SONNET 116: LET ME NOT TO THE MARRIAGE OF TRUE MINDS
Line-by-Line Meaning & Notes/ Summary of the whole poem(sonnet)
- Let Me Not To the Marriage of True Minds— Union of faithful person who have mutual confidence in each other.The speaker says that marriage of true minds is perfect and unchanging; it does not admit impediments.
- Admit impediment— Recognise hurdles.
- Love is not love…… alteration finds— Love is not true love if it changes with change in the beloved. The true lover continues to love his beloved even when she may be changed in her attitude to him.
- Or Bends with remover to remove— Or inclines to withdraw if the beloved’s love withdraws. The word ‘withdraw’, ‘remove’ is here used with a sense of withdraw; while the word ‘bend’ here means deviates from the straight course of love. / deviates (bends) to alter its course with the departure of lover (remover) (remove).
- O no! it is an ever-fixed mark— It is a permanent object such as lighthouse built on a rock.
- That looks on tempest and is never shaken— The lighthouse stands firm on a rock even in the face of storm. Storms may blow and hit the lighthouse with great force, but the lighthouse is not shaken.
- It is the star to every wandering bark— True love is like a star which guides ship at night. Just as the star remains fixed in the sky true love also remains fixed.
- Whose worth unknown, although his height be taken. True love is like a guiding star whose altitude a sailor may direct his course. But whose full value and potentialities can never be completely known.
- Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks. Time cannot make a fool of love; True love is not the sport or slave of time.
- Within his bending sickle’s compass come— The sphere of the curve sickle which cuts; refers to the destructive effect of time.
11-12. Love alters not with brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. True love does not change with change of time. It remains there till the final day i.e. judgement day.
13-14. If this be error and upon me prov’d, I never writ nor no man ever loved. If this be a false judgement and can be proved against the poet, then he would never write anything and no man’s love has ever been real love. (This is a way of asserting that what the poet has said above is unquestionably and indisputably true).
ANALYSIS
Sonnet 116 is an attempt by Shakespeare to persuade the reader of the indestructible qualities of true love, which never changes and is immeasurable.
Shakespeare begins the sonnet by using the imperative ‘Let Me Not’ to begin his persuasive tactics and he continues by using negation with that little word ‘not’ appearing four times. So love does not alter or change if circumstances around it change. If physical, mental or spiritual change does come love remains the same, steadfast and true.
If life is a journey if we’re all at sea, if our boat gets rocked in a violent storm, we can’t control it love is there to direct us, like a lighthouse with a fixed beam, guiding us safely home. Or metaphorically speaking love is a fixed star that can direct us should we go astray.
And, unlike beauty love is not bound to time, it isn’t a victim or subject to the effects of time. Love transcends the hours, the weeks, any measurement and will defy it right to the end, until Judgement Day.
Lines nine and ten are special for the arrangement of hard and soft consonants, alliteration and enjambment i.e.:
‘Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come’
Love is not harvested by Time’s sharp edge of the sickle, it endures the destruction caused due to him. Love conquers all. And if this be a false judgement and can be proved against the poet, then he would never write anything and no man’s love has ever been real love.
LONG QUESTIONS
- What literary techniques are used and what are the effects of these techniques in Sonnet 116?
Ans: Sonnet 116: “Let Me Not To The Marriage Of True Minds” by William Shakespeare focusses on the definition of true love. The poet has explained about true love through the usage of figures of speech like metaphor, alliteration, synecdoche and different imageries to signify the importance and real essence of true love.
The poet starts the poem by using negation that ‘Let Me Not… impediments’. Here, in the first line poet has a mentioned that let him not add hurdles to the union of two faithful person, having mutual confidence in each other. At the same time figure of speech, synecdoche has been used to state about two faithful person. The marriage of true minds is representating two persons.
Then, the poet has defined continued to define true love by what it is not. The lines “Which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove”. According to that poet, love is not true love that changes with any change either in physique or beauty or attitude of the beloved. True love do not deviates or withdraws from its course.
To show the importance of true love the poet has used alliteration in the given lines:
- “Which alters when it alteration finds / Or bends with the remover to remove”
- “Marriage of true minds”
- “love is not love”
- “remover to remove”
The poet has thus defined sharply about true love in these lines using alliteration.
Again, the poet has compared true love to ‘lighthouse’ and ‘Pole star’ using metaphors and images. First he has compared true love to an ever-fixed mark that is lighthouse stating the ever-lasting and strifing nature of true love in the face of tempests and disasters. Next, he has compared it to the Pole Star. He mentioned that how true love guides the lovers on the right course of life, as similar as the pole star guiding the wandering barks.
Last but not the least, love is not ‘Time’s fool’. The imagery ‘Time’ has been used to show the destructive effect of it on the beloved. But true love is not a true fool that it will alter due to damages made by Time. Hence, the permanency and steadfastness of true love is signified through the sonnet 116.
- What were Shakespeare’s personal feelings about love?
Ans: According to William Shakespeare, true love is a feeling of faith and confidence between the partners. It will lives there as it is till the edge of doom that is the judgement day. It is enriched and endured and never gets deviated from its right path. No one can change true love though there is change in beloved’s physical beauty or attitude.
It could not be deviated by the lover from the straight course of love. It is ever lasting in nature. The steadfastness quality of love strifes in all difficulties of life. It is an ever-fixed mark that remains standing firmly on a rock in the faces of storm much like the lighthouse. Also it acts as a guide for the lovers like the Pole star that guides the wandering bark at the sea when they lost their path. Although the height of the star could be estimated but its worth or value cannot be measured.
Love is not Time’s fool that in the case of destruction and damages made by time upon the physique of the beloved it will change or alter. It will remain steadfast there as it is till the judgement day.
If all the judgement made by the poet could be proved wrong then he would have never written this sonnet and no man would have ever loved.
- What is the theme of sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare?
Ans: Sonnet 116: Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds is basically focussed on the theme of true love and about its eternal and immutable qualities. True love is not a matter of thing but its a perpetual feeling which could not be altered by anyone. According to poet, love is not love that alters with any alteration in physical or attitude or gets deviates from its path due to basically in case of withdrawal of beloved’s love.
Acc: Poet has stated true love, a feeling of faith and mutual confidence between each other. It is endured and enriched in every step of life. Together the lovers can fight any problem during any situation.
Time does of course impact beauty and the appearance of love’s adherents but it does not impact love itself as true love remains constant even to the edge of doom or up until death itself. Therefore the poet has elaborated the power of true love and its constancy, capturing all the virtuous quality of love.
- “In sonnet 116, Shakespeare considers time as the great adversary to love.” Elucidate.
Ans: In sonnet 116: Let Me Not to the Marriage Of True Minds by Shakespeare, he has considered the destructible and vandalizing nature of time. Time has a destructive effect on beloved’s physique with its passage. That love is not true love that alters with any alteration or it inclined to withdrawal of beloved love. Love due to with passage of time.
Love’s not time’s fool that can change easily if there is change in the rosy lips and cheeks of the beloved. It will remain as it is till the edge of doom. Even time cannot act as an adversary to true love. True love exceeds the range of all qualities in these this world. It endeavours all type of problems in life however the problem is much difficult.
Steadfast: loyal, constant / Immutable / perpetual / persistent / enduring / resilient: toughness, ability to recover from difficulties.
5. How does Shakespeare glorify true love in sonnet 116?/ Draw the various comparisons that Shakespeare uses to determine what true love is?
Ans: In sonnet 116, Let me Not to the Marriage Of True Minds William Shakespeare has portrayed true love through this beauteous sonnet. He had glorified true love by stating the steadfast and permanent nature of true love. Through this sonnet, virtuous qualities of true love had been described in order to glorify true love.
First of all poet had stated made an attempt to what is true love by many a times using negation. He had considered that true love is not a true love if it changes or alters with any alteration in physique or beauty. It also if it the beloved’s love withdraw from the straight course of love, that love cannot be considered as it is not a true love.
The poet has mentioned the strifing and resilient quality of true love. Regarding strife, it remains firm as a lighthouse during any problem that seems storm in real life. and the resilience of true love will remain constant till the edge of doom. True love provides right path to lovers in life it is like the Pole star that guides the wandering bark at night.
Being strong, confident and helpful (for someone) it does not mean that it is a fool. Therefore Time can never make love fool. It remains firm as stated till the end in any situation. With passage of time, there must be some changes in beloved’s physique. But that does not mean love will alter with this little superficial change. Therefore it can be stated that true love is strong, confident, faithful, helpful and wise.
6. Discuss three figures of speech used in Shakespeare’s sonnet 116./ In the first eight lines of sonnet 116, what metaphor does Shakespeare use to convey his understanding of love?
Ans: In the sonnet 116, Let Me Not To The Marriage Of True Minds by William Shakespeare, He had used three figures of speech.— Synecdoche, Alliteration and Metaphor.
In the first line of the sonnet — “Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds”, the poet meant the marriage or union of two faithful persons. The two ‘true minds’ meant two faithful person. The poet had used synecdoche to refer two persons by using the words two true minds. Shakespeare employs synecdoche again in lines 9-10: “Love’s not Time’s fool….. compass come”. The sickle is a symbol of mortality though time does not only claim “rosy lips” and “cheeks”; again it claims our whole selves. But this example of synecdoche allows Shakespeare to employ a visual image as well.
In the lines ‘Love is not true love that alters with any alteration… / … Remover to Remove’… These lines contain alliteration as same syllable had been used everywhere. Here poet had signified the value of true love.
The poet had used metaphor to compare true love. It had been compared to as an ever-fixed mark ie. lighthouse. As a lighthouse stands firmly on a rock in the face of storms, similarly true love stands firmly in many situation or problem. The poet had compared true love to Pole-star which guides the wandering bark at night, as therefore, true love also guides the lovers at any situation of life.
Critical Appreciation on “Sonnet No. XIV”: “One Day I Wrote Her Name”
The sonnet “One Day I Wrote Her Name” is written by Edmund Spenser and was published in the year 1595. The etymological meaning of “Amoretti” is “little love tokens”. It is said that it is based on the courtship of Spenser with Elizabeth Boyle, whom he married later. Unlike the relaxation theme, this sonnet is centered upon making the beloved immortal through poetry by the poet. He devotes to immortality for his beloved so that it shall be read by others in the future. In this manner the beloved will remain forever even after death.
The poem commences in a vivid setting near a seashore where the beloved and the poet are sitting side-by-side. The poet’s fruitless trials of inscribing her name on the beach side is being chided by the beloved herself. This prepares the ground for dramatic conversation regarding mortality and immortality. He finds that his efforts are futile, which emphasizes the passing of time.
One day I wrote her name upon the strand,
But came the waves and washed it away:
Again I wrote it with a second hand,
But came the tide, and made my pains his prey.
The beloved, who has for long been observing the obstinacy of the lover, now expresses her motive and indignation to such foolishness:
“Vain man,” said she, “that dost in vain assay,
A mortal thing so to immortalize.”
Rather surprised at his failure to understand the simple fact that all mortal things are subjected to decay, and that beauty is no exception, the beloved makes the special remembr-
The Biblical dictum that states we all are made up of dust, and that after death, we shall return to dust.
The poet now gives an illuminating reply to this chiding of the beloved. Being an anti-theist, he asserts that in his work of art he would immortalize his beloved’s name through the superior technique of poetry. Alluding to the doctrine of Thomas Aquinas, he declares that “base things composed of impure material may deserve to die in dust” but his beloved would live with virtue and fame due to her virtue and purity. And if earth is not fit to preserve her name, he will inscribe her name on the abstract plane through his poetry.
“My verse your virtues rare shall eternize,
And in the heavens write your glorious name.”
The poet’s faith in art is more precisely brought out in the concluding couplet:
“Where whenas death shall all the world subdue,
Our love shall live, and later life renew.”
The phrase “later life renew” not only indicates the Christian concept of resurrection and afterlife but also states the poet’s faith in art. This faith in art is built because of immortalizing the beloved and also their love, with art as a model for future generations of lovers.
The poem is a reflective one but with a difference. It is composed in quatrains along with a couplet. Moreover, it is not based on the Petrarchan theme of unrequited love. The lines are composed in iambic pentameter along with a rhyme scheme of abab bcbc cdcd ee. Various features of speech can be figured out that the poet has used for the sake of emphasis to bring out the unique verbal features.
For example, in the line where biblical dictums are made, antithesis is used to emphasize the beloved’s virtue over base things. The poet states that base things are reduced to dust but the beloved would live by fame. The words “reduced to dust” and “live” are used in a balanced sense. In the concluding part, alliteration is used through the letter ‘w’ in the line:
“Where whenas death shall all the world subdue”
Thus, the poem begins with a realistic setting that moves from personal engagement to a more generalized and universal conclusion regarding the potential of art.