William Shakespeare Sonnet 116 Geschke/British Literature Shakespeare Sonnet 116

What is the poet saying? Quatrain 1 Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove. Geschke/British Literature Shakespeare Sonnet 116

Quatrain 1 Metaphor Comparing love to the “marriage of true minds” This marriage will not and cannot admit to impediments or flaws. Geschke/British Literature Shakespeare Sonnet 116

Quatrain 1 Definition of love Defined in the negative “Love is not love” Love doesn’t alter or bend when things oppose it. Geschke/British Literature Shakespeare Sonnet 116

Quatrain 2 Oh no! It is an ever-fixéd mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken. It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken. Geschke/British Literature Shakespeare Sonnet 116

Quatrain 2 Metaphor Comparing love to the “ever-fixed mark” A prominent object on shore that serves as a guide to sailors Comparing love to “the star to every wandering bark” The North Star Never changing Constant Geschke/British Literature Shakespeare Sonnet 116

Quatrain 3 Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle’s compass come. Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. Geschke/British Literature Shakespeare Sonnet 116

Quatrain 3 Consistency and unbending nature of love Love is a constant It is influenced by nothing, even death “Time’s fool” Personification Death Geschke/British Literature Shakespeare Sonnet 116

Couplet If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved. Turn occurs after line 13. If the poet is wrong about his definition of love, then he has never written and no one has ever loved. Geschke/British Literature Shakespeare Sonnet 116

How does he go about saying it? Poetic Devices –Shakespearean Sonnet Rhyme Scheme abab cdcd efef gg 3 quatrains and 1 couplet Geschke/British Literature Shakespeare Sonnet 116

Meter ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ Oh no! It is an ever fixéd mark Iambic Pentameter Geschke/British Literature Shakespeare Sonnet 116

Metaphor Comparing love to things that remain constant Seamark North Star Geschke/British Literature Shakespeare Sonnet 116

Imagery Nautical Imagery “ever-fixed mark” “tempests” “wandering bark” “star” “his height be taken” Geschke/British Literature Shakespeare Sonnet 116

Personification “Love’s not Time’s fool…/within his bending sickle’s compass come” (9-10) Time is personified as the grim reaper Geschke/British Literature Shakespeare Sonnet 116