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 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.
Paraphrase and Analysis of Sonnet 130
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Shakespearean Sonnet
Style
How to Analyze a Shakespearean Sonnet
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Did You Know?... A metrical foot consisting of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable is called an iambus; a foot composed of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable is called a trochee; and a foot composed of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable is called an anapest. The anapest is sometimes substituted for the iambus. Read on...
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