The Shakespearean Sonnet1 - My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;

2 - Coral is far more red than her lips' red;

3 - If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

4 - If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

5 - I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,

6 - But no such roses see I in her cheeks;

7 - And in some perfumes is there more delight

8 - Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

9 - I love to hear her speak, yet well I know

10 - That music hath a far more pleasing sound;

11 - I grant I never saw a goddess go;

12 - My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:

13 - And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare

14 - As any she belied with false compare.

Sonnet 130

1 - My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;

Sonnet 1302 - Coral is far more red than her lips' red;

3 - If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

Sonnet 130

4 -

If

hai

rs b

e w

ires,

bla

ck w

ires

grow

on

her

head

.

Sonnet 130

5 - I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,6 - But no such roses see I in her cheeks;

Sonnet 130

Sonnet 130

7 - And in some perfumes is there more delight8 - Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

Sonnet 130

9 - I love to hear her speak, yet well I know10 - That music hath a far more pleasing sound;

Sonnet 130

Sonnet 13011 - I grant I never saw a goddess go;12 - My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:

Sonnet 130

13 - And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare14 - As any she belied with false compare.

Punctuation and Verse

1. End-stopped lines: A line of poetry that ends with proper

punctuation, such as a period (.), a comma (,), or a colon ( ; : )

Examples:

1 - My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;

4 - If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

When the poet stops a line at its end (end-stopped), by using some form of punctuation, it slows the flow of the poem slightly, often adding additional emphasis to the first word of the following line.

Punctuation and Verse

2. Enjambed lines: A line of poetry that flows through to the next line without proper punctuation to slow it down.

Examples:

7 - And in some perfumes is there more delight

9 - I love to hear her speak, yet well I know

Lines without proper punctuation at the end are used to keep the flow of the poem moving at a steady pace. Without the final punctuation, the first word of the next line is slipped in a little less noticeably. The more consecutive Enjambed lines, the faster the poem flows.

Punctuation and Verse

3. Caesura: The use of punctuation at any point before the end of the line. This can refer to periods, commas, semi-colons, and colons.

Examples:12 - My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:13 - And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare

Caesuras serve two roles, they slow down the pace of the poem, and they add emphasis to key words or ideas. Shakespeare uses four Caesuras in lines 12 and 13 (above), as he wants to make sure that his meaning gets across in a clear way. These lines are essential to the poem, as this is the beginning of his resolution – this is the point where he tells us how the rest of the poem is significant.

Line Length

Syllables: Shakespeare uses mainly iambic pentameter, which refers (in part) to lines of verse that have 10 syllables.

Sometimes, however, Shakespeare mixes it up a bit. When he wants us to pay special attention to a specific line, he will occasionally add an extra syllable, or will take one away.

Example:

13 - And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare

*** This is the only 11 syllable line in the sonnet.

WHY DO YOU THINK THIS ONE LINE WOULD BE DIFFERENT?

It might not seem like much of a difference, but when you are reading a poem, you slip into a pattern, and you begin to anticipate that each line will last for a set amount of time. Changes to the number of syllables often cause us to trip up while reading, forcing us to go back and re-examine the line.