sonnet 116 Flashcards
“Let me not to the marriage of true minds / Admit impediments.”
-Shakespeare begins the sonnet by emphasizing the purity and steadfastness of true love, likening it to a “marriage of true minds.”
-The metaphor suggests a union that is intellectual and spiritual rather than physical, implying harmony and mutual understanding.
-The imagery of “impediments” suggests obstacles or flaws that could hinder this union, but Shakespeare rejects their relevance in true love. This sets a tone of idealism and permanence, asserting that genuine love transcends imperfections. The effect is to establish love as pure and unyielding, creating an aspirational definition for readers.
“O no! it is an ever-fixed mark / That looks on tempests and is never shaken.”
-This metaphor compares love to a lighthouse or landmark, steadfast and immovable even in the face of violent storms (“tempests”).
-The imagery of “tempests” conjures chaos and adversity, symbolizing life’s challenges, while the “ever-fixed mark” illustrates love’s unwavering nature.
-Shakespeare uses this vivid visual image to emphasize that true love remains constant regardless of external turmoil
-By stating that love remains unshaken, Shakespeare conveys its resilience and reliability. The effect is to reassure readers that true love provides stability and guidance even in turbulent times, reinforcing its enduring nature.
“It is the star to every wandering bark, / Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.”
-Love is likened to a guiding star, such as the North Star, which sailors rely on for navigation. -The metaphor conveys constancy and reliability, as stars are fixed points in the night sky.
-The phrase “wandering bark” refers to ships lost at sea, symbolizing individuals seeking direction or stability in life.
-Love is compared to a star guiding lost ships (“wandering bark”), evoking celestial imagery that symbolizes constancy and navigation. While the star’s value (“worth”) cannot be fully measured, its height can be calculated, suggesting that love’s true essence transcends quantifiable metrics.
-This imagery creates a sense of awe and mystery around love’s power, emphasizing its role as a dependable force in life’s uncertainties.
-The effect is to elevate love to a divine or cosmic status, inspiring admiration.
“Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks / Within his bending sickle’s compass come.”
- Shakespeare personifies Time as a reaper wielding a sickle, an image associated with mortality and decay.
- “Rosy lips and cheeks” symbolize youthful beauty, which inevitably falls within Time’s grasp.
-However, love defies Time’s control, remaining eternal even as physical beauty fades.
-The effect is to contrast fleeting appearances with the enduring emotional depth of true love, emphasizing its immunity to temporal limitations.
-This imagery contrasts transient beauty with enduring emotional connection
“It bears it out even to the edge of doom.”
-The phrase “edge of doom” refers to the end of time or judgment day, evoking apocalyptic imagery.
-Shakespeare asserts that true love persists until the ultimate end, transcending temporal limitations.
-This powerful image underscores love’s resilience and eternal nature, reinforcing its role as an unchanging force in a mutable world
-By asserting that love endures until this point, Shakespeare emphasizes its eternal nature. —This powerful image evokes both awe and solemnity, elevating love as an indestructible force that transcends all boundaries. The effect is to affirm the permanence of true love in the face of life’s inevitable end.
structure
-Sonnet 116 follows the classic Shakespearean sonnet structure, consisting of 14 lines divided into three quatrains and a concluding rhyming couplet. The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, which creates a sense of order and harmony, reflecting the poem’s theme of love as a constant and unchanging force.
–>Effect: The structured format mirrors the stability and permanence of true love, reinforcing the poem’s argument that love is steadfast and enduring.
-The volta, or thematic shift, occurs subtly at line 9 (“Love’s not Time’s fool”), where Shakespeare transitions from describing what love is to emphasizing what it is not. This shift deepens the exploration of love’s resistance to time and decay.
–>Effect: The volta adds rhetorical power by broadening the scope of the argument, ensuring that readers grasp both the positive attributes of love and its immunity to external forces.
form
-The final two lines form a rhyming couplet: “If this be error and upon me proved, / I never writ, nor no man ever loved.” This conclusion asserts Shakespeare’s confidence in his definition of love.
–>Effect: The couplet acts as a powerful resolution, emphasizing certainty and finality. It challenges readers to refute his claims about love, thereby reinforcing their universality.
tone
-The tone of Sonnet 116 is calm, confident, and resolute, reflecting Shakespeare’s unwavering belief in the constancy and endurance of true love. This tone is maintained throughout the poem, reinforcing its central argument that love is eternal and unchanging.
-Supporting Quote:
“O no! it is an ever-fixed mark / That looks on tempests and is never shaken.”
-This line encapsulates the speaker’s certainty about love’s steadfastness. The metaphor of the “ever-fixed mark” (a lighthouse or guiding landmark) conveys an image of immovability and reliability, even in the face of life’s tumultuous “tempests” (symbolizing challenges or hardships). The exclamation “O no!” adds a declarative force to the tone, emphasizing the speaker’s conviction. By describing love as unshaken by external forces, Shakespeare creates a sense of calm assurance that aligns with the poem’s overall tone.
- It also lends authority to the speaker’s argument, making his definition of love feel universal and indisputable.
