Sonnet 116 – William Shakespeare.
Shakespeare (1564- 1616) wrote 154 sonnets about love, out of which this was
the 116th. There is a lack of information about Shakespeare’s private life that
makes it difficult to say who the sonnets are written for. However, that
does not detract from their meaning or impact. They still hold just as much
meaning today as they did when they were written.it is thought that most of
the sonnets were written in the 1590s and they were first published in 1609.
His theme of love is explored from the perspective of what he believed love
was about – that nothing will change it and it will remain true for all eternity.
Shakespearean sonnets were made up or three quatrains and a couplet,
unlike Petrarchan sonnets that were structures by an octave and a sestet.
The quatrains are all four lines in length and are followed by a rhyming
couplet.
Sonnet 116 is based loosely upon the marriage vows and reflects the promises
that are made.
During the first line the idea of marriage is mentioned:
‘Let me not to the marriage of true minds’
Here, Shakespeare is referring to marriage as a joining together of two
people rather than the more accepted use of the word that we no use. A
melodic effect is created by the alliteration of the letter ‘m’ throughout the
first sentence – this is entirely in keeping with the original purpose of the
sonnet as a sung piece. The enjambment between the first and second lines
makes the poem flow and, unlike the Ghazal form allows the ideas to be
linked together – one point is a continuation of the one preceding it.
His idea of ‘true minds’ suggests the joining together of two people who are
intellectually equal, and evenly matched.
He continues this idea by saying that the marriage of true minds should not
allow impediments -factors that will damage it. The idea expressed in these
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two lines is that true love should be perfect and whole and not allow outside
factors to influence it.
He expands the idea by saying that love does not alter when factors around
it change – it is not influenced by outside factors – or perhaps, people. True
love is never-changing.
In line three, Shakespeare uses a pun on the word alter and the idea of
marriage:
‘Which alters when it alteration finds’
There is a double meaning in the word alter – to change and the alter found
in a church – the place where couples are joined together in marriage.
The word ‘impediment’ is also found in the marriage service – the part where
the Vicar asks if there is any just impediment that would prevent the couple
from legally marrying. Impediment means reason but can also mean impurity.
To impede something is to stop or obstruct it.
The final line of the first quatrain continues the repetition of words within
lines:
‘Or bends with the remover to remove’
This line reinforces the strength of love – that it will not change or allow
itself to be removed by a third party.
The first quatrain sets out some initial ideas about the nature of love whilst
the second goes on to expand these and introduce some new ideas so that
the quatrains can be seen as linked pieces.
The second quatrain begins with an exclamation used in reply to the ideas in
the first:
‘O no it is an eve r fixed mark’
This begins the sea-faring metaphor of the second quatrain. Love is
constant just like the North Star. No matter what happens it will not be
moved or shaken – it can even survive tempests – great storms at sea and
remain unchanged and shining:
‘It is the star to every wand’ring bark’
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A ‘wand’ring bark’ is a lost ship. Even when everything is at its worst and a
person appears to be lost, love is the constant in their life that will never
change. The meaning of the metaphor is that even when sailors are at their
most lost the North Star can be used to navigate them safely. The idea that
the stars worth or value is often overlooked is explained in line 8:
‘Whose worth’s unknown, although ’
The idea is that love provides people with some kind of safety net that they
don’t know is there until they really need it. The height of the star can be
calculated mathematically but its value to sailors in immeasurable.
The third quatrain introduces another sort of ideas and again, begins with a
bold statement:
‘Love’s not time’s fool’
Love will not change when physical beauty fades – real love will carry on
despite the passage of time.
He extends this image further by saying than rosy lips and cheeks will be
destroyed by time:
‘Though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come’
Time is personified as the grim reaper, complete with sickle harvesting the
looks and youth of people. The idea of the compass reflects the radial
movement of the sickle and that no-one can escape the destruction of old
age.
This quatrain uses the alliteration of the letter ‘b’ throughout to create a
sense of identity and cohesion within it.
The final line of the third quatrain states the love will last until the end of
time, or doomsday.
The final couplet of the sonnet Shakespeare makes quite a bold statement.
He says that if he is wrong about love then all his work will be worthless and
no human has ever really loved. It is his promise that what he has written is
true.
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