Question

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 damask’d, red and white,
but no such roses see I in her cheeks;

—“Sonnet 130,”
William Shakespeare

Use context to identify the meanings of the words underlined in the poem.

dun:

damask’d:

Answer 1

dun: dull colored

damask’d: streaked

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

The word 'dun' means dull grayish brown color, whereas the word 'damask' means a sweet scented rose.

Step-by-step explanation:

William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 is an uncommon poem which describes the female beauty in very real way and which illustrates what it is like to love a woman despite all her flaws. In the line ‘If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun’ Shakespeare describes the mistress in an unorthodox manner. An ideal woman is the one with red lips, white and smooth skin and silky hair. But here, the poet depicts the breasts of a mistress as dun, which means they are dull gray brown in color.

Similarly, in the lines ‘I have seen roses damask’d, red and white,

But no such roses see I in her cheeks’ the poet states that he have seen many damask roses, which means scented roses that is usually pink or red in color. But the mistress doesn’t have rosy cheeks.