The speaker describes his mistress — the 'Dark Lady' of the later sonnets — by refusing every clichéd compliment poets usually make about eyes, lips, and cheeks. It is a parody of exaggerated love poetry that ends as a genuine compliment.
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
My mistress's eyes are nothing like the sun.
Coral is far more red, than her lips red:
Coral is far redder than her lips.
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
If snow is white, then her breasts are a dull grayish-brown; if hairs are wires, then 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 have seen damask roses, red and white, but I see no such roses in her cheeks — and some perfumes give more delight than the breath my mistress breathes out.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound:
I love to hear her speak, and yet I know perfectly well that music has a far more pleasing sound.
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
I admit I never saw a goddess walk — my mistress, when she walks, steps on the ground.
And yet by heaven, I think my love as rare,
As any she belied with false compare.
And yet, by heaven, I think my beloved is as extraordinary as any woman who has been misrepresented by false comparisons.
Sonnet 130 summary
The speaker describes his mistress — the 'Dark Lady' of the later sonnets — by refusing every clichéd compliment poets usually make about eyes, lips, and cheeks. It is a parody of exaggerated love poetry that ends as a genuine compliment.
Famous lines in Sonnet 130, explained
- “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;” (line 1)
- The most famous anti-love-poem opening in English. Poets of Shakespeare's day routinely compared a woman's eyes to the sun; he flatly refuses in line one. The joke targets clichéd flattery, not the woman — the poem ends by insisting she is as rare as any woman praised with lies.
- “And yet by heaven, I think my love as rare, As any she belied with false compare.” (line 13)
- The couplet flips fourteen lines of apparent insults into a compliment: his mistress is as extraordinary as any woman 'belied' — lied about — with false comparisons. Loving the real person beats loving a fantasy, making this a defense of honest love over poetic exaggeration.
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About this translation: the original text follows the public-domain Project Gutenberg Globe edition; the modern English translation was written in-house for Polytranslator and is reviewed on an ongoing basis (last revised August 2026). Free to print and photocopy for classroom use. Cite as: “Sonnets, Sonnet 130. Polytranslator side-by-side translation, polytranslator.com/shakespeare/sonnets/sonnet-130.”
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Free side-by-side translation — polytranslator.com/shakespeare/sonnets/sonnet-130