Sonnet 116 Flashcards
marriage of true minds
Helps highlight the focus of this poem which is about real love
Admit impediments
Allusion –> indicates how if one is in true love, there is no reason why they shouldn’t be together. It is a commitment one has to follow.
alters when it alteration finds
Polypteton –> Emphasis on constancy as both root words “alter” and “alternation” focus on change which connotes how love can’t be manipulated
ever-fixed mark
Metaphor –> Reference to a lighthouse which gives guidance to someone in their life
Looks on tempests and is never shaken
Extended metaphor –> Connotes how love does not change despite those tough times in relationships and remains strong
It is the star
Not only gives guidance to someone in their life but also like love, one can measure its distance but never its value which emphasises how valuable it truly is
Whose worth’s unknown
Further depicts how the value of love can’t be measured
Love’s not Time’s fool
Personification –> Almost as if love and time are in a battle and it states how love never gives into time; it doesn’t matter how much time’s gone by, love withstands the pressure of time and remains.
brief hours and weeks…to the edge of doom
Contrast –> Highlights how the briefness of life is contrasted with the longevity of love because love bears it out and stays to the very edge of death
Proved…Never…Ever
Language of certainty –> Shakespeare has definitely written as it is what he is known for and he’s extremely certain he’s loved as he takes the fact and, by doing the opposite, highlights how certain he is; love lasts forever.
What is the rhyme scheme of this poem?
ABABCDCDEFEFGG - evokes the traditional sonnet form
What meter is this poem written?
The poem is written in iambic pentameter throughout
What is the structure of this poem?
The poem has 3 quatrains and rhyming couplets which emphasises the constancy of love
What does each of the 3 quatrains represent?
1st = constancy
2nd = guidance
3rd = longevity
Why are the final 2 lines significant?
It is a rhyming couplet and a volta –> Shakespeare presents his final arguement that there is no way he is wrong and he’s so certain about love being in this way that he’s prepared to say if he’s proven wrong, he’s never written nor ever loved which is not true as writing is what he is best known for
