My Mistress' Eyes: William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breast are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go,--
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
Throughout this piece, Shakespeare weaves two distinct yet complimentary tones. He mixes adoring with affirming. Specifically seen in the phrases highlited gray, Shakespeare seems to be conceeding the "mediocrity" of his mistress. His comparative words--nothing like, far more, but no such, yet well-- would seem to have a tone of shame, but Shakespeare's ingenious combination of adoration with apparent "shame" leads me to believe that his "shame" is actually affirmation. Through his affirmed tone, Shakespeare is telling the audience that his mistress, while she may not be pictured in People's 50 Hottest Women spread, is just what he wants. We additionally see his satisfaction with his mistress in his obvious tone of adoration. Here, Shakespeare's word connotation flips and serves as an indicator of his new tone. Now, Shakespeare utilizes words such as: love, heaven, rare and compare. In comparison to the previous darker and more 'ugly' words (damasked, reeks, tread...), Shakespeare's change of word choice reveals an ardor for the person of his mistress.
Employing strong word connotation and exaggerated comparisons, Shakespeare reveals his tone of adoration and confirmation to his audience...by which it seems he is affirming his love for his mistress.
