By Flapper Press Poetry Café:
The Flapper Press Poetry Café continues a new series of articles about favorite lines of poetry and the poets who wrote them. We’re reaching out to poets, writers, and lovers of poetry to submit their favorite lines of poetry and tell us why you love them.
Check out our submission guidelines and send us your favorites!
We'll feature your submission sometime this year on our site!
This week, our submission comes from Bonnie Boyles.
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.
I have seen roses damasked, 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 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.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
—William Shakespeare, Sonnet 130
From Bonnie Boyles:
I read this sonnet in my freshman year in college in California.
I felt like this sonnet helped me realize I’m free to be me and there was someone who will love me no matter my faults and lack of beauty.
When I read this decades ago, I interpreted the message as more beyond surface appeal. Beauty is, indeed, in the eye of the beholder.
Honestly, I’m not a poetry reader, but there have been ones that totally hit me in the solar plexus throughout my life when studying literature.
To read more about William Shakespeare and his sonnets, visit:
Bonnie Boyles has spent the last decade focused on youth swimming at KC Swim Academy & Infant Aquatics, Inc. She believes that swimming is the only sport that can save one’s life, and she passed her love of the sport on to her two children throughout their many years of competitive swimming. When she isn’t on the pool deck running swim meets, Bonnie enjoys having margaritas with her CODA recovery mom friends and watching zombie movies.Â
Presenting a wide range of poetry with a mission to promote a love and understanding of poetry for all. We welcome submissions for compelling poetry and look forward to publishing and supporting your creative endeavors. Submissions may also be considered for the Pushcart Prize. Please review our Guidelines before submitting!