Shakespeare

The majority of the poem gives negative connotations. The sun, red coral, snow, roses, perfumes, music, and a goddess all bring to mind beautiful images, but the speaker's mistress' eyes, lips, breasts, cheeks, breath, voice, and walk are all contrasted with the descriptions of loveliness. Her eyes do not shine, her lips are not red, her breasts are not white, her cheeks are pale, her breath stinks, she does not have a pleasant voice, and …

…described favorably by the previously mentioned qualities. Also, the word false suggests that the women who have been described in terms such as their eyes shining like the sun have not been accurately described (141). No woman's body parts really look like the beautiful images that have been described, so the speaker is being truthful rather than using the flowery language common during Shakespeare's time. Also, beauty should not be the reason that one loves someone.