Writing About Literature

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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.

Most readers at one time or other have read this poem during their education. Even though it is so widely read, it is often misinterpreted upon the first reading. My initial interpretation was that Shakespeare did not think this lady was very pretty and did not really think she was all that enticing. But by reading the poem several times I found that he felt quite the opposite for her. The lady that Shakespeare wrote about was lusted after by the speaker of the poem. She was beautiful and sensual. So why then does Shakespeare write things like � �why then her breast are dun� (3)? That doesn�t sound very beautiful. This is because the poem is based on a group of conceits that the modern reader may not be aware of.

In the poem, Shakespeare was trying to break away from the old way of writing Poetry, where the poet would write ...

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