Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare

A sonnet is a 14 line poem where usually love is the overarching theme. William Shakespeare had written one-hundred and fifty-four sonnets throughout his career. He was a very talented writer and one of the worlds most remembered authors. Sonnet 130 one of Shakespeare's later sonnets was very popular. It was purely based on his 'Mistress' who is commonly referred to as 'the dark lady'. This dark lady appears in sonnets 127 through to his last one 154 where she betrays Shakespeare. Throughout sonnet 130 the author is mocking the conventional love sonnet. He does this really well, it appears to be funny to the reader but at the same time through his word choice Shakespeare is being very serious. I have read a few of his sonnets in the past and I have to say this is one of my favourites. It's a funny poem but it keeps me wondering why he would still love this woman if she was as vile as he is describing. That's what makes Shakespeare's writing so clever and effective; the reader doesn't grasp what the poem is a about in the 1st couple of lines, you have to continue reading to find out.

In sonnet 130 beauty and humanity of this mistress is important to him. I like the way in which he deliberately used love poetry metaphors against themselves in this poem, for me this is what made the poem as good as it was. The 1st three quatrains contain the straightforward theme of his lover's simplicity, and then concluded in the final couplet. I like how the last two lines totally contradict what he previously writes in the poem. Shakespeare used the theme of love very effectively in sonnet 130. I was interested in the actual words Shakespeare used when describing his mistress. Shakespeare tears down his mistress in the 1st twelve lines, he is so negative towards her and the fact he finds her so revolting is strange as the love he has for her still remains strong.

''My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun''. When reading this for the first ever time I was thrown off by this line. It was the opening line of the sonnet and it was very confusing to grasp the real meaning behind it. This was the first ever Shakespeare sonnet I had read so I had no idea what was going on in his previous sonnets. I didn't know why he was speaking so badly about his mistress. As I continued to read each line, I knew what Shakespeare was trying to do, and I thought to myself; this is very clever. He was comparing his mistress to many other beauties, yet none being in her favour. The sun is seen to be hot so here Shakespeare is telling his reader that her eyes were not warming. It was if she had evil in her eyes and she wasn't welcoming. ''If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head''. Shakespeare is describing her hair to be like wires. Her hair must be full of knots, very greasy and