SONNETS 130-141
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Sonnet 130
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 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.
�Beauty�was introduced and defined in sonnet 127 as any form of sensation,
whether black or fair. Then the status of music as sensation (as a form of
beauty) was considered in sonnet 128, and the �evil� consequences of
suppressing the natural logic of sensations were considered in sonnet 129.
Sonnet 130 now evokes the five major senses of sight, taste, smell, hearing
and touch.
The Poet, by first considering the logic of beauty or sensations in sonnets
127 to 137, makes the point that sensations are a precursor to the dynamic
of judgment through language. By establishing the logical status of sensations
the Poet is then able to express himself in words with a degree of
veracity unmatched by any other writer. He draws on the natural logic of
the sexual dynamic and the increase argument to define first beauty and then
truth, and so distinguish logically between beauty and truth. The natural
distinction between female and male generates the possibility of the logical
distinction between beauty and truth.
Consistent with his appreciation that beauty is any form of sensation
whether good and bad, beautiful and ugly, best and worst (sonnet 137), the
Poet recalls the various sensations his �Mistress� evokes. He describes her
exactly as she appears, to demonstrate that any particular sensation can only
arbitrarily be considered superior. His natural �love� for the Mistress allows
him to see that she is as rare as �any� other goddess she has shown to be false
(�belied�, 130.14) by exposing their false ideals of beauty.
So in sonnet 130 the Poet considers the sensory impact of the �Mistress�.
He argues that the way a woman looks (130.1), tastes (130.2), smells (130.8),
sounds (130.10), and treads (130.12), can only be compared falsely (130.14)
with idealised standards of �beauty�. It is illogical to compare the Poet�s
response to the Mistress with an idealised expectation because beauty of any
type is still just a sensation apprehended in the mind. It is only after the
sensation is experienced in the mind that a judgment is possible through
the process of truth or saying.
When a preferred form of �beauty� is judged ideal, the sensory process
or the dynamic of beauty is confused with the dynamic of truth. If the
sensation of �love� is equated with an idealised male God, then conscious
judgment is illogically prioritised over Nature, the increase dynamic, and
the apprehension of sensations, with all the consequences of prejudice
toward the variety of natural possibilities. Shakespeare�s ability to create
characters in his plays that are true to life, and hence naturally beautiful, is
due to his adherence to the natural logic of life.
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Roger Peters Copyright © 2001
Introduction
1-9
10-21
22-33
34-45
46-57
58-69
70-81
82-93
94-105
106-117
118-129
130-141
142-153
154
Emendations
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