MY MISTRESS ' EYES

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 damasked, 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.

Comprehension

A) Focus on vocabulary

•1.    Dun  à greyish - brown

•2.    Wires à long thin pieces of metal

•3.    Grant à to accept that something is true

•4.    Belied à to show that something cannot be true

 B)

C)

 Does the poet describe the woman he loves in the conventional way?

No, he doesn't. He describes her against a metaphor.

What is the rhyme scheme? Is it the same as in the Petrarchan sonnet?

ABAB  CDCD EFEF GG. No, it is different.

Look at the structure of the sonnet. How many sections can you identify?

 You can identify three quatrains and a rhyming couplet.

Interpretation

A)

Note down which of the five senses the poet refers to:

B)

 What do you think is the effect of using sensory images?

The reader can feel closer to the sonnet, because the sensory images makes it more realistic.

Focus on the words "yet" and "I think". What do they draw attention to?

     They draw attention to "my love as rare"

What does the poet refer to whit the final words "false compare"?

      He refers to the previous sonnets that were about courtly love

 they were unreal because the lady they described was nonexistent

 What is the meaning of the final couplet?

     The meaning of the final couplet is to underline that Shakespearean love, even if the lady described is not perfect, is true and he can't love no other woman.

Which interpretation/s of this sonnet do you most agree with?

•v  This sonnet can be called "anti-Petrarchan"

•v  The poet not only parodies the conventions of love poetry, he also underlines that love is dictated from the lover's subjective viewpoint and not by the loved one's objective qualities

•v  The poet's objective is to ridicule the woman described in the sonnet.

Widen your appreciation of this sonnet by reading the critical extract below. Do you agree with this  interpretation?

     Yes, I  agree with this interpretation because Shakespeare's aim is to parody Petrarchan viewpoint. Therefore the reader can consider it anti-Petrarchan.

Definition of  "defiant": adj /dɪˈfaɪ.ənt/ insolente, provocatorio:

• proudly refusing to obey authority

• not willing to accept criticism or disapproval