Two Sonnets Sonnet 130 - My mistress' eyes William Shakespeare Untitled Poem – I Am Very Bothered...

Two Sonnets

Sonnet 130 - My mistress' eyes William Shakespeare

Untitled Poem – I Am Very Bothered Simon Armitage

Starter 1a

• Write down four things you would expect to find in a love poem.

Starter 1b

• Write a rhyming couplet that uses some or all of the things from your list.

Learning Objectives

As we study these poems you will learn:• the story of the poems • More about the terms,

Sonnet: Iambic Pentameter: Blank Verse: Sensory (Sound & Smell) Imagery: Tone

• You will also complete some Mini Tasks, an assignment and a test on the poems.

Sonnet 130 ~ My mistress' eyes (1609)

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 delightThan in the breath that from my mistress reeks.I love to hear her speak, yet well I knowThat 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.

William Shakespeare




VocabularyDun: a dull, grayish brown.Damask’d: the pink colour of the Damask rose.Belie: To show to be false; contradict or misrepresent

Vocabulary task: Copy out the definitions of the three words above:

MINI TASK 11. Write down what you think the poet is saying in the poem.2. What you think is unusual about what he says.3. Write down any individual words that strike you as odd and briefly

say why you thought them unusual.

The Story Of The Poem

1. The poet compares his lady-love to a number of beautiful things, but never in his love’s favour.

2. What is unusual is he uses unflattering comparisons to demonstrate his love. Her eyes are “nothing like the sun,” her lips are less red than coral; compared to white snow, her breasts are dun-coloured, and her hair is like black wires on her head. He even says that her breath “reeks”. In the final couplet, however, the poet declares that he thinks his love as rare and valuable “As any she belied with false compare”—that is, any love in which false comparisons were invoked to describe the loved one’s beauty. And this final couplet makes this truly a love poem as the poet loves this lady despite her imperfections.

The Story Of The PoemMINI TASK 11. Write down what you think the poet is saying in the poem.2. What you think is unusual about what he says.3. Write down any individual words that strike you as odd and briefly


3. The words you might have found ‘odd’ include:

The Story Of The PoemMINI TASK 13. Write down any individual words that strike you as odd and briefly



Most of these are negative or very unflattering terms.

The Structure Of The PoemComposition

The poem is written in Sonnet form which is a love poem that has a has a regular rhyme scheme and is written in fourteen lines.

MINI TASK 2: 1. What is the rhyme scheme for the poem?

2. Count the number of syllables on each line.a) What do you notice?b) What is the effect of this?

The Structure Of The PoemComposition

MINI TASK 2:1. What is the rhyme scheme for the poem? The

rhyme scheme is 6 alternate rhyming couplets and a final rhyming couplet, or ABABCDCDEFEFGG and....

2. Count the number of syllables on each line.a) What do you notice?

Each line contains 10 syllables. This form is known as Iambic Pentameter.

b) What is the effect of this?The effect of this is to give the poem a very even

rhythm and tempo.

The Structure Of The PoemKey Feature

The key feature of this poem is IMAGERY. In fact the poem is a list ofimages used to describe the poet’s mistress.

MINI TASK 3Write down a list of the images used in the poem

The Structure Of The Poem - Key Feature MINI TASK 3Write down a list of the images used in the poemThe key feature of this poem is IMAGERY. In fact the poem is a list ofimages used to describe the poet’s mistress.

….and all of this goes to show how the poet’s mistress does not conform to the Elizabethan idea of beauty.MINI TASK 4: What do you think Elizabethan idea of beauty is?

•Eyes not like the sun:•Red Coral …pale lips•White snow… tanned breasts •Black wires for hair•Red & white roses.•Pale cheeks•Perfumes (smell imagery)….smelly breath.•Corse/harsh voice (sound imagery) •A goddess•Treading (trudging) on the ground

White face make-up was applied to acquire the pale look. The favoured application of the upper classes was a make-up called ceruse - a mixture of white lead and vinegar. It was poisonous!

The Elizabethan view of pure beauty was a woman with light hair and a snow white complexion complimented with red cheeks and red lips. A pale complexion could only be achieved by a woman of the upper class.

Lower class women were expected to work outside and thus acquired a suntan which made their skin ‘dun’ coloured. The pale complexion was therefore a sign of wealth and nobility - an immediate identification for a person from the upper classes. This alabaster complexion was the also required by Elizabethan men! Queen Elizabeth I helped set the trend for this notion of ideal beauty which explains the oddly white face seen in many of her portraits.

Elizabethan Beauty

The Structure Of The PoemRhythm , Tempo & Tone

The tone of the poem seems serious and the rhyme scheme plus the use of iambic pentameter gives the poem a very even rhythm and tempo. Yet the poem is also humorous as the final couplet comes as a ‘surprise’ after all the disparaging comments made in the first 12 lines. In fact the whole sonnet is a parody of the conventional love sonnets written by Shakespeare's contemporaries and it is almost a direct parody of Francesco Petrarca’s (1304-1374) sonnet Gli Occhi Di Ch' Io Parlai:

MINI TASK 5: Write down the definition of Parody.

Those eyes, 'neath which my passionate rapture rose,The arms, hands, feet, the beauty that erewhileCould my own soul from its own self beguile,And in a separate world of dreams enclose,The hair's bright tresses, full of golden glows,And the soft lightning of the angelic smileThat changed this earth to some celestial isle

PARODY = a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature orwriting.

NOTE:dun = A grayish-brown color.damask'd = Damask is expensive multi-colored woven fabric used for clothing.Damask is also the name of a rose renowned for its fine fragrance It is used in perfumery and to make rose water.

MINI TASK 6:Look at the poem and highlight or underline the metaphors Shakespeare uses.

The Structure Of The PoemMetaphor


MINI TASK 5Look at the poem and identify metaphors in it.




So in Sonnet 130, there is no use of grandiose metaphor or allusion; he does not compare his love to Venus, there is no declaration of eternal love etc. The ordinary beauty and humanity of his lover are important to Shakespeare in this sonnet, and he deliberately uses typical love poetry metaphors against themselves.

Shakespeare then is using sonnet structure itself to enhance his parody of the traditional sonnet.

Mini Task 7:Explain what the final couplet means.

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rareAs any she belied with false compare.



Mini Task 7: Explain what the final couplet means.

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rareAs any she belied with false compare.

In these last two lines Shakespeare tells us he considers his love every bit as rare and lovely as if she really did have all those goddess-like attributes he tells us she does not possess.

So despite having ‘slagged her off’ for 12 lines of the poem Shakespeare ends the sonnet by proclaiming his true feelings and love for his mistress despite her lack of beauty. In so he does finally embrace the fundamental theme in a sonnet: total and consuming love.


Two Sonnets Sonnet 130 - My mistress' eyes William Shakespeare Untitled Poem – I Am Very Bothered...

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