FREE ESSAY ON SONNET 130

SONNET 130

"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.