William Shakespeare

Sonnet CXXX (130)

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;
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.

Sonnet CXXX (130)
(With Notes)

My mistress's eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips are red;
If snow is white, why then her breasts are dun; (1)
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 has a far more pleasing sound:
I grant I never saw a goddess go; (2)
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. (3)

NOTES

(1) "dun" means brown or dark

(2) I admit that I never saw a goddess walk by.

(3) And yet I think my mistress is as special as those women ridiculously flattered with an impossible beauty. In other words, he loves his mistress just the way she is.