SHAKESPEARE’S SONNET: MY MISTRESS’ EYES, 130 page 65-66

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:

• 1. DUN line 3: greyish-brown

   2. WIRES line 4: long thin pieces of metal

   3. GRANT line 11: to accept that something is true

   4. BELIED line 14: to show that something cannot be true

• Features of                 Petrarchan  and  Shakespearean lady:

EYES                                light                         dark

LIPS                                 red like coral        not red

BREASTS                        white                       dun, brown

HAIR                               blond, thin            black

CHEEKS                          like roses               dark-skinned

BREATH                         perfumed              doesn’t smell good

VOICE                             pleasant, sweet   unpleasant

WAY OF WALKING   like a goddess       heavy

• The poet doesn’t describe the woman in the conventional way of courtly love.

• Rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. The rhyme scheme of Petrarchan sonnets is ABBA ABBA in the octave and CDE CDE in the sestet. The structure(layout) and the scheme are different

• Structure: three quatrains and a final couplet

Rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

Theme: love --> common woman

INTERPRETATION:

• The poet refers to sight: lines 2-3-4, 5-6, 11  Smell: lines 7-8  Hearing: lines 9-10

• The use of sensory images confers reality to the sonnet.

• The words ‘yet’ and ‘I think’ draw attention to the poet’s opinion, he wants to show that his love is real, even if the woman he loved is not like an angel and perfect.

• With the final words ‘false compare’ the poet refers to an idealised representation of love and of woman, that is unrealistic, therefore is false.

• With the final couplet the poet wants the reader to understand that real love is not an idealised and perfect love, like courtly poetries describe. People have to reflect about his words.

• This sonnet can be called anti-Petrarchan, in fact it is totally different from Petrarch’s sonnets. Moreover, the poet wants to parody the courtly model: he describes a more realistic kind of love.

 SHAKESPEARE AND NERUDA page 69

Sonnet 11, Pablo Neruda

Tengo hambre de tu boca, de tu voz, de tu pelo

y por las calles voy sin nutrirme, callado,

no me sostiene el pan, el alba me desquicia,

busco el sonido líquido de tus pies en el día.

Estoy hambriento de tu risa resbalada,

de tus manos color de furioso granero,

tengo hambre de la pálida piedra de tus uñas,

quiero comer tu piel como una intacta almendra.

Quiero comer el rayo quemado en tu hermosura,

la nariz soberana del arrogante rostro,

quiero comer la sombra fugaz de tus pestañas

y hambriento vengo y voy olfateando el crepúsculo

buscándote, buscando tu corazón caliente

como un puma en la soledad de Quitatrúe.

How is desire for the loved woman presented here?

The poet described a strong and passionate desire. He needs the woman he loves, he can’t stand staying without her: she is everything he desires. Neruda feels extraordinary emotions when he talks about her. He describes her physical appearance and he writes frequently the word ‘quiero’ (I love) referring to love. He mixes the theme of love with passion, lust.