The Mysteries of the Sonnets Vargo 1
William Shakespeare's sonnets may have been the best poetry ever written. The sonnets
are beautifully written with many different feelings expressed in them. Although they may have
been the most autobiographically written poems of all time, they still present a number of
questions. Many Elizabethan historians and Shakespeare enthusiasts often wonder who
Shakespeare was writing about when he wrote the sonnets. There are three main questions which
come to mind when one is reading the sonnets. The mysterious dark lady, Mr. W. H., and the
young man that Shakespeare wrote of are three of the sonnet mysteries.
Although William Shakespeare did not write the sonnets to be a puzzle for the reader to
solve, the dark lady of the sonnets is perhaps the most puzzling of the mysteries. There is a whole
sequence of sonnets that mention the dark mistress. Sonnets 127-154 are the sonnets that deal
with the dark lady. From these sonnets, a good description of the dark lady is given. The first of
the dark lady sonnets, Sonnet 127, gives a good physical description of the mistress.
"...Therefore my mistress' eyes are raven black, / Her eyes so suited, and they mourners seem/ At
such who, not born fair, no beauty lack,/ Slandering creation with a false esteem./ Yet so they
mourn becoming of their woe,/ That every tongue says beauty should look so" (Booth ed. 110).
Lines 9-14 of this sonnet tell the reader that the mistress has dark features and there is a hint that
perhaps she wore makeup. Also, in Sonnet 130, another good physical description of the dark
lady is given. "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;" Coral is far more red then her lips'
William Shakespeare's sonnets may have been the best poetry ever written. The sonnets
are beautifully written with many different feelings expressed in them. Although they may have
been the most autobiographically written poems of all time, they still present a number of
questions. Many Elizabethan historians and Shakespeare enthusiasts often wonder who
Shakespeare was writing about when he wrote the sonnets. There are three main questions which
come to mind when one is reading the sonnets. The mysterious dark lady, Mr. W. H., and the
young man that Shakespeare wrote of are three of the sonnet mysteries.
Although William Shakespeare did not write the sonnets to be a puzzle for the reader to
solve, the dark lady of the sonnets is perhaps the most puzzling of the mysteries. There is a whole
sequence of sonnets that mention the dark mistress. Sonnets 127-154 are the sonnets that deal
with the dark lady. From these sonnets, a good description of the dark lady is given. The first of
the dark lady sonnets, Sonnet 127, gives a good physical description of the mistress.
"...Therefore my mistress' eyes are raven black, / Her eyes so suited, and they mourners seem/ At
such who, not born fair, no beauty lack,/ Slandering creation with a false esteem./ Yet so they
mourn becoming of their woe,/ That every tongue says beauty should look so" (Booth ed. 110).
Lines 9-14 of this sonnet tell the reader that the mistress has dark features and there is a hint that
perhaps she wore makeup. Also, in Sonnet 130, another good physical description of the dark
lady is given. "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;" Coral is far more red then her lips'
