Notes for Shakespeare's Sonnet 130


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Shakespeare's
Sonnet
130

1. nothing: not at all.

3. dun: dark, swarthy.

4. wires: Something likened to wire or a wire in form, appearance, or texture. Frequently poetical and rhetorical. From the 13th to the 16th century, golden hair was often poetically likened to gold wire. Frequently applied to hair, especially in early use,

5. damask'd: like damask material, woven with mingled red and white.

8. reeks: is exhaled (without the present-day negative connotation).

11. go: walk.

13. rare: admirable, extraordinary.

14. she: woman.   belied: misrepresented.   compare: comparison.