Analysis Of William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130
The most famous poet in history, William Shakespeare, is often reviewed in grade schools in an effort to educate children in English literature. Shakespeare composed numerous plays, poems, and sonnets. Grade-school teachers typically only teach their students how to read these poems and dissect its theme or meaning, but leave out how much of an impact the way the writing is organized can have on its comprehension. The structure of the poem has the ability to influence the meaning and create depth in the plot for the readers if taken into account. Sonnets are characteristically and mostly fourteen lines, however, there are various ways that these lines can be organized. There are two types of sonnets: Petrarch and Shakespearean. Petrarch sonnets were the first ones introduced by Sir Thomas Wyatt in the sixteenth century. Shakespearean sonnets were formed around the same time but are misleading, where this type of sonnet was actually organized by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, before Shakespeare was born. Shakespearen sonnets contain three quatrains and a couplet to finish the poem. Written in Iambic Pentameter, Shakespeare utilizes Surrey’s pattern of sounds to write his famous works. His sonnets are filled with intense desires and meanings that surpass the norm for poets of that time. With a multitude of literary devices, these sonnets can be daunting to dissect. Shakespear has written about many things, but his sonnets mostly consist of men and women, sex, pride, shame, and fear within the concept of love. For example, Sonnet 130 refers to “an alluring woman but degrading object of desire”.
Shakespeare writes, 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. The plot of the story is not hard to grasp; the speaker compares his lover to many aspects of nature and he always finds those things more beautiful than her. For example, line one compares her to the sun and line two compares her to coral. The speaker emphasizes that both the sun and the coral are better than the woman’s compared parts: her eyes and lips. The end of the poem is supplied with a couplet, which completely turns on what was previously stated and says the woman does not have to be the most physically beautiful to be loved. Couplets at the end of sonnets typically agree or disagree with the previous quatrains, and this is influenced by its structure. Poems have many structures, and a Shakespearean sonnet is mostly written in Iambic Pentameter. Iambic Pentameter is the way the meter is organized in the lines of a poem, so the rhythm of sounds in each line are alternating between unstressed and stressed syllables to create a “Ba-Bum” effect. For example in the first line of the poem, Shakespeare writes, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun”. When pronounced correctly, this line and the others following will equate to ten syllables each. The rhyme scheme of a poem is also important to its structure; in Sonnet 130, Shakespeare uses abab cdcd efef gg. The first three quatrains rhyme separately and the couplet ends on its own matching. The couplet ends with these two lines, “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare / As any she belied with false compare”. This showcases the gg rhyme at the end of Shakespearean sonnets. With the couplet, an enjambment is also noted. The thirteenth line does not end with punctuation, like a normal sonnet, but instead flows to the next line in one breath. This removed pause makes the sentence one, as opposed to two, to better transition his content.
The structure of the poem greatly influences the meaning and adds depth to the poem. In the first quatrain, the comparison to nature occurs line by line: the sun in the first, the coral in the second, the snow in the third, and the wires in the fourth line. The second and third quatrains are used to compare his lover with nature in two lines: lines five and six are used for roses, seven and eight for perfume, and so forth. The structure of the poem’s quatrains is utilized to build on the plot and create more detail, as the comparison expands. The ending couplet is different, because it has its own rhyming characteristics. Because of the different ending structure, Shakespeare understands the change and reverses what had been previously stated. In other words, the structure of the poem influences the author’s choice in creating a spin from the lines before. Shakespeare has been analyzed for hundreds of years, by scholars and students alike. His sonnets are unique in their own Shakespearean structure, and are written about a multitude of themes surrounding love: Sonnet 130 showcased this by comparing his lover to nature. The structure of this poem greatly impacts the meaning and adds depth to the story.
