WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S “SONNET 130” WITH CAROL ANN DUFFY’S “THE LOVE POEM”

Introduction

William Shakespeare Sonnet 130 is a poet that practical accolade of Shakespeare uncomely lover who is identified to as a dark woman due to her skin color. At the end the dark lover eventually tricks the poet as there is a clear lampoon of the straight love sonnet which Shakespeare light-heartedly mocks (Shakespeare 141). The love poem by Carol Ann Duffy is a pool of verse of how deeply it is when love is all we left. The poem title provides a general view of the reader of what it entails. The paper seeks compare and contrast to the concentration of sonnet to reflect concentration of love and the free verse structure of Duffy in poem of love to portray how loves works.

Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare

Sonnet contrasts the speaker’s mistress to different beauties who were never in favor of the lover. This includes hey eyes that were compared to the “sun” and her “lips” that were” less red than a coral” were compared to “white snow” (Shakespeare 139). In the second stanza, the Shakespeare says roses were separated into “red and white” which he never says in his lovers “cheeks” (Shakespeare 108). The “breath” from his lover was less pleasant compared to a “perfume” (Shakespeare 108). The speaker says that despite that he adores her voice of music “far” has a more enjoyable sound. The speaker says that in no way seen a “goddess, unlike goddesses”, walk on the floor however he declares that his love is valuable and rare. The false comparisons of love were raised to portray the loved one’s beauty.

Imagery

In Sonnet 130 Shakespeare has relied heavily on the use of a strong sensory image in order to give his sardonic message. Shakespeare draws an image when he compared the smell and the sound of his lover “eyes to the sun”, “lips to the red coral”, her “hair to the black wire”, her “breast to white snow”, “cheeks to white and red roses” (Shakespeare 139). Shakespeare also compared her gulp of air to the “perfume” and her “voice to the music”. This has created an image of how the mistress could be.

Structure

Sonnet 130 is a poem of dictate length, style, and content of the poem. Shakespeare has used words between the stressed syllable and the unstressed one. The word such as MIStress, EYES are Nothing LIKE the SUN (Shakespeare 139). This emphasizes that the words have a deeper meaning. There is a twist at the end of the poem which the leader acknowledges that despite the criticism Shakespeare actually do love his mistress (Shakespeare 29).

Hyperbole

Shakespeare has used a different type of speech that overstates some details in order to stress some information. Shakespeare exaggerates that his mistress was unattractive by comparing her eyes to the sun, her cheeks to the roses, her hair that was made of black wire and breath that was less compared to a perfume (Shakespeare 139).

Satire

Shakespeare has also used satire as a literal device by describing out his mistress who was not as perfect to the things he thought was perfect. Shakespeare argues that he loves his mistress the way she is and not to the impractical romanticized idea of attractiveness that most lovers should have (Shakespeare 72).

 The Love Poem - Carol Ann Duffy

Throughout the poem Duffy, the poetess compares love to an onion by using various techniques such as symbolism, imagery, words, and structure. This is to justify why valentine is not a common love poem as it expresses a different viewpoint. The poet is able to raise thoughtfulness and reflexion to the reader. The poem describes why an onion is a powerful gift of love rather than the roses and chocolates (Constant 8). The idea of valentine is all about love and the onion is not good in showing it. The gifts are important to the person receiving it but an onion will not make good sense but Duffy explains why an onion reflects the nature of true love.

Symbols

Duffy has compared love to an onion. An onion incites tears while love is meant to bring happiness and joy (Constant 40). The symbol of an onion makes the love poem an unusual one as it is able to blind a person with tears like a lover. They have a strong scent when cut which can be compared to a person crying over someone they love. When one is blinded they are not able to see straight as love covers them and he is not able to see the fault in his lover as it idealizes them. Tears are considered as an extreme reaction of happiness or sadness and when a relationship faces problems of mortality (Constant 51).  When in love lovers cannot fully ascertain their lovers due to insecurity. The use of the word shrinks describes the layers in an onion and how it gets smaller indicating that circles are eternal to show that love has no start neither an end which can be presented by a wedding ring.

Structure

The poet is a free verse structured poet that lacks a predetermined pattern. This pattern reflects that love is not predictable due to many factors that affect it. Duffy had confidently applied stand alone sentences which have a lot of meaning in themselves. The repetition of the negative sentences by Duffy has been able to express the valentine gifts as outdated of the red roses and the satin heart (Michelis & Antony 7). This highlights that such gifts are outdated and they are not necessary to show the true meaning of love as they are not any easier to remember. The double alliteration of the red rose and the cute cards makes it easier for remembrance as the common gifts lack any meaning as they are usual.

Imagery

The word valentine in the love poem makes it easy for the reader to realize that love can be perceived in different ways. The unpleasant scent that causes tears brings up an image of pain and discomfort which is reflected in the eyes (Constant 40). This imagery makes the reader imagine that they were the ones crying due to the scent of the onion and the pain is a reflexion on their faces that can be seen as tears. The use of the word photo shows a moment that was captured in a mirror image that could be seen as a grief of negative concoction creates an image of sadness, death, pain or loss (Michelis & Antony 39). Lethal shows that the love has become dangerous and insecure showing a devastating nature of love. The use of a knife shows a violent imagery that indicates that two lovers have become enemies (Michelis & Antony 158).

Personification/ Simile

An onion has been compared to a lover who has been blinded and has been left with tears. This has been linked to the way onions sting our eyes when we try to get it to the heart to be the same way that another person may sting heart in a heartlessness manner (Constant 40). It is also compared to a jealousy lover to reach a point in their relationship where it is a mixture of passion and punishment.

Metaphor

The use of romantic connotation that the moon carries wrapped in a brown paper is used as a metaphor. The moon usually influences the water and the tide on earth. Duffy shows how where love becomes a desperate hunt that has a violent imagery (Constant 39). The wobbling photo of grief creates a metaphor of looking through the eyes of a lover who is upset who gaze done their reflection to the mirror and cry at the same time. The loops of an onion shrink compared to a wedding ring which implies that the lover is trapped. The platinum indicates precious metal which is ironic to the use of onion as they are not that precious (Constant 40).

The concentration of sonnet reflects love despite the imperfect mistress. Shakespeare loved his mistress though she was not perfect to the things that surrounded him. Duffy expresses a diverse point of love throughout the romantic poem that expresses the main meaning of love. On the other hand, the love poem by Duffy is a direct contrast to that of Shakespeare as he asserts his sonnets that his poet will make his subject immortal. The love poem has been able to portray a truthfully pessimistic outlook of love. The free structure used by Duffy has clearly shown that love is not predictable as it is characterized by many things such as pain, death, sadness and loss (Constant 8). I believe that the love story by Duffy has been able to break down love in its own faults compared to that of Shakespeare as it has been able to provide devastating precautions that do happen when an individual forgets that love is mortal.

Conclusion

The two poems have used various poetic devices in order to express love and signify its importance and faults. Shakespeare poet is in a standard manner which differs to that of Duffy. Despite the fact that Shakespeare says that he loves his mistress, the love poem by Duffy has been able to show why love is fragile and that one can never be sure of their partner's feelings as they are not equal. Therefore love poem by Duffy is more effective.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Work Cited

Constant, Clare. Poems about Emotions. Raintree, 2015

Michelis, Angelica, and Antony Rowland. The Poetry of Carol Ann Duffy: "choosing Tough Words". New York: Manchester University Press, 2003. Print.

Shakespeare, William. Shakespeare's Sonnets. Auckland, N.Z.: Floating Press, 2008. Internet resource.