"My Mistress' Eyes"

“My Mistress’ Eyes” by William Shakespeare

Question 1

The speaker in the poem mocks the typical comparisons of love poetry. This indicates the exaggeration of beauty typically used in love poetry. These comparisons contribute to a negative and satirical tone in the first twelve lines of the sonnet. “My misstres’ eyes are nothing like the sun,” (Shakespeare, 885). This line of the poem makes fun of the commonly used cliché in love poetry, “your eyes are like the sun.” “Coral is far more red than her lips’ red,” (Shakespeare, 885). This recalls the comparison of lips being red as coral. “But no such roses see I in her cheeks,” (Shakespeare, 885). Love poems often make comparisons of their lover having cheeks as red as roses. A common cheesy comparison in love poetry is comparing a lover to a goddess. Shakespeare makes fun at this comparison in his poem. For example, “I grant I never saw a goddess go, my mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground,” (Shakespeare, 885).