Background to poet and “the dark lady”
• Shakespeare composed 154 sonnets.
• The theme of love is explored in
various ways.
• Some 28 sonnets are devoted to “the
dark lady” – a mistress with whom
Shakespeare was said to have a deep
love interest and affair.
• While this person to whom he devoted
these sonnets may not have been
conventionally attractive (as per the
beauty norms of that society), he still
finds her ‘beautiful’.
• “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
Summary of poem
• When contemporary poets in Shakespeare’s day and age chose to idealise and
idolise their loved ones by using hyperbole, cliché and unrealistic comparisons,
this poem presents a seemingly unflattering and realistic account of expressing
true love.
• In using a sonnet form (a form traditionally used to describe romantic love), the
speaker presents a compelling argument proving to the reader that he has for his
beloved is genuine and true.
• In this poem, there may appear – at first – to be a list of “insults” (which some
readers find amusing). When reading closer, we see the speaker digging into
themes such true love vs physical beauty.
• Furthermore, the poem itself seems to parody or satirise poetic traditions of
deifying female physical beauty.
Quatrain One
Traditional emblem of beauty
The beloved cannot
be compared to
conventional
(cliched)
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; descriptions)
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; What conventions
were used to
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. describe a woman’s
beauty?
Note the syllogistic “if … then” as The speaker’s beloved does not conform
Shakespeare develops his to the conventional beauty standards of
argument the time
Notes (Diction, Imagery, Tone)
• References to body parts in breaking down conventional ways to describe true
love.
• True love ≠ physical beauty.
• Simile = “like the sun” (here the speaker cautions against making false
comparisons relating to “eyes”)
• “lips red” (synecdoche) – ‘rosy lips’ would be the traditional symbol of “physical
beauty”.
• “wires” – the copper colour of wire (yellow/gold); in describing his beloved as
having “black wires” that “grow” on her head, he is breaking down the
conventional beauty standards of the time.
• His mistress is associated with a veil of darkness (literally and figuratively).
• “The Dark Lady”
Quatrain Two
Another convention of clichéd love
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.
What are the connotations
of “reeks”? We note how
the poem shifts to a set of
Conventional standards: “mint” / “perfume” / sighs of love
seemingly continued
insults.
Notes (Diction, Imagery, Tone)
• The emphasis is now on her complexion and her breath.
• In referencing “roses” and “perfume”, he is alluding to conventional tropes used
to describe physical beauty (in regard to correlating physical beauty with true
love)
• Roses are just plants that may please the eye of the beholder.
• So too, roses are used as a symbol to define physical beauty.
• “Reek” – Shakespeare used this word as a verb to indicate “steaming”, or “giving
of vapour”. As an adjective, it was used to denote foul-smelling (from Romeo and
Juliet). It could be seen as an “insult”; in context, it seems again that, in line with
the central argument, the speaker does not want to make false comparison to
one’s breath being like perfume.
• Tone: sobering / playful / realistic
Quatrain Three
Comparing one’s voice to “music” becomes artificial
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.
“goddess” – a feature of common love poetry would The speaker’s beloved belongs to the real
be to describe someone as having no imperfections. world. She is “grounded in reality”. This
We all have imperfections! goes against the type of poetry that
idealises a “beautiful woman”.
Notes: Diction, Imagery, Tone
• In making references to “music” and “goddesses”, the speaker advances his
argument that his beloved is not perfect.
• Her voice is like any other human voice.
• It is hyperbolic (heightened exaggeration) to idolise one’s beloved.
• Note the alliteration in “goddess go/ … grounded” – a heavy plosive - emphasises
that his beloved is one with human imperfections. She is a live presence in his
existence as opposed to some ideal who can not live to human expectations.
• Tone: realistic
The rhyming couplet
Note the volta: there is a “turning point”/ “shift” in How has the poem developed the
the speaker’s argument speaker’s love as being “rare”?
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
Significance of this
word in the context How has the poem proved this?
of the poem?
Notes: Diction, Structure, Tone
• He indeed loves his mistress: for who she is and not for what she represents.
• “false compare”: the first three quatrains have provided tangible “false
comparisons”.
• “as rare” – striking / unusual / exceptional / uncommon / special / profound /
exquisite
• “by heaven” – celestial / divine. Ironically, the speaker makes a claim to the
“powers above” / This is quite striking in terms of the breaking down of
traditional tropes used to describe “true love”.
• Tone: loving / appreciative / witty / playful
Sets the central idea: true love is not dependant on conventional or clichéd
ideals of “physical beauty”. The speaker describes what his mistress does
not look like.
The speaker develops further how his beloved does not conform to idealised
qualities of conventional beauty through two further “measuring standards”
with references to roses and perfume
The speaker continues this thread of argument in highlighting how his
beloved is a “real”person on “real” ground: not an effigy to be extolled.
The speaker affirms his deep love for his mistress. The shift
reinforces his real love for this person.
To summarise:
• The speaker has presented a parody of “love poetry” – the type of poetry which
tends to idolise and idealise the beauty of one’s love interest, which somehow,
then, “translates” into affirmations of “real love”.
• Shakespeare could be having a dig at some of his own poetry that also does
exactly this (and the existing traditions of his time).
• The Petrarchan tradition of using clichéd, overly-sentimental language to express
“true love” is mocked and made to seem superficial.
• The power of the Shakespearean sonnet is seen, too, in how the rhyming couplet
provides a neat antithesis to the ideas advanced in the three preceding quatrains.
