E X T E N S I O N SONNET CXXX Shakespeare didn t write only plays, but also sonnets1. On the left is one of his most famous ones, on the right is an easier adaptation. 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. My lady s eyes aren t similar to the sun Coral2 is much redder than her red lips If you think snow is white, her breast is brownish3; 4 If hair were wires , then her hair would be black wires. 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 red, white and damasked5 roses, But I can t see similar roses in her cheeks; And some perfumes are better Than the one I smell on my lady s breath. 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: I love hearing her voice, but I well know That music has a much better sound; I swear I ve never seen a goddess walk; But my lady, when she walks, she marches6: And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare. And yet, I swear, I think my love is as precious as any other who has been falsely described. Here Shakespeare satirizes7 the concept of ideal beauty that was a convention of literature and art in general during the elizabethan era, and the work of poets such as petrarch. in the sonnet erano i capei d oro a l aura sparsi in his Canzoniere, for example, petrarch describes Laura, the woman he loves, as a supernatural creature: her beautiful eyes, fair hair, lovely smile, sweet voice and graceful8 walking are those of a perfect angel. these elements represent the stereotype of the ideal woman in this period in italy exactly what Shakespeare rejects and ridicules9 in this sonnet. 1. sonnet: poem with 14 lines and a fixed pattern of rhyme. 5. damasked: multicolour. 6. marches: walks like a soldier. 7. satirizes: uses satire to show the faults in a person, a system, etc. 8. graceful: attractive, with grace. 9. ridicules: makes somebody look silly by laughing at them. 2. coral: 3. brownish: almost brown in colour. 4. wires: 30