8.7: Analyzing Different Interpretations of a Sonnet
Question 2 • MO-English Language Arts 10 A-CR
Read Shakespeare's "Sonnet 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,5But no such roses see I in her cheeks;And in some perfumes is there more delightThan in the breath that from my mistress reeks.I love to hear her speak, yet well I knowThat music hath a far more pleasing sound:10I 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.
Answer
A
She has trouble walking on the ground.
B
When she walks, she leaves footprints.
C
Like everyone, she walks on the ground.
D
She cannot be compared to other standards.
Explanation
The line “My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground” says that she walks on ordinary ground, rather than floating or moving like a goddess. The speaker is playfully contrasting her with idealized, unrealistic comparisons. So the line means she walks on the ground like everyone else, not that she has trouble walking or necessarily leaves footprints.
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