Question

Read the following Shakespearean sonnet.

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.

The lines "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" employ a humor device. Identify the device used and discuss its effect on the meaning and tone of the poem.

Answer 1

This poem is a gentle parody of the traditional love sonnet and it uses irony a lot to show that his loved one is in no way divine or special, yet he still loves her.

Answer 2

The humor device used in this Shakespearean sonnet is satire.

When utilizing satire the author taunts somebody or something. The lines utilized are not telling the excellence of the fancy woman and the speaker of the sonnet affronts her looks.

This might be an adoration ballad and demonstrates that the storyteller cherishes the depicted lady regardless of what she resembles.