Sonnet 116

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Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O no! it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come: Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved. [1]

Shakespeare's sonnet 116, first published in 1609, is one of his most romantic pieces, and is often quoted at weddings. It is commonly interpreted as a view that true love is unchanging, despite changing circumstances, such as the loss of beauty with old age.

The 1995 film version of Sense and Sensibility uses this sonnet to demonstrate Marianne Dashwood's romantic notions about love. In the 1966 novel, Colossus, the sonnet is cited as the best written definition of love by the emotionless machine, Colossus.

Contents 1 Synopsis and Analysis 2 See also 3 External links 4 Sources

[edit] Synopsis and Analysis

Lines seven and eight are somewhat cryptic, but can be easily explained. A bark, or barque, is a sailing vessel; and stars were used for navigation at sea, known as celestial navigation. Therefore, the star to a wandering bark is fixed mark in the sky which can be relied upon for guidance. Thus love is the 'ever-fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken'.

Line eight specifically has come in for varied analysis by a number of commentators. The worth gleaned from height has been seen by some as a reference to the elevation of the star used in navigation. A more probable explanation is that displacement of the ship may be used by some to gauge the value of the cargo aboard.

COMMENTARY

Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 116” is a wonderful poem that creates an extreme ideal of love through the employment of poetic techniques. The persona gives love determined, courageous, and guiding qualities through the use of metaphorical comparisons, tone, epithet, and repetition, and wishes to make a bold statement about the eternal nature of love in the face of Time’s decay. The rigid fourteen lines of this sonnet are filled with an abundance of poetic and literary techniques that help to convey these main ideas. The persona aims to describe to the reader the nature of love through what love is not, and uses techniques such as repetition and allusions to the Episcopal Book to do this. In the opening lines of the sonnet, the persona bids the reader to “Let me not to the marriage of true minds/ Admit impediments.” It is inevitable that we make a connection to the Episcopal Book, where it is stated, “…if either of you do know any impediment why ye may not be lawfully joined together in matrimony, that ye confess it.” Whilst it is important to recognize the significance of this allusion, in this sonnet the persona is using this reference mainly to emphasize the communion of two people through their common factor, love. This first line acts as a prologue for the poem and is followed by the main content of the sonnet. Shakespeare uses enjambement in the second line to create a sense of acceleration and move the reader away from the opening and into the depths of the poem. The persona goes on to say that true love will endure all obstacles, and evident in the line, “Which alters when it alterations finds,” where the use of repetition of “alter” connotes an instability of superficial love. In the first quatrain, the persona aims to define love through what it is not, while in the next quatrain he defines love based on what it is. The persona uses metaphorical comparison, personification and epithet very effectively in demonstrating the guiding, stable, determined nature of love. Shakespeare describes love as an “ever-fixed mark,/ that looks at tempest, and is never shaken;” The use of the epithet “ever-fixed” for mark creates and image of a solid wall of courage and determination in the face of a menacing ocean storm. A tempest means certain trouble to a sailor, but the courageous face of love does not falter in the presence of this intimidating image. The use of the phrase, “O no;” slows the pace of the poem and foreshadows the metaphor that is to follow. Love is presented as a guiding force through the use of the metaphor, “It is the star to every wandering bark.” The use of the verb “wandering” creates a sense of aimlessness and confusion the “barks,” or boats have, and the need for the North Star to guide them on their way. Whilst the image created by the word “star” is one of guidance, it also connotes a brilliance that love has as it shines about all else in the heavens above. In the sonnet love is effectively described as a guiding and courageous force, which is then succeeded by an image of eternality and endurance created after the volta. It is important that Shakespeare makes reference to “fool,” given the socio-historical context this sonnet was written in. As we see others of Shakespeare’s works, a fool is often a joker present only for the entertainment of nobility. In this sonnet, time is that nobility. Shakespeare wishes to create an image that love is not dependent or victim to the forces of external factors. In the line, “sickle’s compass come;” alliteration is used to echo the destructive forces of time. The harsh “c” sound is onomatopoeic and emphases the impeding nature of time. A sense of time and place is created in the lines leading up to the couplet, as the persona states that “Love alters not with his brief hour and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom.” Love in these lines is seen be an enduring force, and will persevere until “the edge of doom,” or Judgement Day. The longs vowel sound in the verb “bears,” when juxtaposed with the harsher “c” sound of the lines before, emphasises the eternality of love. The rhyming couplet of this sonnet is somewhat an anti-climax. For twelve lines the persona carefully defines and describes love by a variety of means, while the final two lines do not make any sort of profound suggestion. The final rhyming couplet is more a statement than a resolution, but never the less a bold one. The final couplet states, “If this be error, and upon me prov’d,/ I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.” This sonnet is recognized as one of the premier sonnets of William Shakespeare. The eloquent use of allusion and metaphorical imagery aid the dreamy purpose of personifying love and to show the knowledge of the author of the timelessness and power of love. Love and love through thought sit laden on the pedestal of sonnets.

[edit] See also

• William Shakespeare
• Shakespeare's Sonnets

[edit] External links

• analysis
• commentary

[edit] Sources

• Shakespeare online