This sonnet is an anti-love poem that ironically shows how a woman's fairness depends on the blessings of nature and its external manifestations. The Spenserian style brings unity to this sonnet, as its theme and rhyme are intertwined throughout, but the core of its "equity" is divided into an octave and a sestet. The first eight lines praise his physical characteristics (hair, cheeks, smile), while the last six lines praise his internal traits (words, spirit, heart). This sonnet intentionally hides the speaker's ridicule behind counterfeit love language, using phrases such as: "blonde golden hair" (line 1), and "rose in her red cheeks" (line 3), and "in her eyes the fire of 'love lights up' (line 4). This traditional love language fills pages of literature and song and has been conventionally used to praise a lover's attributes; but this sonnet betrays this language by exhibiting criticism rather than praise. This sonnet appears to praise a woman's beauty, but ironically ridicules her by declaring that her "fairness" depends on nature, physical characteristics, and the demonstration of a gentle spirit, which hides her pride. The first line begins: "Beautiful is my love, when" (line 1), and is an idea that is shown five times in the sonnet (see lines 1,3,5,7,9). At first glance, many readers will find this phrase quite appealing, but the speaker's true intent is to demonstrate again and again that his "fairness" is contingent "when" certain events happen. For example, she is beautiful "when her golden blonde hair...[is] giving up" (lines 1-2); and "when the rose appears on his red cheeks" (line 3); and "[w]hen his eyes sparkle the fire of love" (line 4). The poet is very precise in using the term "beautiful" which... middle of paper... seems more striking. This sonnet mocks this woman by pretending to praise her, while demonstrating that her fairness depends on some external manifestations. The fact that the beloved has a "gentle spirit" does not really matter because she is proud. The subtle language of the sonnet hides the speaker's ridicule, just as his smile hides his pride. The author uses economic, oceanic, and nautical imagery to show how her fairness is simply revealed through temporal circumstances, and never mentions that she is "fair" on her own. The ridiculous nature of this sonnet is amply revealed by the repeated term “Beautiful, when” and the central phrase: that his “cloud of pride, that often darkens” (line 7). The cited work Fair Is My Love, by Edmund Spenser http://www.bartleby.com/331/122.html