In William Shakespeare's sonnet 130 he writes about an ironic love for a fairly unattractive mistress. He writes about how rare this type of love is, though no matter how unattractive she may be his love for her is strong. In sonnet 116 Shakespeare writes about true love. He writes about what true love really is and how it is unconditional and never alters. In both of these sonnet form poems Shakespeare includes a great quantity of imagery, tone, figures of speech, and rime scheme. .
The imagery in Sonnet 130 is very unambiguous. When I first read it I got this picture in my head of this terribly unattractive woman that he just loves so much. I pictured a very homely looking woman with dull eyes, pale lips, pasty skin, hideous hair, and appalling breath. The way it was written really gave me a clear picture in my head of what this woman could look like. It even gave me an almost unpleasant picture, because of the way this mistress was described. Still as unsightly she may have been, he loved her more than any other. And, no other mistress could she have been compared to. In sonnet 116 the imagery is also apparent. When you read it, you get this picture of true love, an undying love. I got this picture of a love that never ends, a love that stands the test of time no matter what. No matter what it goes through or what hindrance it may face, true love always makes it through and never shall alter. .
The tone in sonnet 130 is hostile, yet at the same time affectionate. That is what is so ironical about this sonnet. The fact that he is describing the whole time how unattractive her features are. How matched up to the colors of nature she has no compare, and at the very end describes this love that he has for her. That this love is unusual yet so strong that it is unsurpassed. Very strange how the mood changes and we find that instead of it being an offensive sonnet, it is actually a demonstrative sonnet portraying his true love for the mistress.
