Sonet 130by

William Shakespeare

Evan Miller and Jake Weidman

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Shakespeare

Shakespeare Facts 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 delightThan in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

I love to hear her speak, yet well I knowThat 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 rareAs any she belied with false compare.

The Form

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

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 delightThan the breath of my mistress.

I love to hear her speak, but I knowThat 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 rareAs any woman who has had poetic untruths told about her beauty

with false comparisons.

The English/Shakespearean Form

Contains 3 quatrains of alternating rhyme. The form is as follows: a b a b

c d c de f e fg g

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 delightThan in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

I love to hear her speak, yet well I knowThat 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 rareAs any she belied with false compare.

Quick Review Question

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 CitedJones, 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>.