Here' the antidote to the Petrarch you just posted. This is far more realistic, wouldn't you say? Just list her qualities.
Let's start with the theme. The theme in the first 12 lines seems to be "How ordinary and plain she is."
Her eyes do not shine as the sun does [at mid day -- something other poets have noted many times about the women they love].
Her lips are not as red as coral. Do look that word up. Can you believe that anything that color would be classified as a deep orange!!??
Dun is sort of a tan color. It is the color of a very light tan. Her breasts are not an outstanding white -- another common analogy used by many poets. They are sort of well in need of a bath is as close as I can come.
I'm sure you get the idea. Most women would cringe at such descriptions. It almost sounds as an insult. We have negated hair, cheeks (not red as roses), the perfume that she uses, her breath (now we are getting personal), her voice (even though modified, perhaps by what she says).
By the end, any woman would be ready to throttle Shakespeare. He spends 12 lines talking about what she is not and spends 2 praising her. Do you believe him? I wouldn't. Not in a million, which does not mean it is not good poetry. It is. The detail is wonderfully covered. What he conveys is masterly done and his hands, mind and heart are not tied in knots. No false modesty for him. He calls the shot as he sees it.
The volta is in the last two lines where there is a turn of thought. (Volta means turn). The last two lines in Shakespearean Sonnets is the volta. I think that most of his sonnets contain a change in the last 2 lines.
