'My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun' is a poem in which Shakespeare forms an argument against conventions to flatter one's lover with praise of her beauty as well as make comments about the way that love between two people can be expressed and interpreted. He uses the example of a woman who is not physically perfect to emphasise that love is deeper and more important than these superficial comparisons. While his mistress may not have had silky hair and sweet breath, he is still completely captivated by her and considers his love to be as rare as any other.

The structure of the sonnet is in the form of a eight-line

octet followed by a six-line sestet. In the octet, Shakespeare presents the opposing argument and dabbles with comparing his mistress to the usual objects. In each case, a picture of a perfect woman is presented and then quickly taken away and replaced by one which is less attractive. For example, the line 'If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun' instantly presents us with a picture of a beautiful, snow-white woman - probably because we are so accustomed to love poems describing exactly that - but then that picture suddenly vanishes, leaving us with a woman with dull, dark breasts. Using this technique, we develop quickly a picture of a woman whose physical appearance leaves much to be desired. It seems in the octet as if Shakespeare is undermining love - that it is only something frivolous, until in the heroic couplet when he offers a completely different view on love, one in which superficialities are meaningless. Keeping in mind the images and ideas presented to us initially and vaguely in the octet, the sestet puts into words the argument that Shakespeare had silently been developing up till now. Of particular interest in the sestet is the section that compares his mistress with a goddess - 'I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.' This suggests to us that his mistress is completely human, and hints at the idea that some of the normal comparisons are unrealistic. The heroic couplet, the last two lines of the sestet, clinch the entire poem's argument. He declares that the love for his mistress is 'as rare' as any other woman whose beauty has been exaggerated with 'false compare'. The use of the octet - to present the opposing argument; the sestet - to present the author's argument; and the heroic couplet - to clinch the final argument all contribute towards developing the meaning of Sonnet 130.

There

Some common words found in the essay are:
English Sonnet, Shakespeare Smith's, Shakespeare's Sonnets, heroic couplet, 'my mistress', 'my mistress' eyes, mistress' eyes sun', eyes sun', mistress' eyes, entire poem's argument, towards developing meaning, sestet octet, suggests mistress, example line, opposing argument, 'i grant, octet shakespeare,
Approximate Word count = 1260
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)