The lines “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” employ a humor device. Identify the device used and discuss its effect on the meaning and tone of the poem.

Question

anonymous · Answer

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.

anonymous · Answer

verbal irony

definition: A device in which what one means does not match what one says. Verbal irony can be playful and funny.