MY MISTRESS’ EYES The poem “my mistress’ eyes” by William Shakespeare is about his coloured mistress and the love he has for her. The poem is a sonnet and all sonnets have fourteen lines. Another factor is each verse has ten syllables. This sonnet has a pattern of stressed syllables this being weak, strong, weak, strong etc. meaning there are five stressed and five unstressed syllables . This sonnet is therefore an iambic pentameter. The poem begins to describe things in nature that are apparently beautiful. The speaker then says his mistress is nothing like these things. The speaker doesn’t love her despite her differences; he loves her because of them. The use of the simile “my mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” is a perfect example there is no comparing her eyes to the sun but they are still beautiful.
Although the sonnet looks as if it’s negative, it has positive writing nearer the end. It makes clear that even though truth is very different than our dreams and wishes, or that affairs have their good and bad times, he knows that the love he has for his mistress is meaningful and real. He expresses it as “rare” and makes it obvious that he doesn't need to lie about her to know that he has an incredible ammount of love for her. He's been with her a long time and knows her well. Though her eyes are nothing like the sun, it is of no consequence because he knows that his love for her is rare. He prefers to show his love for her through his actions rather than through false words.