READ THIS
This is an easy sonnet which is a parody on the typical love poems of the times where the woman was
compared in the most exaggerated terms to goddesses, with lips of rubies, cheeks of rose petals, hair of
solid gold, etc. The poet dispenses with all this nonsense, claiming that his mistress is just a very ordinary
person but that he nevertheless loves her dearly despite her seeming imperfections.
ABOUT THE POET
William Shakespeare, commonly known simply as "The Bard", was born in April 1564. Although he lived
a mere 52 years, he has won himself the reputation for being the greatest of all English poets and
playwrights.
He grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon where, at the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway with whom he had
three children. Modern scholars love to question whether or not he was actually gay - such is the energy-
sapping research of these scholars.
The Bard established a most successful career for himself in acting and in writing for the stage. Ultimately
he became the part-owner of The Lord Chamberlain's Men, a theatrical company which eventually
came to be known as The King's Men.
In his early years in theatrics, Shakespeare focussed his attention on writing comedies and histories. Only
later did he produce a series of tragedies such as Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear,
the works for which he is preeminently known.
Although he wrote two lengthy narrative poems as well as several other shorter poems, his reputation as
a poet was established through his amazing collection of sonnets - 154 in all. Indeed, his particular style
of sonnet, commonly known as the Elizabethan form, is also referred to simply as "the Shakespearian
sonnet".
In about 1613, he returned to Stratford-upon-Avon and died there in April 1616. Scholars would later
come to question not only his sexual stance but also whether or not it was he who actually wrote all the
work attributed to him.
Have you looked at the questions in the right column?
|
TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer the following questions:
"My Lady's hair is threads of beaten gold;
Her front the purest crystal eye hath seen;
Her eyes the brightest stars the heavens hold;
Her cheeks, red roses, such as seld have been;
Her pretty lips of red vermilion dye;
Her hand of ivory the purest white;
Her blush AURORA, or the morning sky.
Her breast displays two silver fountains bright;
The spheres, her voice; her grace, the Graces three;
Her body is the saint that I adore;
Her smiles and favours, sweet as honey be.
Her feet, fair THETIS praiseth evermore.
But Ah, the worst and last is yet behind:
For of a griffon she doth bear the mind!"
Bartholomew Griffin, 1596
- When one reads the above sonnet, one is struck by its extreme contrast with Shakespeare's version.
What is wrong with Griffin's descriptions? (4)
[Need help?]
Griffin has used images which just aren't true, hasn't he? Her hair: "threads of beaten gold"? Her hand:
"of ivory the purest white"? Her breast: "displays two silver fountains bright"? None of this is true.
Indeed, the descriptions are so exaggerated that they actually come nowhere near the truth. They are
laughable.
|
- How has Shakespeare changed things? (4)
[Need help?]
Shakespeare has taken this type of exaggerated metaphor and heaped ridicule on it. He forces us to
laugh - and in many ways destroys forever that outrageously overdone type of language. While one
would laugh at Shakespeare's own sonnet - but he means us to do so - one would now also chuckle
when one reads the original outrageous style.
|
- What then is so wrong with saying, "My mistress' eyes are like the sun"? (4)
[Need help?]
For a metaphor or simile to work, there must be some very clear similarities. "He attacked the ball like
a terrier" obviously doesn't mean that he was black and white, and had four short legs. But it does mean
that he was excited and untiring, attacking the ball over and over as a terrier dog would.
To compare a woman's eyes to the sun? What is there to compare? The brightness? The sun is far too
bright. The heat? No, it just doesn't work. Indeed, with eyes like that, who would need a torch at night?
|
Look at the three quatrains of this sonnet. Do you notice any subtle change in the comparisons between
the first quatrain and the second and third? (4)
[Need help?]
There is a difference. In the first quatrain, the poet uses no fewer than four comparisons, with one for
each line: eyes like the sun, lips like coral, snow-white breasts and hair like gold.
In the second and third quatrains, he uses only two images each, with a comparison every two lines:
cheeks like roses, breath like perfume (second quatrain); voice like music, walks like a goddess (third
quatrain).
|
"If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head."
- If one compares this line with one in Griffin's poem above ("My Lady's hair is threads of beaten gold"),
one actually finds a close similarity: they both speak of their mistress' hair being of wire. How is this
possible? (4)
[Need help?]
In Elizabethan times, the scourge of lice and other vermin in the hair often meant that people kept their
hair very short and went out wearing wigs. A very fashionable wig for women was a hairnet with threads
of very finely beaten gold thread woven into it.
Their hair therefore looked like finely spun wires of gold. Very fashionable indeed.
Shakespeare says that his mistress is nothing like that. She does not compete with the wealthy high
society women. Instead of fine gold wires as a wig, she just has plain black wire.
|
"I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks."
- What is a damasked rose? (4)
[Need help?]
A damasked rose as referred to in this sonnet is a white rose with red stripes, or a red rose with white
stripes.
|
- Why would Shakespeare use the metaphor "damasked rose" rather than a plain red
rose? (4)
[Need help?]
Shakespeare does need the red and white colours of the damasked rose to describe the cheeks of society
ladies because their makeup was a combination of white face powder and red rouge for the cheeks.
This also allows the poet to get in another joke. Before the Tudor monarchy came to power in England,
there had been a civil war between two very powerful royal houses known as the House of York and the
House of Lancaster. It was called "the War of the Roses" because the House of York had used a white
rose as its symbol, whereas the House of Lancaster had the red rose as theirs.
With the end of the war, the new Tudor monarchy combined both roses as its emblem, hence their colours
became red and white - just as is found on the English flag today.
Society women, says Shakespeare, were actually putting on red and white war-paint when they made up
their faces. In fact, they were attempting to paint the English coat-of-arms onto their faces to make them
look like the Tudor damasked roses.
His mistress, on the other hand, has no such roses painted onto her cheeks. She's just a down-to-earth
woman with no need for war-paint.
|
"And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks."
- Was the poet belittling his lady-love when he said that her breath "reeks"? (4)
[Need help?]
This sonnet is more of a parody of other poems than a genuine comment on his lady-love. It was meant
to be read aloud in public places, like pubs, where each and every line would have produced a roar of
laughter. It still would if read in a pub today.
It is very much an over-the-top piece of bawdy comedy which is meant to be read out loud and in a stilted
tone of voice.
There is nothing romantic in this sonnet. Each and every line is therefore meant to be outrageous. These
two lines concerning his lady's breath are probably the most outrageous of all.
It must also be remembered that, in Shakespeare's day, breath probably did stink. There was no dental
hygiene back then, and no dentists to fill cavities. Indeed, dentists (who were usually nothing more than
barbers) simply did extractions, hence the traditional red-and-white striped poles outside their barbershops
to denote their profession (red for blood).
|
"And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare."
- Apart from the fact that Shakespeare wrote it, how does one know that this is a Shakespearian or
Elizabethan sonnet? (6)
[Need help?]
The clue is usually in the rhyming couplet at the end of the sonnet. Shakespearian sonnets have them
whereas Petrarchan or Italian sonnets don't.
Petrarchan sonnets can be broken into two parts: the Octave (first eight lines) which carries one argument
and a Sextet (last six lines) which carries a second argument.
A Shakespearian sonnet, on the other hand, has three quatrains (four line verses) and ends on a rhyming
couplet. The quatrains carry an argument which is sometimes developed from quatrain to quatrain, and
then the rhyming couplet brings the sonnet to a well-rounded conclusion.
|
- What is the conclusion found in this rhyming couplet? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet has been making the point this his "mistress" has none of the exaggerated characteristics as
are found in the typical love poems of his day. She is just a plain, down-to-earth woman. Nevertheless,
he says, he loves her very much and finds her most unique. He doesn't need her to be "belied" or
misrepresented by comparing her to false ideals. He simply loves her as she is.
|
|