An Insult or Love Poem?

In William Shakespeare's sonnet "[My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun]" there is a strange comparison used between what is truly beautiful in his eyes. This poem seems to emulate that the beauty he finds in this particular person is all very natural and that the comparisons of beauty should not be so dramatic. He seems to disagree that someone should compare blushed cheeks with roses and eyes like the golden sun. However, in this poem, Shakespeare states that the comparisons are just not enough and that "I think my love as rare  /  As any she belied with false compare." He says throughout the poem that his mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun, her cheeks and lips are not red like coral, and that she does not smell of "more delight." This seems sweet to think that he does not want to compare this persons beauty to another object; that their beauty is its own breed, yet I don't think that this comes across the reader at first. Shakespeare writes that his mistress smells, treads on the ground, and that black wires grow out on her head. I understand that possibly these are compliments, but if you separated these words from the poem and read them I believe it would come off as an insult. Maybe this is the way that literary writers flirt and find love, but I think that I'd rather comparisons to other beautiful things rather than this brutal honesty. I think the intentions come from a good place because why would anyone want to be compared to someone or something else, but wouldn't it be simpler to say that this person he is describing is incomparable and beautiful in their own ways instead of saying that they are nothing compared to beautiful things but their flaws are beautiful? I'm not sure about anyone else but please feed me the traditional comparisons because this to me seems like a man asking a women on a date and it going horribly wrong.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What is up with men these days?

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night