If hairs are wires, then black wires grow on her head
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
I have seen roses of pink, red, and white
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
But her cheeks are like none of these colours
And in some perfumes is there more delight
And some perfumes smell more delightful
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
Than the breath that reeks from my mistress
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
I love to hear her speak, yet even though I know well
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
That music has a far more pleasing sound
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
I know I have never seen a goddess walk
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
But my mistress, when she walks, steps only on the ground
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
And yet, I think that my love is extraordinary,
As any she belied with false compare.
Like any other woman whom we falsely compare
After reading the analysis under Shakespeare’s sonnet we can see that this although upon first reading looks like a love sonnet, does not read like one. Shakespeare tells us that his mistress is not like anything found in nature. For instance her lips are not red enough comparable to coral, while her eyes are nothing like the sun. Here Shakespeare does not compare the mistress to nature which when you look at other sonnets you can find that it is a main topic that is used for comparison to.
Shakespeare also shuns other aspects of her physical beauty such as her hair, her cheeks and her breasts, while also writing down her breath and her voice. These suggest that Shakespeare could even be questioning why he may be with his mistress.
After we have come to this conclusion we must ask ourselves why Shakespeare wrote this. One reason is that it is a tongue in cheek poem written with the aim of looking down at all other love sonnets. Shakespeare tells us that his mistress is not at all worthy of being described as a Goddess and she is in fact as plain as any other woman. A typical love sonnet would of course make sure that the subject was described as other worldly as possible with comparisons to every aspect of her being compared to a Goddess.
Another conclusion that can be drawn is that Shakespeare did not need to write a love poem because his love for his mistress was plain to see for all, and that even though she was no Goddess he still loved her anyway. The poem is therefore written to look down on others who write similar problems looking for proof of why they love each other and what they find themselves so attracted to. Shakespeare may have written this poem to show that he is not as shallow as other people and he does not need to have an attractive woman to be in love.
All in all this is one of the most famous poems written by Shakespeare and it can be considered as being instantly recognisable by many when they hear the 1st line. With its humorous tone and hidden meaning it is subject to discussion what Shakespeare really meant when he wrote the poem.
