What on the narrator's mistress are dull and dun in William Shakespeare's Sonnet 130?

Answer 1

her breasts

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

My mistress's eyes look nothing like the sun; coral is far more red than her lips are.

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

If snow is white, then her breasts are a dull brown (in comparison); if hairs are wires, then black wires grow on her head.

"I have seen roses damask'd, red and white / But no such roses see I in her cheeks;"

I have seen roses of pink, red, and white, but her cheeks are none of these colors;

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

Answer 2

In Sonnet 130, the narrator describes his mistress as having hair that is black wires and breasts that are dun (dull grayish-brown) in color. The poem subverts traditional love poetry by acknowledging his mistress's imperfections and emphasizing that true beauty lies in her genuine qualities rather than extravagant praise.

Answer 3

It describes her hair as beautiful and dark.