has turned around the convention of exaggerated praise

3. He carries on with the unconventional approach in the next lines
desirable feature
Her lips aren't red
Pink-orange colour
Coral is far more red than her lips' red
Something
of a cliche
The conventional
Grey brown colour
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun
Is he saying she is not
beautiful or is he saying
she is beautiful in a different way?
Can we answer this
or do we need to read on?

4. In the next lines he moves on to describe other physical features
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
So she is not
conventionally
beautiful
Gold wires were used
in head-dress and
compared to golden hair
Blondes were more
highly rated
mixed
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white
Is he disparaging his mistress or do these lines enhance the idea of unconventional beauty?
But she doesn’t
have this complexion
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;

5. The author moves from how she looks to how she smells
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
Smells- the word
didn’t have a
negative meaning in
Shakespeare’s time
He’s not saying the smell of
her breath is unpleasant -
just that perfume smells sweeter
In conventional love poems
you would say her breath was
sweeter than perfume
But Shakespeare takes an
unconventional approach

6. The next feature is the sound of her voice
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
He’s not being critical of her voice:
all he’s saying is that music
has a more pleasing sound
In the conventional love
poem the writer
would say that her voice
was sweeter than music

7. The poet describes how his mistress walks
I admit
to you
I’ve never seen
a goddess walk
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
My mistress walks like anyone else,
on the ground, rather than floating through the air
In a conventional love
poem she would be
described as
a goddess
He’s stressing his mistress is no goddess.

8. So does the poet think that his mistress is beautiful or what?
The last 2 lines tell us
Direct statement, telling
us what he thinks
exceptional
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
For emphasis
The poet thinks she’s
beautiful but doesn’t want
to describe her in a cliched way.
She is as beautiful as
any woman who is praised
with false comparisons

9. A sonnet has 14 lines rhyme scheme The first 12 lines are ABAB
3 quatrains
Groups of 4 lines
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.
With a
closing couplet
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
Sums things up