Explain the characteristics of sonnet form in My mistresses eyes by Shakespeare?

Answer 1

Sonnet #73 is probably the clearest example of what is now called the Shakespearean sonnet; however, Sonnet #130 works an interesting variation on the form.

Like all sonnets, it has fourteen lines. Like most English sonnets, it is written in iambic pentameter; that is, five poetic feet (pentameter) consisting primarily of an unaccented and an accented syllable (iambic):

And yet’ by heavn’ I think’ my love’ as rare’ . . . .

Of course, Shakespeare’s lines are almost never completely regular, with some feet being trochaic (accented followed by unaccented) or spondaic (both accented). It is not uncommon for variations to predominate early in the poem but for the form to settle into more regular lines toward the end, especially in the final two lines. For example,

Unlike the Italian sonnet and some English imitators, which are structured in two parts, called the octave and sestet, the Shakespearean sonnet has three quatrains (four lines) and a concluding couplet (two lines). The rhyming scheme is ABAB CDCD EFED GG.

“My mistress’ eyes,” of course, follows the rhyming scheme perfectly:
sun/red/dun/head
white/cheeks/-light/reeks know/sound/go/ground
rare/-pare

The division into quatrains, or four-line sections, is less distinctive. This sonnet proceeds through four single lines developing four different images (sun, coral, snow, wires), then four sets of two lines developing four more images (roses, perfumes, music, a goddess’ walk), but with a very typical Shakespearean concluding couplet, effecting closure by providing a contrast with the previous twelve lines, a twist if you will and a vigorously stated climax. More on that in just a minute.

The images in the first twelve lines are an ironic take-off on conventional love sonnets. Instead of the loved one’s beauties being catalogued in a series of flattering images, this poem catalogs the conventional images but quite candidly admits that none of them can be applied to the loved one being described: her eyes are NOTHING like the sun; NO damasked roses in her cheeks; her breath is NOT perfumed but reeks; etc.

The concluding couplet, however, does proceed with the closure, the twist, the climax; and reverts to the sonnet’s usual avowal of absolute, lasting love:

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

The poem, thus, does not make use of Shakespeare’s typical metaphors (which, stated or implied, usually are fairly complex with multiple levels of connotation); instead it alludes to trite metaphors of other poets (eyes/the sun; breasts/white snow; cheeks/roses; breath/perfumes), but denies their validity and, ultimately, their relevance.

Shakespeare’s sonnets often are devoted to a fresh statement of love (or passion or jealousy or intense friendship), but secondarily they often hold up the excellence of poetry, which can grant long life to the beloved by capuring her beauty in language that will last well beyond the lovers' earthly lives:

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this [poem], and this gives life to thee.

So, till the judgment that yourself arise,
You live in this [poem], and dwell in lovers' eyes.

The couplet of Sonnet #130 subtly but clearly does the same thing. On the surface, it avows that the speaker’s love is greater than if it had been expressed in merely conventional (or false) metaphors. It suggests, therefore, that his love and his beloved’s graces outshine those celebrated in less well-written verses. “I don’t rely on false comparisons,” he seems to be saying; “therefore, my word can be trusted, my love and her charms are ‘as rare’; and the words of this poem [it may be presumed] are likely to outlast the drivel of other, conventional love poems.”

Therefore, as you can see, with only this single example, one would not likely derive a very good definition of the Shakespearean sonnet; but knowing the usual pattern of these sonnets enables one to read #130 with an appreciation of its ironies and its deliberate variations.

Answer 2

once I do count variety the clock that tells the time, and notice the brave day sunk in hideous evening; This describes time passing from day to evening, So it is the cycle of an afternoon once I behold the violet previous best, And sable curls, all silver'd o'er with white; This explains the effect of time on nature- the flower the violet And sable is a fur dropping its shade turning white whilst lofty wood I see barren of leaves, Which erst from warmth did cover the herd, And summer season's eco-friendly all girded up in sheaves, Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard; This talks with reference to the cycle of the seasons wood as quickly as lush and eco-friendly offering shade for the farm animals And the vegetation being harvested in autumn and finally each little thing lined in snow. Then of thy attractiveness do I question make, That thou between the wastes of time could desire to pass, considering that goodies and beauties do themselves forsake, And die as quickly as they see others advance; The passing of time makes the poet think of of the particular great element approximately his cherished and how it too will fade with time and could could desire to observe Others be born and wade by using this comparable cycle. And no longer something 'gainst Time's scythe could make defence shop breed, to brave him whilst he's taking thee consequently. there is not any battling time different than to maintain producing new generations of persons who will in turn face a similar predicament.

Answer 3

14 lines. um abab cdcd efef gg

Answer 4

Sonnetwriters.com has a good explanation.