...did Shakespeare, as his poems reflect that he may have started writing as early as the age of 18 years old. His early sonnets are immature when compared to his later ones. Shakespeare’s use of nature imagery is clearly apparent in all his sonnets, but his use of nature imagery and its quality changes drastically. As his use of nature imagery changes, the tone of the sonnets also transforms, turning from being light-hearted and beautiful to dark and somewhat grotesque. More importantly, his definition of love itself takes on a different shape, going from physical attraction to a truer love. Finally, his allusions to religion become much more specific and more directed to the person he is writing about. Clearly Shakespeare’s poetry matures with time and is reflected by his definition of love and how differently it is expressed in Sonnet XVIII compared to Sonnet CXXX. In Sonnet XVIII, Shakespeare focuses on nature imagery to describe his young love. “…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: Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines…” He begins by comparing the love to a summer’s day, but says she is more beautiful. He refers to summer being too short and the sun, at times, shining too brightly and making the day too hot, but other times the sun may be blocked by clouds completely. All of his references here are to cosmic entities as well as weather, referencing the warmth of the sun and...
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...“My Mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” BY: Christopher Kirkhart Proffessor Guirguis Polk Community College Lit-1000-46898 22 September 2013 Christopher Kirkhart Professor Guirguis LIT 1000-46898 September 22, 2013 “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” In “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” Shakespeare wanted to show that one’s love does not have to be portrayed as a picture of ultimate beauty to be loved ("My mistresses eyes are nothing like the sun"). The diction in this poem is Shakespeare stating that beauty is not all about how one looks or even smells. He knows that not everyone is flawless, but everyone has flaws and should be known for their true beauty which is on the inside. He doesn’t state anything about her that isn’t true, yet he portrays her exactly as she is, his true love. Even though he is commenting on her flaws he does it in a relaxed tone. This makes the poem pleasant to read and helps to see it for what it truly means. Shakespeare’s diction has plenty of attitude by describing beautiful and wonderful things, then he states that she is the total opposite of them. She is not white as snow but a brownish gray, roses are a nice red and white beauty, but not her, she’s the opposite ("Mabillard"). “love to hear her speak, yet well I know that music hath a far more pleasing sound,” his attitude is confident by telling us that she is a normal person that we can relate to, not a fake perfect person that does not...
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...Sonnet: My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun The poem “My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun” by William Shakespeare talks about how the speaker sees his mistress’ appearance. He describes this mistress using the traditionally used characteristics that make a woman beautiful. Instead of pointing out the best traits that makes his mistress physically beautiful, the speaker portrays his mistress in a more realistic way, with characteristics that are believable. The poet uses a specific style, a descriptive comparison method, to communicate his message. This sonnet rhymes ababcdcdefefgg, which shows that it is a typical English sonnet as described by Vale (2010, p.84). With this form, the speaker was able to describe his mistress in a seemingly negative way. He describes her as not as beautiful as the objects that a woman’s beauty is traditionally compared to, but as the opposite. With this form, simple diction and poetic syntax, the poet creates a serious mood in the poem which perfectly communicates his message. The poet uses a descriptive comparison style to communicate his message. He picked descriptions that usually are used to compare certain features of a woman’s beauty, and then contradicts them with this mistress’ features. He chooses specific features that, perhaps, he believes they best show a woman’s beauty. These are: the eyes, lips, breasts, hair, cheeks, breath and voice. This has begun right at the beginning, in the title of the poem, “My Mistress’ Eyes...
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...Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 is a surprising simile: 'My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun'. We might normally expect poets, especially those of Shakespeare's time, to praise the women they love by telling us that their eyes do shine like the sun. But a writer of Shakespeare's calibre is not going to follow the herd and make exaggerated comparisons; here he is describing reality. Over the next few lines Shakespeare continues to describe his mistress in terms of the senses of sight, smell, sound and touch, but there is no flattery here. Colours are focused on first: 'Coral is far more red than her lips' red' tells us that lips are not naturally a bright red colour. Pale skin would have been sought after, but Shakespeare's mistress had dun-coloured breasts, dun being quite a dark colour. It seems that she did not have soft, sleek hair, as in line four it is compared to wire. Shakespeare relates that he has seen beautiful two-toned or 'damasked' roses, but that there is no rosiness in his mistress' cheeks. The poet is quite forthright in telling us that his mistress has bad breath; in fact it 'reeks', and there is no hint of perfume. Line nine gives the first compliment: 'I love to hear her speak', but Shakespeare admits in the following line that he would actually prefer music to her voice. In line eleven Shakespeare implies that the way his mistress moves could not be compared to a goddess, and he goes on to say 'My mistress when she walks treads upon the ground', creating the...
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...sonnet “my mistresses’ eyes are nothing like the sun.” Mullen’s expert use of poetic structure and subject matter highlights the similarities and the differences to the original writing by Shakespeare. Despite Mullen and Shakespeare’s pieces being written more than three decades apart, Mullen identifies the same slanted view of beauty that is present in Shakespeare’s original work, although Mullen presents his view in a contemporary fashion. The poem “Dim Lady” provides current readers with a lively satire that is concerned with flawed standards of beauty in a modern day format. Although “Dim Lady” and “my mistresses’ eyes are nothing like the sun” share many similarities in the areas of subject matter, style, and rhyme scheme, the two pieces also present many differences. Shakespeare’s sonnet “my mistresses’ eyes are nothing like the sun” exhibits a very traditional style and poetic structure. The poem includes a rhyme schemes that is used as the conclusion for the piece. Shakespeare uses a traditional form of sonnet in his work because this was the honored style during his period. Shakespeare’s sonnet includes many outdated and invalid stereotypes as well as some vocabulary that is not utilized in present day. For instance, in Shakespeare’s sonnets uses the noun “dun” which is defined as a dusty color, but the word is not common and is unfamiliar to the readers and modern day poetry. The word was used mostly between the seventeenth and nineteenth century. Shakespeare additionally...
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...and Sonnet 130 “Our Love Now”, is a modern poem by Martyn Lowery regarding a diminishing relationship whereas Sonnet 130, written by William Shakespeare in the 17th century is a declaration of love. Shakespeare portrays his poem from a single, male viewpoint; this is perhaps because of the patriarchal society he lived in. However “Our Love Now” is depicted from two perspectives, a male and a female, this could be because of the changes in society between the two eras. A clearly defined structure is apparent in both poems. However, “our love now” is structured as a conversation or dispute, with four original arguments (a male voice) and four counter-arguments (the female voice). All of the counter-arguments ends with, ‘such is our love now’ except the final one which concludes ‘such is our love’ as if their love is no more! There are two ways that you could digest this poem, the reader could follow all instances of the male voice first and then the female voice or you could read it as a conversation. Sonnet 130 is in the usual style of a sonnet, one long verse where every other line rhymes, except the final two lines which forms a rhyming couplet. The opening section appears to be insulting his mistress, but the concluding couplet changes the entire meaning. In each line, Shakespeare introduces a new trait of his mistress; this creates the effect of an expanding and developing argument, which is then contradicted by the last couplet. There is one similarity however...
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...Lovers are always portrayed on a pedestal, possessing ethereal, goddess-like qualities. However, in “Sonnet 130,” by William Shakespeare, metaphoric contrast is used to depict his mistress as a rare natural beauty. Shakespeare ridicules the traditional expression of love, while successfully expressing his own. The rhyme scheme of this sonnet follows an abab cdcd efef gg pattern. As a “Shakespearean” sonnet, it is organized into three quatrains of four lined stanzas and a closing couplet of two rhyming lines. The meter follows the rise and fall of natural speech with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable known as an iamb. In this sonnet there are ten syllables, or five feet, per line following the iambic pattern, thus a pentameter. In this way the poem is able to flow smoothly and naturally when read aloud. At first it seems like any other love poem: 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. The first line is deceiving for the reader, as one expects to hear about her supernatural beauty. However, the succeeding lines confirm that although his mistress is ordinary when compared to the sun, coral, and snow — she is not as beautiful as these things. In fact, she is quite the opposite, with dark eyes, pale lips, brown breasts, and black hair. There is no room for subtlety...
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...Brittney Paul ENG 260 March 8, 2015 Marschaneil Brown Comparing “Sonnet 130” and “The Oven Bird” “Sonnet 130” written by William Shakespeare and “The Oven Bird” by Robert Frost are both sonnets, but written in a different ways. Even though they were written years apart, they have some similarities and differences. Each author does however make the sonnets their own by adding pieces that are unique to them. After reading both “Sonnet 130” and “The Oven Bird” readers are able to analyze each sonnet by looking at the poems rhyme scheme, form, and structure. William Shakespeare wrote “Sonnet 130” sometime in the mid-1590s, but it wasn’t published until 1609. “Shakespeare’s collections of sonnets are concerning four characters: the speaker, a handsome young man, an older woman, and another poet who is a rival of the speaker” ("An Analysis of Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare," n.d.). In “Sonnet 130,” the speaker in this poem, describes the woman that he loves in a very critical way, but claims that he does in fact love her. “The Oven Bird” was written much later in 1916 by American poet, Robert Frost. In the poem, the bird is personified as possessing the human characteristic of knowledge. Frost uses personification in order to send the message that bird has “knowledge and understanding of the different seasons and what occurs in each season” ("The Oven Bird - Robert Frost,” n.d.). Unlike “Sonnet 130” the theme of this poem is not love, but about life being too short. This...
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...__________________________________________________________________________ SONNET 130 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 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. ANALYSIS The renaissance poet worries about finding new ways for expressing the beauty, but also to renew the themes of his works. In this period the poet wants to create a new world of beauty throughout a simple world. An important style of Renaissance Poetry was epic style, and sonnets (Shakespeare). Characteristics include: Rhyme, intensity in feelings, repetition, meter, iambic pentameter. The Renaissance poems came in many languages, commonly Latin, Italian and Greek. Some are translated and being used today as a historical and religious sources. The topics of the poems varied from religion to heroes. Most of the Christian poems talk about how they survived the fall of the Holy Roman Empire. Poems about heroes-heroines were very...
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...William Shakespeare explores many important themes in his sonnet sequence. The passage of time and its impact on relationships, as well as the portrayal of love and beauty, are major concerns in many individual sonnets. Shakespeare’s sonnets focus upon universal issues and concerns making them relevant today. The themes of time and beauty will be explored and analysed in Sonnet 19 and Sonnet 130. These sonnets explore the passage of time and its effects on his beloved; the majority of the sonnets (1-126) are addressed to an unknown young man, with whom the poet has an intense romantic relationship. The final sonnets (127-154) are addressed to a promiscuous and scheming woman known to modern readers as the “dark lady”. The ambiguity of the “beloved”, be it a male or female figure for maximum appeals, and the universal desire to preserve youth and beauty envied by the “older” speaker. Sonnet 19 focuses on the savagery and inevitable nature of time; it is presented as a force that never rests. Sonnet 130 is a more about the imperfections of his mistress and the impact of time and how it has affected her appearance but his relationship with her hasn’t changed. Both sonnets share a sense of hopeful optimism and defiance, and explore ways in which beauty isn’t about just looks and how time can almost be beaten or at the very least, accepted. SITUATIONS In the first quatrain of Sonnet 19 “Devouring Time” is introduced. It describes the devastating effects of time and that nothing...
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...Shakespeare – Sonnet 130 Shakespeare was his own, not many could write like he did, because he used a unique structure, language, compound words, as well as rhyme and rhythm and a lot of metaphors and simile, every bit of this just to developing the meaning of the poem. When reading the sonnet loud, you can read it in many different ways, such as Alan and Daniel Radcliffe does. They both have their own style reading this sonnet. Alan reads the sonnet with a much more emotional voice, and he takes his time to read it, no rush. While Daniel reads it with a more normal everyday accent, also a bit quick or quicker than Alan, which makes the emotional feelings not as important as it should be. The structure of this sonnet has fourteen lines, three quatrains and two concluding line, also called a couplet, which normally contain the theme of the sonnet. Rhymes and rhythm is so important, when it is about a sonnet or any kind of poetry. The sonnets that Shakespeare has written, has a unique rhyming scheme, and so has sonnet 130. The rhyming scheme is a-b-a-b-c-d-c-d-e-f-e-f-g-g. The couplet has a different rhyme scheme, which makes it different from the rest of the poem and the reason of this is to let the reader know, that these last two sentences are unique, because it tells the entire poems message. Shakespeare is well known for his incredible technique, and how he paints a picture using tons of wonderful metaphors and simile. He starts out the sonnet by simile his mistress’...
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...Sonnet 18, the author Shakespeare questions whether he should “compare thee to a summer’s day”. He is glorifies his lover by stating how she is so beautiful that she is unparalleled to a summer day. Further in the sonnet he writes, that how the season of summer defines and mold the meaning of love. He says, “And summer’s lease hath all too short a date” meaning that summer is ephemeral and it will eventually transition into a new season, he further adds, “But thy eternal summer shall not fade,” that the beauty of his lover is eternal and shall last forever and as long as there are people breathing and living on this planet, they will admire the impeccable beauty of his lover. Whereas, on the other hand, in sonnet 130, the depiction of invective and insults of his mistress form in the reader’s mind. It goes to the extent where he is comparing both his lover and his mistress and states, “My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun” that it doesn’t have light, life, ray of sunshine in them, they are dull. Although, in sonnet 18 he compared the beauty of his lover to the sun itself. The whole sonnet 130 degrades and affronts the mistress, by writing that her hairs are like “black wires”, her chest is dark brown, and her body odor is fetor. He illustrates that he know she is full of flaws but despite all these things he still admires and loves her. Both the sonnets use imagery and metaphors to describe and characterized the beauty of his lover and of his mistress. In sonnet 18 its used...
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...stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Shakespeare 50,445 ratings, 4.23 average rating, 557 reviews Shakespeare's Sonnets Quotes (showing 1-30 of 72) “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: Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines, And too often is his gold complexion dimm'd: And every fair from fair sometimes declines, By chance or natures changing course untrimm'd; By thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee.” ― William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Sonnets tags: love, shakespeare, youth 1092 likes Like “Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove. O no, it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wand'ring bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken." (Sonnet 116)” ― William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Sonnets tags: constancy, love, poetry, sacrifice 647 likes Like “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...
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...class] 4. WHAT LITERARY DEVICES ARE USED BY SHAKESPEARE TO PUT FORTH HIS IDEAS IN SONNET-130? IS HE COMPLETELY ANTI-PETRARCHAN? [16] 1st part The language spoken and written of great romances is often poetic, passionate, and filled with metaphors of beauty and devotion. In short, the language of love is the language of exaggeration. William Shakespeare ‘s most powerful description of love is when he satirizes this method of writing and in so doing instead claims that honesty and sincerity are the greatest literary devices when speaking the language of love. Shakespeare's sonnet number 130 demonstrates this. This sonnet hooks the reader from the very outset while maintaining sonnet structure and using literary devices as a source of irony. Shocking the reader by using an unconventional method of satire to introduce a topic is the most effective way to hook an audience. Shakespeare begins his sonnet with the line; "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun -" (line 1). The reader immediately becomes curious to the poet’s reasoning for speaking in this tone. The first quatrain of this poem introduces the topic of beauty.The second quatrain enhances the topic and adds sentiment. In the first quatrain he describes the looks of his mistress, while in the second quatrain he relates how these looks affect him. The third quatrain releases this sentiment, the narrator concludes that he is aware of the ordinary nature of his mistress. The sonnet also satirizes literary...
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...4. WHAT LITERARY DEVICES ARE USED BY SHAKESPEARE TO PUT FORTH HIS IDEAS IN SONNET-130? IS HE COMPLETELY ANTI-PETRARCHAN? [16] 1st part The language spoken and written of great romances is often poetic, passionate, and filled with metaphors of beauty and devotion. In short, the language of love is the language of exaggeration. William Shakespeare ‘s most powerful description of love is when he satirizes this method of writing and in so doing instead claims that honesty and sincerity are the greatest literary devices when speaking the language of love. Shakespeare's sonnet number 130 demonstrates this. This sonnet hooks the reader from the very outset while maintaining sonnet structure and using literary devices as a source of irony. Shocking the reader by using an unconventional method of satire to introduce a topic is the most effective way to hook an audience. Shakespeare begins his sonnet with the line; "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun -" (line 1). The reader immediately becomes curious to the poet’s reasoning for speaking in this tone. The first quatrain of this poem introduces the topic of beauty.The second quatrain enhances the topic and adds sentiment. In the first quatrain he describes the looks of his mistress, while in the second quatrain he relates how these looks affect him. The third quatrain releases this sentiment, the narrator concludes that he is aware of the ordinary nature of his mistress. The sonnet also satirizes literary devices...
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