Comparison & Analysis

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Comparison & Analysis In William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130, in which he discusses his “Dark Lady,” the noted poet uses a sonnet in iambic pentameter to describe the beauty of his subject. Using an ABAB rhyming scheme, each line of the sonnet alternates in rhyme. In terms of his style, Shakespeare includes highly formal language, speaking in florid prose to elevate the beauty of his subject. Colors are used frequently, describing the red of her lips, the black of her hair, etc. to note the unconventional nature of the woman he is discussing. The ‘turn’ of the poem, in which Shakespeare’s attitude about the Dark Lady changes, occurs in the final rhyming couplet – “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare / As any she belied with false compare” (lines 13-14). Here, he shows that, despite her strange appearance, he loves her anyway. Harryette Mullen’s sonnet “Dim Lady,” however, is a play on Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130, using much less formal language and structure. Instead of 14 lines of structured iambic pentameter, Mullen’s poem is 12 lines of no specific meter, acting more like informal prose than anything else. Her language is much more crass and ordinary, replacing “mistress’ eyes” with “honeybunch’s peepers” and so on (line 1). In this way, Mullen seeks to update the sonnet to illustrate the beauty of ordinary life, as she compares the woman’s eyes to “Red Lobster” instead of “coral,” as Shakespeare did. There are rhyming elements to this poem as well (“there is more sweetness than in the garlic breeze my main squeeze wheezes”), but it is presented more as assonance than metered rhyme (lines 7-8). In this way, Mullen’s “Dim Lady” shows a much more improvisational, jazz-like structure as compared to Shakespeare’s formal sonnet. Questions 1. How does the structure of the poem affect the perception of the content? The structure of Mullen’s poem gave a
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