SONNET 130.

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 breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, 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.
Vocabulary:
Dun: brownish gray

reeks: offensive odor

Sonnet 138. William Shakespeare

When my love swears that she is made of truth
I do believe her, though I know she lies,
That she might think me some untutored youth,
Unlearnd in the world's false subtleties.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best,
Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue;
On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed.
But wherefore says she not she is unjust?
And wherefore say not I that I am old?
O, love's best habit is in seeming trust,
And age in love, loves not to have years told.
Therefore I lie with her, and she with me,
And in our faults by lies we flattered be.
Vocabulary
untutored: without formal education
subtleties: refiment, delicacy
flattered: insincere compliment
unlearned: ignorant
wherefore: why
therefore: for that reason

She Walks in Beauty. George Gordon Byron. Lord Byron. 1788-1824

SHE walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that 's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

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Vocabulary:
Mellowd: soft and sweet
Gaudy: ostentatiously
Dweling place: place of residence

impaird: diminished
raven tress: long black hair
glow: shine

Elements of poetry.
Alliteration: occurs when the initial sound of a word, beginning either with a consonant or a
vowel, are repeated in closed succession.
Consonance: repetition of consonants or of a consonant pattern, especially at the end of
words.
Assonance: occurs when the vowel sound within a word matches the same sound in a
nearby word.
Wales, K. (1990). A Dictionary of Stylistics. London. Longman.