Shakespeare Sonnet 130

Sonnet assignment

Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Mikkel G. Nielsen
Hold F-03
Sonnet 130, William Shakespeare

Sonnet 130 is a sonnet addressed to Shakespeare’s mistress, also known as the Dark Lady . The main theme of this sonnet is to express different aspects of a single thought or feeling of unconditional love.

The sonnet is a traditional Shakespearian sonnet that technically is arranged in fourteen lines, with three quatrains and a couplet. It is written in iambic pentameter and the rhyme scheme is a b a b, c d c d, e f e f, g g. As in any other (Shakespearian) sonnets, the last two lines, the couplet, conclude the main idea of the sonnet.

Yet this sonnet seems to serve another function than just a declaration of love to his mistress. The sonnet is not equal to a traditional (Petrarchan) love sonnet. In the first quatrain, the mistress is described as a “simple” human being. No supernatural features are to be discovered in his expressions, “Her eyes are nothing l...