Figurative Language
What does line 1 compare, and what does it mean?
"My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;"
The mistress's eyes and the sun; they are not vibrant/lively.
What does the imagery in line 1 make the reader visualize?
"My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;"
We visualize the dullness of her eyes, as we understand how bright and vibrant the sun is.
Paraphrase line 1.
"My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun."
My mistress's eyes don't shine bright or are as vivid as the sun.
What type of figurative language is shown in line 2?
"Coral is far more red than her lips' red;"
A metaphor; it compares coral and the partner's lips' without using like or as.
What types of color can we infer the mistress's lips are based on line 2?
"Coral is far more red that her lips' red;"
Her lips are pale-colored.
Paraphrase lines 9 and 10.
"I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;"
He loves when she talks, even though music may sound better.
What type of figurative language is the phrase, "Black wires grow on her head," and what is it's meaning?
It's a metaphor, and it is saying that his mistress' hair is rough, the opposite of silky and smooth, and is not beautiful in a traditional way.
What does the imagery in lines 5 and 6 tell the reader?
"I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;"
Her face is pale and has no color when compared to richly colored roses.
Paraphrase lines 5 and 6.
"I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;"
I have seen roses with multiple patterns and colors, but those same colors don't appear on her cheeks.
How do the comparisons throughout the poem convey the narrator's thoughts?
The narrator compares his mistress's features to cliche's that are usually used while describing beauty, and he does this to mock how unrealistic the comparisons are, (eyes will never be like the Sun, etc.) and to show that love does not need these elaborate metaphors to be real; and women don't need to look like flowers or the sun to be considered beautiful.
What does the imagery in lines 11-12 mean?
"I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground."
She does not walk gracefully or elegantly, how the narrator imagines a goddess would walk.
Paraphrase lines 7 and 8.
"And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks."
There are many perfumes that smell better than her breath.
What type of figurative language is displayed in lines 7 and 8?
"And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks."
Hyperbole/Irony - Exaggerates the contrast between sweet-smelling perfumes and his mistress's breath.
Using the imagery in lines 5 and 6, what can you infer the definition of damasked is? (DON'T SEARCH IT UP BECAUSE I KNOW YOU MOST LIKELY WILL)
"I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;"
Damasked - to decorate with or as if with a varied pattern.
Paraphrase lines 13 and 14.
"And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare."
*Belied - contradicted or misrepresented*
His love for his mistress is rare and just as valuable as the love in unrealistic comparisons (belied with false compare).