Sonnet 116
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
What is the significance of the concluding couplet?
The final couplet serves as a bold assertion of the truth of the poem’s claims about
love, challenging anyone to prove them wrong and linking the validity of the entire
poem to the speaker’s credibility
How does Shakespeare portray time in this sonnet?
Time is depicted as a force that can alter physical beauty but is powerless against
true love’s enduring nature
What metaphor does Shakespeare use to describe love?
Love is described through several metaphors, including an “ever-fixed mark” that
withstands storms and a guiding star for wandering ships.
What is the main theme of ‘Sonnet 116?’
The main theme of the poem is the nature of true love, portrayed as unchanging,
steadfast, and enduring regardless of life’s challenges and the passage of time.
Summary
In ‘Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds,’ Shakespeare’s speaker is
ruminating on love. He says that love never changes, and if it does, it was not true or
real in the first place.
He compares love to a star that is always seen and never changing. It is real and
permanent, and it is something on which a person can count. Even though the
people in love may change as time passes, their love will not. The speaker closes by
saying that no man has ever truly loved before if he is wrong about this.
Themes
Shakespeare used some of his most familiar themes in ‘Sonnet 116’. These include
time, love, and the nature of relationships. In the fourteen lines of this sonnet, he
delves into what true love is and whether or not it’s real. He uses a metaphor to
compare love to a star that’s always present and never changes. He is so confident
in this opinion that he asserts no man has ever loved before if he’s wrong.
Shakespeare also brings elements of time into the poem. He emphasizes that time
knows no boundaries, and even if the people in the relationship change, the love
doesn’t.
Historical Background
Many believe the mysterious young man for whom this and many other of
Shakespeare’s sonnets were written was the Earl of Southampton, Henry
Wriothesly. Wriothesly was Shakespeare’s patron, and The Bard’s Venus, Adonis,
and Tarquin and Lucrece were dedicated to the young man.
Structure and Form
This is a true Shakespearean sonnet, also called an Elizabethan or English sonnet.
This type of sonnet contains fourteen lines, separated into three quatrains (four lines)
and ending with a rhyming couplet (two lines). The rhyme scheme of this sonnet is
abab cdcd efef gg. Like most of Shakespeare’s works, this sonnet is written in iambic
pentameter, which means each line consists of ten syllables. Within those ten
syllables, there are five pairs, which are called iambs (one stressed syllable followed
by an unstressed syllable).
Literary Devices
Shakespeare uses several literary devices in ‘Sonnet 116,’ which include but are not
limited to alliteration, examples of caesurae, and personification. The first,
alliteration, is concerned with the repetition of words that begin with the same
consonant sound. For example, “marriage” and “minds” in the first line, and
“remover” and “remove” are in the fourth line.
Caeusrae is used when the poet wants to create a pause in the middle of a line. The
second line of the poem is a good example. It reads: “Admit impediments. Love is
not love”. There is another example in line eight. It reads: “Whose worth’s unknown,
although his height is taken.” The “pause” the poet uses might be marked with
punctuation or intuited through the metrical pattern.
Personification is seen in the final sestet of the poem. There, Shakespeare
personifies “Time” and “Love,” something that he does more than once in his 154
sonnets. He refers to them as forces that have the ability to change lives
purposefully.
Detailed Analysis
While this sonnet is clumped in with the other sonnets that are assumed to be
dedicated to an unknown young man in Shakespeare’s life, this poem does not seem
to directly address anyone. In fact, Sonnet 116 seems to be the speaker’s—in this
case, perhaps Shakespeare—ruminations on love and what it is. The best way to
analyze Shakespeare’s sonnets is to examine them line-by-line, which is what will
follow.
Lines 1-2
In the first two lines, Shakespeare writes,
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments.
These lines are perhaps the most famous in the history of poetry, regardless of
whether or not one recognizes them as belonging to Shakespeare. Straight away,
Shakespeare uses the metaphor of marriage to compare it to true, real love.
He is saying there is no reason why two people who truly love should not be
together; nothing should stand in their way. Perhaps he is speaking about his
feelings for the unknown young man for whom the sonnet is written.
Shakespeare was unhappily married to Anne Hathaway, and so perhaps he was
rationalizing his feelings for the young man by stating there was no reason, even if
one is already married, that two people who are truly in love should not be together.
Lines 3-4
The second half of the second line begins a new thought, which is then carried on
into the third and fourth lines. He writes,
Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
Shakespeare is continuing with his thought that true love conquers all. In these lines,
the speaker tells the reader that if love changes, it is not truly loved because if it
changes or someone tries to “remove” it, nothing will change it. Love does not stop
just because something is altered. As clichéd as it sounds, true love, real love, lasts
forever.
The second quatrain of Sonnet 116 begins with some vivid and beautiful imagery,
and it continues with the final thought pondered in the first quatrain.
Lines 5-6
Now that Shakespeare has established what love is not—fleeting and ever-changing
—he can now tell us what love is. He writes,
O no, it is an ever fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken…
Here, Shakespeare tells his readers that love does not shift, change, or move; it is
constant and in the same place, and it can weather even the most harrowing of
storms or tempests and is never even shaken, let alone defeated. While weak, it can
be argued here that Shakespeare decides to personify love since it is something that
is intangible and not something that can be defeated by something tangible, such as
a storm.
Lines 7-8
In the next line, Shakespeare uses the metaphor of the North Star to discuss love.
He writes,
It is the star to every wand’ring bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
To Shakespeare, love is the star that guides every bark or ship on the water, and
while it is priceless, it can be measured. These two lines are interesting and worth
noting. Shakespeare concedes that love’s worth is not known, but he says it can be
measured. He neglects to tell his reader, but perhaps he is assuming the reader will
understand the different ways one can measure love: through time and actions. With
that thought, the second quatrain ends.
Lines 9-10
The third quatrain parallels the first, and Shakespeare returns to telling his readers
what love is not. He writes,
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come…
Notice the capitalization of the word “Time.” Shakespeare is personifying time as a
person, specifically, Death. He says that love is not the fool of time. One’s rosy lips
and cheeks will certainly pale with age as “his bending sickle’s compass come.”
Shakespeare’s diction is important here, particularly with his use of the word “sickle.”
Who is the person with whom the sickle is most greatly associated? Death. We are
assured here that Death will certainly come, but that will not stop love. It may kill the
lover, but the love itself is eternal.
Lines 11-12
This thought is continued in lines eleven and twelve, the final two lines of the third
quatrain. Shakespeare writes,
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
He is simply stating here that love does not change over time; instead, it continues
on even after the world has ended (“the edge of doom”).
Lines 13-14
Shakespeare uses lines thirteen and fourteen, the final couplet of Sonnet 116, to
assert how truly he believes that love is everlasting and conquers all. He writes,
If this be error and upon me proved
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
In this part of Sonnet 116, Shakespeare is telling his reader that if someone proves
he is wrong about love, then he never wrote the following words, and no man ever
loved. He is conveying here that if his words were untrue, nothing else would exist.
The words he just wrote would have never been written, and no man would have
ever loved them before.
He is adamant about this, and his tough words are what strengthen the sonnet itself.
The speaker and poet himself are convinced that love is real, true, and everlasting
\
Sonnet 116 – 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-fixéd mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring 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.
5
10
13.1 Complete the following sentences by using the words provided in the
list below. Write down only the words next to the question numbers
(13.1.1–13.1.3).
sonnet; octave; constant; uncertain; couplet; ballad
In this (13.1.1) ..., Shakespeare praises love for being (13.1.2) ... The final
(13.1.3) ... is a challenge to the reader to prove the poet wrong. (1½)
13.2 In your own words explain the meaning of the first sentence ('Let me not ...
Admit impediments'). (2)
13.3 Write down ONE word which best describes the tone of this poem. (1)
13.4 Refer to '…it is an ever-fixéd mark' (line 5).
13.4.1
13.4.2
Identify the figure of speech.
Explain why this figure of speech is effective here.
(1)
(2)
13.5 What is a tempest? (1)
13.6 Is the following statement TRUE or FALSE? Write 'true' or 'false' and give a
reason for your answer.
The 'wand'ring bark' in line 7 refers to a lost dog. (2)
13.7 Choose the correct answer to complete the following sentence. Write only the
answer (A–D) in the ANSWER BOOK.
The word 'Time' in line 9 is written with a capital letter because ...
A
B
C
D
time can change love.
time is being personified.
time is bigger than love.
true love depends on time. (1)
13.8 Refer to lines 9–11 ('Love's not Time's ... hours and weeks').
Explain the meaning of these lines. (2)
13.9 What is the term used for a set of four lines in a poem such as this? (1)
13.10 Do you think the poem gives the poet's loved one a better understanding of
the nature of love? Give a reason for your answer. (1)
13.11 Do you think the poet's conclusion in lines 13–14 ('If this be ... man ever
loved') is realistic today? Discuss your view. (2)
Define Metaphor. Elaborate various metaphors used in this sonnet.
Ans.: Metaphor:- A metaphor is a comparison which is implied and not formally
stated. In a metaphor a word which is standard or literal usage denotes one kind of
thing, quality, or action to another, in the form of a statement of identity instead of
comparison. Thus when we say that “He is a lion”, it is a use of metaphor. In this
sonnet Shakespeare compares true love to the sun and the North Star. Through
these comparisons, the poet wants to prove that true love is fixed and unchanging.
Ezoic
Shakespeare compares the everlasting nature of true love to the sun and the pole
star, which is fixed, unyielding and timeless and serve as infallible guides to the
wandering ships in the uncharted ocean. In the same way the perfect love is
constant and firm. It faces the difficulties of the life but is not shaken. Nobody can
finish true love. True love remains unchanged before the challenges and troubles of
life. Like the pole star true love guides the lovers in the life. The depth of the true
love, like the real value and potentialities of the guiding star, can never be completely
acknowledged. The North Star and the perfect love both are beyond human
evaluation.
The poet personifies time. He compares time to a farmer. As the farmer harvests the
crop with his sickle, in the same way time cuts down the physical beauty of a person
because time is a great destroyer. But even this powerful time has no effect on the
true love. True love does not come in the range of time’s sickle. It does not change
with the passage of time. Rather it remains constant till the end of the world. So
Shakespeare uses Metaphor with a great command and control. It is through the use
of such metaphors that he is able to communicate his ideas about true love.
