My Mistress Essay, Research Paper

William Shakespeare was one of the first developers of the English Sonnet. His style is powerful and that is why he is considered to be one of the best poets of all time. The sonnet My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun is no exception. Shakespeare s use of structure, diction, rhyme, contributes towards developing the meaning, form, and content of the poem.

My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun is a poem in which Shakespeare forms an argument against common love poems that use flattery to praise a lover s beauty. He uses the example of a woman whose physical appearance is not perfect to emphasize that love is deeper and more important than the comparisons made by most other poems of his time. For example, in line one he writes: my mistress eyes are nothing like the sun. Had Shakespeare used the writing style of other poets, he would have written something like: her eyes shined as brightly as the sun. This poem clearly shows that his lover isn t the prettiest woman alive, but the love he has for her is still strong.

In almost every line of the poem a picture of a perfect woman is presented and then quickly taken away and replaced by one that is less attractive. For example, in line 3, it states If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun . This line makes us picture a beautiful, snow-white woman. This is probably because we are so accustomed to love poems describing exactly that. But then that picture suddenly vanishes at the end of the line, leaving us with a woman with dull, dark breasts.

In line 11, the poem reads I grant I never saw a goddess go: My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. This suggests to us that his mistress is completely human, and gives the reader the idea that some of the normal comparisons are unrealistic. The last two lines of the poem, And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare/ As yet she, bellied with false compare put together the author s argument against typical love poems. Shakespeare declares that the love for his mistress is as rare as any other woman whose beauty has been exaggerated with false compare .

Shakespeare uses his unique style of language to emphasize his argument. For example, in line 6 he says: But no such roses see I in her cheeks. Shakespeare uses roses to create different images and effects in the audience. Rose petals are soft, pleasant to look at, and have perfect shades of color. Just from the use of one word, he says that his mistress cheeks are not soft and do not have the color of roses. He basically says her features are plain and not worth noting.

Another example of his unique writing style is when he says: I grant I never saw a goddess go (line 11). By referring to the word goddess in comparison to his mistress, Shakespeare makes the effect of the poem stronger. This word puts an image in the audience s mind of a perfect, beautiful, super-woman like that of an ancient Greek goddess. When he says I grant I never saw, you can easily see the way he points out that some of his mistress imperfect qualities are that of a goddess. Shakespeare also uses repetition to make his argument more effective. For example, he uses the word mistress three times, and the words roses and red twice. He uses these words to support his argument that typical love poems of his time described loved in the same manner. They all overused the same words. Shakespeare also uses strong language to heighten his argument and make it more serious. Had he used more a more common diction, it would have taken the overall effect of the poem away. Shakespeare s structure of this poem has a strong effect on the audience. This poem is written in the first-person point of view. This makes the poem seem more sincere and emotional. It makes it seem as if the speaker is hypnotized by love.

My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun is an example of the use of poetic structure, language and format to develop meaning within a poem. Shakespeare managed to develop both of these sides of poetry and build meaningful arguments around the topic of love.