...Karmvir Sidhu ENG 111 - 64 Sandra E. Terry Feb 7, 2011 Sonnet 130: Imperfectly Perfect The secular world is increasingly fixated on the concept of beauty and the pursuit of perfection, however this preoccupation is not unique to the 20th century. While traditional love poems in the 18th century generally focused on glorifying a woman's beauty, Sonnet 130 written by William Shakespeare goes against the conventional culture of love poems and instead describes the realistic nature of his object of affection. In Sonnet 130, the idea of love and is intensely expressed and taken to a greater level of intimacy where beauty lies within an individual and not just on the surface. The allegorical meaning is presented through images that allow the reader to understand the poem beyond its literal meaning. In Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130, the notion of perfection is evaluated to a point where it is almost made irrelevant in relation to beauty and true love. In Sonnet 130, it seems as if William Shakespeare laughs at the idea of idealism and perfection. The expressions of discontent and dissatisfaction give the poem a satiric tone. This poem is written in Shakespearean iambic pentameter, commonly used by Shakespeare in many of his poems. It follows the ABAB-CDCD-EFEF-GG rhyme scheme. The first 12 lines are all rhyming pairs, followed by the rhyming couplet. In the first 4 lines of the poem the speaker expresses his lady’s lack of perfection and almost complains about how she does...
Words: 1013 - Pages: 5
...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...
Words: 1293 - Pages: 6
...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 such as metaphors...
Words: 643 - Pages: 3
...How does the poet present love? Many poets through history have written about love, this essay will examine how love is presented in 2 poems. In 16 century William Shakespeare wrote Sonnet 130(1564-1616) sonnet 130 is one of Shakespeare’s most famous conventional and traditional love sonnets. He wrote a series of love poems to a woman named Laura. The scholars imagined the poem as "The Dark Lady." This poem is a love poem, the first 12 lines are described about her hair, the colour of her skin being negative, then on the last 2 lines he admire he loves her no matter how she looks. When we talk about “love” poem, the first thing come up from your mind is something like cajolery you'd find in a Valentine's Day card. Old love poems bring to mind flowery language and the kind of unrealistic glop that you could never bring yourself to say with a straight face. However sonnet 130 uses honesty to present the woman he loves, unlike other sonnet uses excessive or insincere praise to present love. Shakespeare presents love by metaphor He starts the poem out with a simile comparing his mistress' eyes to the sun. He then quickly switches over to using the metaphors to compare the rest of his mistress' characteristics, such as her breasts to snow and hair to wires. The rhyme scheme for the poem is “ababcdcdefefgg” The stress pattern in weak, strong, weak, and strong and Shakespeare. Also uses long vowel sounds. In line 4 the poet says "If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head...
Words: 937 - Pages: 4
...The opening line of 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...
Words: 959 - Pages: 4
...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 such as metaphors...
Words: 635 - Pages: 3
...In life people may encounter many situations where they feel depressed, sad, or disgraced or just plain unsure about something. William Shakespeare writes a poem that shows he determination and certainty about how beauty isn’t just on the outside. In his sonnet 130, Shakespeare writes about how the speaker feels uncertain, yet certain at the same time. Shakespeare uses a critical tone and comparative language to portray the idea that his love for his mistress is rare even though her physical looks aren’t the best in the world. In sonnet 130, Shakespeare uses a tone of criticism to show that her physical beauty may not be the best but he still loves her. For example, in the second quatrain it says, “ And in some perfumes is there more delight, / Than in her breath that from my mistress reeks.” (lines 7-8). The speaker finds himself insecure because he says things like that to describe her true beauty and to prove that he still loves her. In the third quatrain the speaker says, “ I love to hear her speak, yet well I know, / That music hath a far more pleasing sound:” (lines 9-10). Shakespeare is saying that compared to her speaking music has a better sound but he still likes to hear her talk. Shakespeare writes this to point out that real beauty is on the inside not the outside....
Words: 443 - Pages: 2
...seen in William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130, which employs descriptive metaphors to emphasize how ordinary the speaker’s lover is. Similarly, Theodore Roethke’s Elegy For Jane also utilizes metaphors while mimicking the form of the sonnet to describe his dead student. Additionally, both poems utilize soothing and pleasing sound to give the reader a sense of the emotion that the speaker feels towards the person the poems are written...
Words: 1418 - Pages: 6
...THE LARAMIE PROJECT On Thursday February 24 the students of went to watch 'The Laramie Project', which was located in in the Jetpack. Laramie is about a small town, a gay college student; Matthew Sheppard, who was found tied to a fence after being brutally beaten and left there to die. The play talks about the death of Matthew, the parents, and the trial. The students of Victoria Park said " the play was very touching and the acting of the play was astonishing". The play was well done, the lighting, sound effects, acting, and costumes was spectacular. But, the play could've been even better by making the setting more clear. The students remarked " we couldn't understand the beginning very well. Until it got to the middle of the play it was clear to us." There was one scene in the play that caught everyone's attention. It was when Matthew Sheppard's killers Aaron James McKinney and Russel Arthur Henderson were explaining how they killed Matthew. Matthew Sheppard was in a bar and he got drunk. He asked Aaron and Russel for a ride, they gave him one. In the car Matthew was talking to Aaron and was going up his leg, that's when Aaron got mad at beat him brutally. They both tied Matthew against a fence and beat him even more, they left him there to die. The acting that was done for Aaron James McKinney was done very well. It was like the actress was actually Aaron because it sounded and looked so real. The vocal clarity was excellent, the actress was talking so clear and loud...
Words: 411 - Pages: 2
...Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 is perhaps the most unique of all of Shakespeare’s work. In this sonnet he abandons the use of his usual dreamy ideas of love and beauty and speaks more of the darker side of love; the ugliness and filth of love. From the very beginning of the sonnet, the reader can tell this is not the average Shakespearean play. He uses comparisons that would lead us to believe that the woman he is describing as ugly, the woman, however is a metaphore for love as a general, however. “My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun”; the dark lady mentioned in the first line is ironic because Shakespeare’s ladies in the stories are rarely thought of as anything less than the most beautiful creatures of the time. He continues on in the next few lines also comparing her to other elements of nature, yet in a negative manner. She has no red in her lips, her skin lacks luster, and generally her physical elements are not pretty to behold. In line four: “I have seen roses damask'd, red and white”, the poem starts to have deeper meaning; though uncertain this line could be an allusion to the rose known as the York and Lancaster variety, which the House of Tudor adopted as its symbol after the War of the Roses. The York and Lancaster rose is red and white streaked, symbolic of the union of the Red Rose of Lancaster and the White Rose of York. For example: compare The Taming of the Shrew: "Such war of white and red within her cheeks!" (4.5.32). Shakespeare mentions the damask...
Words: 537 - Pages: 3
...Comparison Essay - “Our Love Now” 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...
Words: 849 - Pages: 4
...English Study Guide E period Beowulf * The Wrath of Grendel Grendel, a murderous, powerful monster lurks outside Hrothgar’s a Danish King’s, extravagant party. God drove out the demons, but they split into many forms of evil spirits, fiends, goblins, monsters, and giants. Grendel is a demonic monster. At night, when the party ended, Grendel ate 30 guests and left blood everywhere. In the morning, the people of Herot and Hrothgar mourned the deaths of Grendel’s victims. However, Grendel came again and ate all of Hrothgar’s soldiers, leaving Herot bare. Hrothgar was incredibly saddened by this. However, God protected him and no help came from the pagan sacrifices. The only protection came from God. * The Coming of Beowulf In the land of the Geats, ruled by Higlac, Beowulf was the greatest and strongest of all the men. He decided to go to see Hrothgar, because he has heard of the horrors Grendel brought. The Geats egged on his adventure, so Beowulf took a crew of the mightiest men he could find and set forth on his journey. They arrived at the Danish shore and were questioned by the guard, who thought they might be raiders or pirates. Beowulf explained they were Geats; his father was Edgetho, a famous soldier and explained why they were there. The guard lets them pass. They enter Herot and are called to see the King. Beowulf is greeted by Hrothgar and explains why he is there. He says he will fight and kill Grendel without fear, and if he looses to...
Words: 3978 - Pages: 16
...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 Shakespearean sonnet is consisted of three quatrains...
Words: 901 - Pages: 4
...The representation of females in literary Works is a polemical issue. They have often been associated with a misogynistic stereotype. I have chosen three literary texts to compare the descriptions of women; “Snow White”, “Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare and “The Rape of the Lock” by Alexander Pope. This will draw attention to the way that women are often portrayed as we see the common ingredients in their descriptions, as well as any potential differences between them. In both “Snow White” and “The Rape of the Lock” women are portrayed as vain and obsessed with their beauty. The speaker in “The Rape of the Lock” condemns the girl described, Belinda, for her obsession with appearances by mocking her through the use of hyperbole, for example calling her a “Goddess” (line 132). He writes about her in heroic couplets, a form often used for satirical or comical poetry. Belinda is also presented as immoral and impious, for example when she is performing “the sacred rites of pride (line 128), or with the enumeration of her cosmetics and several “Bibles” ( line 138), suggesting that to her, these things have the same value. The text “Snow White” condemns the second Queen by calling her “proud and haughty” (line 13) and presenting her as extremely jealous “she could not bear to be surpassed in beauty by anyone” (line 13). This exaggerated focus on beauty is ridiculous and a common way of making women look irrational and petty. “Snow White”, however, presents the good characters...
Words: 719 - Pages: 3
...Shakespeare’s Sonnets: Form: 14 lines, each with ten stressed and unstressed syllables known as iambic pentameter (rhythm of the heartbeat) Genre: Lyric poetry – Lyric poetry presents the deep feelings and emotions of the poet as opposed to poetry that tells a story or presents a witty observation. Rhyme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG Rhymes may be ear-rhymes or eye-rhymes: an ear-rhyme is one that rhymes in sound, e.g. “increase” and “decrease”; an eye-rhyme is one that rhymes by sight, e.g. “compare” and “are”. Structure: This rhyme sequence sets the usual structure of the sonnet as three quatrains (sets of four lines) concluding with 1 couplet (a pair of lines). It is usual for there to be a pause for thought in the sonnet’s message at the end of each quatrain, especially the 2nd, in order to add tension, with the sonnet resolving to its objective in the final couplet, just as a song normally resolves to its root chord at its close. To convey the sense of resolution and completeness at the end of the sonnet there are often key-words, or tie-words, present in the closing couplet that are also present in the earlier quatrains. This structuring provides a framework on which to build the words, phrases, themes, rhymes, syncopation, punctuation and rhythm of the sonnet making it, at its best, a self-contained work of art. Having established this structure though, the author can then go on to breach the framework to add tension and meaning: a quatrain will not necessarily comprise...
Words: 2143 - Pages: 9
