Sonnet CXXX Analysis

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 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 she belied with false compare.

.: The Real Meaning... :.

The couplet:
"If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head"

A piece of the anonymous response:
"...This is not stating that this woman is black, meerly that she is dirty and her hair is in disarray..."

According to dictionary.com dun is an adjective
meaning "dull, grayish brown". Shakespeare describes his mistress's breasts as dull, grayish, brown.

He describes his mistress's hair as "black wires". There is nothing implicit in that phrase that implies dirt or an unkempt appearance. It is simply as stated "black wires", black, wiry, hair.

Now, simply going by what Shakespeare is stating instead of applying my own interpretations, his mistress has brown breasts and black wiry hair...

His "Dark Lady" is indeed a black woman....BUT if you think his sonnet is racist, then you completely miss the point.

It is, quite simply, a denial of the ideal feminine standards of beauty for his lady-love, who fits none of them.

| Posted on 2007-06-05 | by a guest

.: The Real Meaning... :.

The couplet:
"If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head"

A piece of the anonymous response:
"This is not stating that this woman is black, meerly that she is dirty and her hair is in disarray."

According to dictionary.com dun is an adjective
meaning "dull, grayish brown". Shakespeare describes his mistress's breasts as dull grayish brown.

He decribes his mistress's hair as "black wires". There is nothing implicit that phrase that implies dirt, or an unkempt appearance. It is simply as stated "black wires", coarse, wirey, hair.

Now simply going by what Shakespeare is stating instead of applying my own impretations. His mistress has brown breasts and wirey hair...

His "Dark Lady" is indeed a black woman....BUT if you think his sonnest is racist, then you completely miss the point.

It is, quite simply, a denial of the what is the ideal feminine standards of beauty for his lady-love, who fits none of them.

| Posted on 2007-06-05 | by a guest

.: :.

A marvellous parody of the typical Petrarchan and Elizabethan sonnets that likened the subject's features to nature, but a sonnet that claims to be more honest than the poems it parodies.
This sonnet is often disected piece by piece, and is often distorted as a result. Shakespere is not displaying racism as some have accused.
"If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head."
This is not stating that this woman is black, meerly that she is dirty and her hair is in disarray. Qualities that are associated with peasants of the time, as opposed to the elite who were properly groomed.
This is a timeless piece, which dispells the routine comparisons of poetry. In doing so, he gives the greatist complement.

| Posted on 2006-02-02 | by Approved Guest