Structure
The sonnet form
William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130” is written in the form of the English sonnet. The sonnet was invented in Italy in the 13th century and used for love poetry. In the 16th century, an English version of the sonnet form was developed, and this is what Shakespeare makes use of for his sonnets.
The English sonnet has fourteen lines, which are divided into three quatrains (four-line stanzas) followed by a couplet (two-line stanza). The aim of the couplet is to underline the thoughts presented in the quatrains. In “Sonnet 130”, the speaker uses the first twelve lines of the poem to argue that his mistress is not an ideal perfect woman. In the final two verses he confesses that, despite her imperfectio...