William Shakespeare - Sonnet 130

Sonnet 130

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.


Unlike many poems, Sonnet 130 does not focus on exaggerated comparisons when describing the woman he loves, but focuses on more honest characteristics. In the first two lines, he admits that his mistress' eyes do not shine bright like the sun, nor are her lips as red as any coral. He also states that perfumes are more pleasant odors than his mistress' breath and the sound of music is more pleasing than her voice, though he loves to hear her speak. Shakespeare adds the eleventh and twelfth lines in order to add that his mistress is not like a goddess, but earthbound and mortal. By the end of the sonnet, however, he admits that she is as rare as the subjects of poems written by poets that are described with exaggerated comparisons.