Shakespeare Mistress Diction

Love can be expressed in a variety of ways. In this sonnet Shakespeare compares the lady who he calls his mistress with certain things. Shakespeare wrote this sonnet to explain to the reader about his “Mistress” and why he thinks his love is rare for her. Shakespeare used different ways in his poem to explain how his “Mistress” was not the usual but he still loved her in a special way.

In quatrain one of the sonnet Shakespeare compares his mistress to several different things and he thinks she is nothing like the things he compares her with. For example, on line one he states “My Mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;”. I think he is saying that her eyes are not as beautiful as the sun but beautiful enough for him. In line

During the time Shakespeare was alive it was not civil for a white person to be in love with a colored person, so that is why Shakespeare says that his love is rare. The last line says “As any she belied with false compare”. I think he is saying that any woman who has had untruths told about her beauty she denied with false comparisons. Throughout the sonnet Shakespeare uses a great deal of imagery to give the reader a picture image on how his Mistress’ looks. He compares her features; hair, eyes, cheeks, breast, lips, and complexion to wires, the sun, roses, coral, and snow. He uses a unique way of describing his mistress by comparing her to things that she is not. I think Shakespeare used this way to confuse the reader of how his mistress looks.

All in all, Sonnet 130 written by Shakespeare is a very good poem, especially to be written during the time that Shakespeare wrote the poem. I chose this poem because I like the choice of words that Shakespeare used and I like the rhyme pattern. I also like the overall meaning of the poem. The poem leaves the reader questioning if the lady that Shakespeare is talking about is colored or not. Maybe his Mistress’ was of color maybe she wasn’t, but only Shakespeare would know the