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0 Ok, granted this will only be my second post on this forum, but I am in need of some help. I have to analyze and explicate the poem "My last Duchess" and Sonnet 130 “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun" On top of that, I need to compare and contrast the two poems. I definetly could use some assistance from some of the great minds on this forum. Thanks to all that assist me in advance. 02br02br01del00Markus02del00 0-

Abbie1948 · Accepted Answer

0 Hi Markus, 02br
00For the duchess, read this thread: 02br
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00I'll have to get back to you on sonnet 130051040pid5408211id20

DezertRanger · Answer

0 Such a quick response, thanks. I wait in anticipation for your assistance on the Sonnet. 02br
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01del~~00Markus02del~~00 0-

Abbie1948 · Answer

0 Hi Markus 02br
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00I'm very far from a great mind, but I'll give it a go! 02br
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00*** 02br
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00My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; 02br
00Coral is far more red, than her lips red: 02br
00If snow be white, why then her ******* are dun; 02br
00If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. 02br
00I have seen roses damasked, red and white, 02br
00But no such roses see I in her cheeks; 02br
00And in some perfumes is there more delight 02br
00Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. 02br
00I love to hear her speak, yet well I know 02br
00That music hath a far more pleasing sound: 02br
00I grant I never saw a goddess go, 02br
00My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: 02br
00And yet by heaven, I think my love as rare, 02br
00As any she belied with false compare. 02br
02br
00It was fashionable to compare one's lover to the beauties of nature (see "shall I compare thee ...") On the surface, the poet here compares his lover 01i00unfavourably02i00 with such beauties, and in fact makes her sound highly undesirable: 02br
01blockquote

00 her ******* are dun 12br
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10 black wires grow on her head 12br
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10the breath that from my mistress reeks etc.12blockquote

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02br
00In fact, the poet is telling us that there is no need to make false comparisons. She is not a mythical goddess, but a real woman, and her beauty and his love for her are real, and not simply imaginary. 02br
01blockquote

00I think my love as rare, 12br
10As any she belied with 11b10false compare12b10.12blockquote

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02br
00Compare this with Ferrara's description of his duchess, and his constant criticism of her behaviour. He seeks perfection and control, whilst Shakespeare loves his woman for her self, and because she is not some mythically perfect being. 02br
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MrPedantic · Answer

0 You might also compare the two women in terms of pictures: Shakespeare's catalogue of attributes versus the more 'impressionistic' picture (literally) of the duchess in Browning's poem. (All we know about the latter's appearance is the 'faint half-flush'; and even that may be painter's hyperbole.) 02br
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00It may be worth noting that although the woman in Shakespeare's poem isn't necessarily unattractive, black hair and a dark complexion weren't considered desirable in his day. 02br
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00If you look through the neighbouring sonnets, you'll see that this wasn't a particularly ethereal relationship. This may be another point of contrast with Browning's poem: we don't get a sense of strong physical interest, on the duke's part. (Though this may simply be because Browning was writing in the more restrained 19th century.) 02br
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00MrP 0-

DezertRanger · Answer

0 Does anyone else have anymore ideas on this topic. I am trying to compile as much help as I can, as much comparing and contrasting everyone can do is greatly appreciated. 02br
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01del~~00Markus02del~~00 0-

MrPedantic · Answer

0 The speaker in Shakespeare's poem concentrates, positively, on the woman's physical attributes. 02br
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00The speaker in Browning's poem concentrates, negatively, on the Duchess's psychological attributes. 02br
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00MrP 0-

MrPedantic · Answer

0 You might also compare and contrast the diction: Shakespeare's is ornate and figurative; Browning's, plain and conversational. 02br
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00Similarly, the rhythm: how each poet makes use of the iambic pentameter. Compare the use of enjambement; the closeness to rhythms of everyday speech; the regularity of the metre. 02br
02br
00As a tangent: find a comparable passage in one of Shakespeare's plays. For instance, in Othello, there's a speech early on in which Othello describes his early days with Desdemona. (I don't have a copy to hand; but look for the passage that includes the lines 'She loved me for the dangers I had passed; and I loved her, that she did pity them'.) This can be contrasted with the Duke's retrospective. 02br
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00MrP 0-

Abbie1948 · Answer

0 Act 1, scene iii 02br
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01blockquote

00Her father loved me; oft invited me; 12br
10Still question'd me the story of my life, 12br
10From year to year, the battles, sieges, fortunes, 12br
10That I have passed. 12br
10I ran it through, even from my boyish days, 12br
10To the very moment that he bade me tell it; 12br
10Wherein I spake of most disastrous chances, 12br
10Of moving accidents by flood and field 12br
10Of hair-breadth scapes i' the imminent deadly breach, 12br
10Of being taken by the insolent foe 12br
10And sold to slavery, of my redemption thence 12br
10And portance in my travels' history: 12br
10Wherein of antres vast and deserts idle, 12br
10Rough quarries, rocks and hills whose heads touch heaven 12br
10It was my hint to speak,--such was the process; 12br
10And of the Cannibals that each other eat, 12br
10The Anthropophagi and men whose heads 12br
10Do grow beneath their shoulders. This to hear 12br
10Would Desdemona seriously incline: 12br
10But still the house-affairs would draw her thence: 12br
10Which ever as she could with haste dispatch, 12br
10She'ld come again, and with a greedy ear 12br
10Devour up my discourse: which I observing, 12br
10Took once a pliant hour, and found good means 12br
10To draw from her a prayer of earnest heart 12br
10That I would all my pilgrimage dilate, 12br
10Whereof by parcels she had something heard, 12br
10But not intentively: I did consent, 12br
10And often did beguile her of her tears, 12br
10When I did speak of some distressful stroke 12br
10That my youth suffer'd. My story being done, 12br
10She gave me for my pains a world of sighs: 12br
10She swore, in faith, twas strange, 'twas passing strange, 12br
10'Twas pitiful, 'twas wondrous pitiful: 12br
10She wish'd she had not heard it, yet she wish'd 12br
10That heaven had made her such a man: she thank'd me, 12br
10And bade me, if I had a friend that loved her, 12br
10I should but teach him how to tell my story. 12br
10And that would woo her. Upon this hint I spake: 12br
10She loved me for the dangers I had pass'd, 12br
10And I loved her that she did pity them. 12br
10This only is the witchcraft I have used: 12br
10Here comes the lady; let her witness it.12blockquote

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