“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.
I just really love the spirit of this sonnet, how it satirizes traditional poetic cliches. Shakespeare was definitely as gay as a wicker basket full of dicks, but that’s beside the point.
