Sonnet is a subgenre of poems that is made of fourteen lines which are written in iambic pentameter. The sonnets originated from medieval France and Italy though they have dominated the English poetry. Sonnets are also characterized by one stanza, therefore they are short and easy to recall. Given that they are short and concentrated, they are full of figurative language, emotions and expressions. It is equally notable that sonnets are written on the theme of love. The essay will therefore, compare the sonnets of William Shakespeare, "My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun" and "How Do I Love Thee?”

The sonnet by William Shakespeare, "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun" has several themes. The most evident theme, is imperfection, the title describes the eyes of a lady who is not as bright as the sun. The sun is brighter than the eyes of the lady. The poet implies that the beauty of the lady is comparable to the sun but she is not the sun, she is not an idol which is to be worshipped. The sun is given standard characteristics which it should meet, but the lady is allowed to be imperfect and thus she is not equitable to the sun.

The theme of imperfection is also seen on line 2, "Coral is far more Red than her lips' red;" (Line, 2). The lips of the lady are not as crimson as the coral, the poet implies he has embraced the natural beauty of the lady and this he does not expect her have perfect Red Lips. Another line that shows that the poet is satisfied with the imperfect beauty of the lady is on line 5 & 6 "I have seen roses damasked3 red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks;" the speaker implies he has seen perfect roses, but which are Red and White, but he is yet to see the same on his lady. The speaker seems to see the imperfect side of the lady and embrace it. He is not ready to see a perfect being in his woman.

The theme of imperfect beauty is further seen at the end of the poem where the poet states, "And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare as any she belied with false compare. (Line 13 &14). The couplet confirms that the speaker has accepted that there is no ideal woman on the face of the earth and the most important thing is to embrace the beauty of one's lover. The speaker declares that it is not okay to compare a beauty with idols, equating a person with perfect objects such as roses, sun, and perfume is not okay.

On the Sonnet of the Elizabeth Borrowing, "How do I love Thee?” the theme of perfect love is portrayed. Unlike in the sonnet of William Shakespeare, Elizabeth wishes to portray perfect love in spiritual nature. The speaker states that she loves the man perfectly with all her capabilities, "I love thee to the depth and breadth and height" (line, 2). The prefect love is expressed from all angles. The perfect love is also expressed through spiritual nature when she describes the love through the use of words such as grace, praise, faith, God and saints. She is exaggerating the description to portray how she is consumed by the passion of love.

While the two sonnets are all about love, the two poets express their love in perfect and imperfect nature. William Shakespeare wishes to express love an achievable realistic feeling and thus it should not be ideal. He wishes his lover not to be equated to ideal objects such as the sun, perfume and a goddess. He knows he wants a real woman. On the other hand, Elizabeth Browning, showcases an ideal being who is to be loved with everything. She even goes ahead to count the many descriptions of how she loves her partner. The idea of counting the several descriptions shows she wanted perfection.

Other than the themes, the literary devices of the poems may be compared. The two sonnets make use of figurative language such as metaphor. In the poem of Elizabeth Browning, on line 2, I love thee to the depth and breadth and height" (Browning, line 2). The speaker describes her love as an object that can easily be seems from all directions. She is using metaphors to portray an image that one can relate with and comprehend. William Shakespeare uses a simile which is the opposite of a metaphor to describe to the hair of his beauty, "If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head." (Shakespeare line 4). He compares the hair of his lover with black wires.

Other literary devices evident in the two sonnets are rhythm, the words at the end of the line of both sonnets portray a rhyme. In the sonnet of Shakespeare, the last words in line 1and 3 are rhyming (sun and dun), on line 2 and 4 the last words, red and head, line 5 and 7, white and delight and line 6 and  8 for cheeks and reeks. The rhyme has allowed the poet to create a prediction of the words on every alternative line. For the poem of Elizabeth Browning, the rhyme is evident from line 1and 3, 2 and 5, 4 and 8.

Use of repetition is a literary device that can been seen in the two sonnets. In the poem, "How Do I Love Thee?", the words "I love thee" have been repeated eight times. The repetition has created emphasis on the line also, repetition of the line would help a reader to follow through the poem and recall the words. On the sonnet of Shakespeare, the repetition is evident on the words, "her and my mistress", emphasize is laid on who the subject of the poem is. The reader is able to recall that the speaker is speaking about his girlfriend.

The alliteration literary device is also notable in the sonnet, "How Do I Love Thee?" the alliteration is seen in the words, "thee, the" which are applied in line (1, 2 5, 9, 12). The lines provide a lyrical rhythm to the poem.  In the line, "If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head", (Shakespeare, line 4), the consonant sounds, h, b, w, b,w g, h and h are evident. The alliteration is also seen in the poem of Shakespeare on line 8, "Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks" (Shakespeare line, 8), the sound /th/ is seen in the word than, breath and that. Sound /w/ is seen on line 3, "If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun" (Shakespeare, 3) in the words, snow, white, and why. The use of alliteration on the line is to stress on the three words which signifies the weight carried by the three words. A removal of the mentioned words would leave a sentence that would not make sense.

Use of assonance is seen in the sonnets, in the poem, "How do I love thee? By Elizabeth Browning. The repetition of the vowel sound "e" in the line, "I love thee to the depth and breadth and height" (Browning line 2). Assonance of sound "e" is seen in the word depth and breadth.

The use of this sound is done to stress on how much the speaker loves the partner. Assonance is also present in the words strive and light in line 7, "I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;", (Browning line 7). The assonance of sound "I" is seen which is used to signify the might in which he is loved.

The use of syntax is seen in the "My Mistress Eyes Are Nothing Like The Sun ", the syntax is on line 2, "If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun", (Shakespeare line ,2). The normal order of words would have been, snow is white. The poet brings in an ambiguous vocabulary to the reader. The same is seen on line 6, "But no such roses see I in her cheeks;" (Shakespeare, line 6). The normal order would have been, I do not see any rose on her cheeks. The ambiguous vocabulary is brought in to give the poem a lyrical order and a unique way to recall the words.

A comparison of the two sonnets portrays various similarities of the characteristics of a sonnet. The 14lines of a sonnet are evident, meaning the meet the basic description of a sonnet.

They have the iambic meter and couplets. However, these sonnets differ greatly on their content. While Shakespeare describes a normal female lover, Elizabeth Browning describes an ideal male lover. Shakespeare embraces the flaws of life and thus is not interested in an ideal human being but rather a practical and realistic lover. For Elizabeth, she expresses perfect love and that is why she emphasizes on the different ways she loves her partner. Different literary devices have been used to describe the different versions of love described in the sonnets.