Sonnet 130 Analysis

The poem describes a woman's physical attributes in a non-idealized way.

The poem employs metaphors to compare the speaker's mistress to other things, like the sun and roses.

The speaker in the poem expresses a love that isn't conventionally romantic.

The poem uses details about sight, touch, and hearing to describe the mistress.

The poem doesn't focus on making the mistress seem perfect.

The poem explores the enduring power of love and beauty, contrasting it with the fleeting nature of time.

The speaker compares the beloved to a summer's day.

The speaker argues that the beloved's beauty surpasses that of a summer's day because it's unchanging and doesn't fade like summer.

The poem contrasts the beloved's eternal beauty with the temporary nature of summer, representing the inevitable passage of time.

The speaker asserts the beloved will live on through the poem, becoming immortal through the power of verse.

The poem uses a direct and unconventional style to describe the woman, contrasting her features with traditional beauty standards. It focuses on realism and honesty rather than idealized beauty.

The speaker compares his mistress' features to traditional beauty standards, like the sun, roses, and snow, but finds her lacking in those qualities. This highlights the subjectivity and artificiality of such standards.

Despite her seeming imperfections, the speaker claims to love her, demonstrating a love that is not based on idealized expectations but on genuine appreciation.

The comparisons in the poem are meant to highlight the speaker's love for the woman despite her not fitting traditional ideals of beauty. It challenges the idea that love requires physical perfection.

The poem focuses on the speaker's unique and real love, emphasizing a deeper and more genuine connection than superficial attraction.