Sonnet 116

Question 1

Typicality

Answer 1

• loss (elegies)
• unrequited love
• Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnet form
• nature, beauty, time, tempest
• older poems- focus on social conventions- wife’s position after death of husband, religious ref
• modern poems- lack faith in being reunited

Question 2

True love presented

Answer 2

What it is..
- guiding when lost
- have obstacles/ issues
- doesn’t fade with time
- unshakable
- become less attractive and stay
- doesn’t change over time

Question 3

Typicality of true love

Answer 3

• powerful- strong connection
• idealistic- has religious influences (marriage vows)
• soulmates

Question 4

Interpretation of poem

Answer 4

Written as a general on what love is- unconditional