Sonnet 130 Essay, Research Paper

?Sonnet 130? sounds as if it is mocking all of the other poems of

Shakespeare?s era. Love poems of this time period made women

about out to be superficial goddesses. ?Sonnet 130? takes the love poem to a

deeper, more intimate level where looks are no longer important and it is

inner beauty that matters.

Shakespeare paints this picture using a wonderful combination of metaphors

and a simile. 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.

This poem is written in the traditional Shakespearean sonnet form. It has

three quatrains and a couplet. The rhyme scheme for the poem is ababcdcdefefgg

The a sound is made of an ?-un? rhyme while the b sound is made of an ?-ed?

rhyme. The sound of c is an ?-ite? rhyme and the sound of d is a rhyme of

?-eeks.? The e and f sounds are rhymes of ?-o? and ?-ound? respectively and

the g sound is a rhyme of ?-are?, which ends the poem.

As to where the setting of this poem is written, I would have to agree

with Helen Vendlers view on this. It seems as though Shakespeare had just

finished reading a sonnet of the era that was written about someone?s mistress

having eyes like the sun and lips as red as coral. When he sat down and wrote a

poem that said the mistress in the latters poem must be a goddess. His was

not, but he loved her anyway for what she was not what she was not. This poem

was made to be a mocking view of all the other love poems around.

I feel that the format of this sonnet in terms of content and Shakespeare’s

feelings served two purposes. He wanted first to convey the image that even

though his mistress was not as fair as one would hope for, they seemed to share

some kind of kinship or bond that no other could share with him, not even his

wife. It did not matter to him that she was not as pretty, but only that she is on

the same wavelength that he is.

Secondly, I feel that he is explaining the fact that he does not

necessarily want a “mistress” that is ravishing, and that all of the qualities that

other men see in women are not his own and in fact repulse him. He says in

line 13 that he loves the woman and that is rare or extraordinary. Which

simply means that he cannot believe that he actually does like another woman

that is not beautiful to every extent but she offers something more than just good

looks, companionship.

The picture of true unconditional love is best presented in William

Shakespeare?s ?Sonnet 130.? Though his lover?s lips are not full, he yearns for

them. Though her cheeks are not rosy, he feels her glow. Her hair is certainly

not soft and her breath does not project sweet perfume, but he is still truly

captivated. She cannot sing to save her life, yet he loves to hear her voice. When

she walks you would not call her graceful but he still cherishes her clumsy

strides. This is a poem written by a man that has learned to love with his heart

and not his eyes.