Poetic Sensibility

06- Mistresses And Swoons

This part again comes with lengthy dialogues as well as a poem (yay!). For the benefit of the reader, the dialogues have been italicized and the lines of the poem itself will be typed in a bold script. Happy Reading!

Samay observed how beautifully Romi took command of the whole reading and understanding the poem process. He didn't fail to notice that everyone was listening to her with rapt attention. The first thing she did was address 'Sonnets'. In any other situation, something like this would sound awfully boring but not when she talked about it. He realized that she may be guarded and not go into personal details about herself but when it came to poetry and teaching, she let herself get carried away. It was a wonderful sight, he concluded. When was the last time he had seen someone so captivated by any form of art? All of us are tainted by the reality of our surroundings, he thought. But not her. At least not when it came to poetry.

"A sonnet is the cheater's poem. It's only 14 lines long and it follows a remarkably simple method," Romi explained. "The first 8 lines propose an idea and the next 6 lines present you with a twist on that very same idea. Sounds simple, right? Great. Let's get down to the actual Sonnet now. And remember, while reading, we will be doing so in couplets. We shall read two lines, and taking turns we will paraphrase those and then move on to the next two lines."

"My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red"

She turned to look at Rishi, expecting him to paraphrase it. Rishi, in his usual cocky manner, explained what these lines meant according to him.

"Well," he began. "Shakespeare looks clearly unhappy with his... girlfriend." His eyes gleamed with mischief. "She clearly lacks the standard twinkling eyes and the hot red lips of every woman who's on the cover of today's glossy magazines. All in all, she's not a super model and he's unhappy."

Romi gave a soft chuckle and said, "Quite right. Looks like they had high standards back in the 1500s". She continued reading.

"If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head."

Romi now nodded towards Kabir, who said, "Okay, he's more than just unhappy. He's calling her "dun", which sounds a lot like dull. Instead of saying, you know, to please her, that she has long, silky, smooth and shiny hair, he calls them wiry."

Looking at Kabir's face, Samay could easily make out that Kabir actually sympathised with the lady. Always the champion of the less fortunate, that was Kabir.

"I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks."

Romi glanced at Sarah. Samay saw that Sarah was positively pissed off with the treatment that this lady was recieving at the hands of Shakespeare. He somehow managed to push down the urge to smile and stick out his tongue at Sarah. That would not go down well with her and then he'd be recieving hell from her when she called him later tonight.

Sarah huffed and stated flatly, "He clearly knows how to compliment. Short of calling her downright ugly, he tells this poor woman that while he has seen beautiful patterns woven into red and white roses, he can find no such beauty in her. I wonder how he landed this woman in the first place."

This time, Samay couldn't stop himself from smiling which then earned him a glare from both, Sarah and Kiara. It shook him up a little. Kiara was always so quiet and... shy. Samay noticed Rishi and Kabir. Neither one of them had lost interest in the poem despite their hesitation to do Shakespeare. This was a big victory for Romi. He knew how difficult people got when it came to Shakespeare. Romi continued with the next two lines.

"And in some perfumes there is more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks."

Samay mentally winced at the word "reeks". Those lines would not have gone down pleasantly with Sarah and Kiara. Rishi continued to smirk and Kabir had that annoying yet amusing look of sympathy on his face. Romi, however, seemed to be holding back a smile. And she was failing at it. It was Kiara's turn.

"Well, he says that... there is no elegant way to put this but... her breath stinks," Kiara said.

"Great," Romi said, "Now Samay and I will finish off the sestet. That's the last 6 lines. Remember, this is where the twist comes." She looked at him and he simply nodded. She continued reading the next four 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."

As Romi turned to look at Samay, he began, "So, it looks like he is starting to redeem himself. He tells her that she sounds pleasing to the ear but then he feels he has complimented her way too much, he says that music sounds better than a voice. However," Samay said, smiling at Sarah and Kiara, "He did become a little less nasty.

Samay could not contain his amusement when the two women looked after making a harrumphing sound. Looks like Shakespeare needed to perform some kind of magic to win these two back. Meanwhile, Rishi seemed to be really enjoying himself.

Samay continued with his analysis, "He then admits that he has never seen a Goddess walk. And when he looks at his mistress, she walks like a normal person. She doesn't glide or float. Essentially, she is not a Goddess." Romi simply nodded and went off to finish the last 2 lines.

"And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare."

"Now," Romi began, positively grinning, "He finally says that the one he loves is a rare specimen. There isn't another like her. And he does not wish to insult his lady by lying to her and using flowery terms. He loves her the way she is."

Samay chuckled softly as he saw that Sarah and Kiara were positively swooning. Kabir seemed happy too and Rishi, much like himself, had this air of amusement. Damn Shakespeare, he thought, you have reedemed yourself nicely. Samay wondered if he should adopt Shakespeare's low-ball technique and then it hit him out of nowhere... looks like Romi had something to teach him afterall.