Shakespeare and his bad-breathed Mistress
Thursday, October 11th, 2007In related literature, Shakespeare lovingly writes about his bad-breathed lady in Sonnet 130. Bad breath was so common in Elizabethan England, it even turned up in Shakespeare’s writing. I wonder what Shakespeare would have to say about Therabreath….maybe something like, “Oh my mistress, Therabreath thou must seek, it really works, thou breath improvest in a week.” Enjoy. 
Sonnet 130
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask’d, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
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:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
halitosis
