He talks about these negative factors of change in the first eight lines, and Shakespeare then uses these ideas to claim that his loved one will always remain untarnished, speaking of how ‘thy eternal summer shall not fade’ and how his loved one has lasting qualities that will outshine death:
‘Nor shall death brag thou wandr’st in his shade’
These thoughts come to a confident, final conclusion that his loved one’s beauty will always be remembered through the sonnet he wrote:
‘So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.’
The overall feel to this poem is tender and thought provoking and the thoughts and feelings of Shakespeare are clearly communicated throughout the sonnet.
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun…
- 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 hair be wires, black wires grow on her head.
- I have seen roses damask’d, 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 belied with false compare.
Through line one to twelve Shakespeare is describing his mistress by using descriptions that other poets would have used and saying that his mistress has no such qualities.
He almost insults her through the sonnet with these negative comparisons. Even though line nine; “I love to hear her speak,” sounds as though Shakespeare is going to complement his, mistress, he changes the statement with the word “yet” and goes onto say that music “hath a far more pleasing sound.”
Shakespeare uses romantic objects and items such as coral, roses, perfume, music, and goddess in these descriptions.
In a way Shakespeare is almost mocking the way other poets write and word their sonnets/poems by saying in line fourteen “As any belied with false compare,” suggesting that other poets use false and insincere ways of describing their loved ones. However, in conclusion to his sonnet, Shakespeare says how, even though his mistress does not have all the admirable, aesthetic qualities, he still loves her and would rather be honest than dishonest and artificial.
The overall feel to this poem is that it is quite humorous and insulting but in the end romantic.
These two sonnets rhyming lines are:
1,3 5,7 9,11 13,14
2,4 6,8 10,12
The two sonnets are similar in the way that they are both about love and how people in that day commonly expressed this love.
Shakespeare takes this idea of common expression and says that it is an insincere way and then describes his loved one in a more practical and realistic way.
In both sonnets he uses imagery and portrays beauty like the summers day, roses, perfume and sweet music – things that must have been used by other poets at the time. He then says his loved on is not like those things at all and it is when he starts this comparison when you see the differences between the two sonnets.
In “Shall I compare thee…” the feeling given by the first few lines is not insulting and humiliating like in “My mistress’ eyes…” as you can see:
“Shall I compare thee to a summers day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate”
Compared to the first few lines in the second sonnet:
“My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun
coral is far more red than her lips red”
And this shocking feeling of offence and harshness continues through to line twelve in the second sonnet. However, there are some dark points in the first sonnet as well, as death is mentioned in line eleven
“Nor shall death brag thou wandr’st in his shade”
And “rough winds” in line three. However, how harsh and sincere these sonnets may be, both have the conclusions with the similar idea that Shakespeare loves his woman so much that he doesn’t need to give her false comparisons to do with beautiful items or beautiful things that don’t last forever – his love lasts for eternity in the sonnet:
“So long as men can breath, and eyes can see
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”
