Sonnet 130

William Shakespeare

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.

Important Poetry Terms

1.  Speaker/Persona

2.  Audience

3.  Conflict

4.  Figurative Language

a.  Simile

b.  Metaphor

c.  Personification

d.  Hyperbole

e.  Alliteration

5.  Sound Devices

a.  Alliteration

b.  Onomatopoeia

6.  Tone

7.  Diction

8.  Imagery

9.  Details

10.  Denotation

11.  Connotation

12.  Syntax

13.  Rhyme

14.  Rhyme Scheme

15.  Internal rhyme

16.  End rhyme

17.  Slant Rhyme

18.  Stanza

a.  Couplet

b.  Quatrain

c.  Sestet

d.  Octave

19.  Rhymed Verse

20.  Unrhymed verse

21.  Fixed Form

a.  Haiku

b.  Ballad

c.  Sonnet

d.  Epic

e.  Lyric

f.  Narrative

22.  Free Verse

23.  Meter

24.  Blank Verse

25.  Theme

26.  Paradox

39. 

1.  Title: Predict the meaning of the title. Since there is no descriptive title you can look at the first line of the poem.

2.  Paraphrase: Line by line rewrite in your own words

  1. Also important for a paraphrase is identifying the speaker/persona, the audience, and the central conflict.

3.  Connotations:

  1. Figurative Language: simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole alliteration
  2. Sound Devices: Alliteration, onomatopoeia

4.  Attitude: Tone=DIDLS

  1. Diction—What key words are chosen? What do these words suggest? Are they nouns or verbs?
  2. Imagery
  3. Details—What details does the author choose to give? What details are not provided?
  4. Language—Identify differences in the denotation and connotation.
  5. Sentence Structure (Syntax)—Identify sentences with an inverted subject or other types of syntax

5.  Structure and Shifts:

  1. Structure:
  2. Rhyme—provides a type of structure; Rhyme scheme, internal rhyme, end rhyme, slant rhyme
  3. Stanzas and stanza types
  4. Forms of poetry
  5. Rhymed vs unrhymed
  6. Fixed form vs. free verse (haiku, ballad, sonnet, epic, lyric narrative)
  7. Meter (blank verse)
  8. Shifts: indicated by changes in diction, tone, structure

6.  Title again: interpret the title based upon the whole poem

7.  Theme: ______, a poem by ______, is about ______and reveals that ______. (Introduce “Paradox” as part of the theme for “My Mistress’ Eyes”)