Sonnet 116 Notes 39101h

SONNET 116 PARAPHRASE Let me not to the marriage of true minds Let me not declare any reasons why two it impediments. Love is not love True-minded people should not be married. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Which changes when it finds a change in circumstances, Or bends with the remover to remove: Or bends from its firm stand even when a lover is unfaithful: O no! it is an ever-fixed mark Oh no! it is a lighthouse That looks on tempests and is never shaken; That sees storms but it never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Love is the guiding north star to every lost ship, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be Whose value cannot be calculated, although its taken. altitude can be measured. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Love is not at the mercy of Time, though physical beauty Within his bending sickle's com come: Comes within the com of his sickle. Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, Love does not alter with hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. But, rather, it endures until the last day of life. If this be error and upon me proved, If I am proved wrong about these thoughts on love I never writ, nor no man ever loved. Then I recant all that I have written, and no man has ever [truly] loved.

Lines 1-2 Let me not to the marriage of true minds it impediments. Love is not love 

This poem opens with one of the most famous lines ever: "Let me not to the marriage of two minds/ it impediments…" Sure, it sounds nice – but what does it mean? Is he talking about a real marriage? If so, who’s getting married? What impediments? Gaaah!

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Yes, there are a lot of questions just in this one declaration – but relax, we’ll walk you through it.

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First of all, the poem alludes to marriage, and to the actual marriage ceremony, which remains basically unchanged; the word "impediment" is lifted straight from the official Church of England wedding service (you might recognize its modern equivalent, the whole "speak now or forever hold your peace" section of weddings, so frequently used and abused in romantic comedies).

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However, don’t get all crazy and start throwing rice or anything – this poem isn’t actually talking about a real marriage.

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The "marriage of true minds" is a metaphor for true love. We’re not sure if this refers specifically to platonic love or sexual love; instead, we are intended to see it as capital-L, ideal, perfect Love.

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Note that the Poet uses the word "minds" instead of anything more base, like "hearts" or (heaven forbid!) "bodies." This is to let us know that this perfect love is the partnership of two thinking, willing individuals, who aren’t simply driven by emotions or hormones.

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Finally, the truly genius part of this opening statement comes in the enjambment between "minds" and "it" – by putting the idea of obstruction in the second line, the Poet doesn’t even it the word"impediment" into the same line as the phrase "the marriage of true minds."

Lines 2-4 Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: 

Here, we see love defined by what it’s not.

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The repetition here is very significant – and very confusing to puzzle out. Let’s tackle the first phrase: apparently, real love doesn’t change ("alter") under different circumstances. That is to say, even if the lovers themselves change, or if the world around them does, true love remains constant.

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The doubled "alter" and "alteration" pairing reminds us of what a less worthy sentiment, which we might think of as "not-love," is like – it’s changeable, fickle, and all too easily altered.

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So what about the next phrase? What does all that "bends with the remover to remove" business mean? Basically, it makes the above point even more vehemently, claiming that even when someone tries to "remove" affection, real love doesn’t give in and disappear. Faced with difficulties or adversity, love will always survive.

Lines 5-6 O no! it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; 

Now that we’ve seen what love isn’t, we learn what the poet thinks love is.

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In these two lines, he brings some nautical imagery into the mix (think storms and ships, not anchor tattoos and pirates).

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In Line 5, he dramatically changes the tone with "O no!" to signal this shift from negative to positive, and immediately launches into an affirmation of love’s qualities. It is, as he says, an "ever-fixed mark" – that’s easy enough, it just means a marker that never moves.

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Line 6 emphasizes this steady, solid quality, saying that it weathers storms ("tempests") but is never disturbed.

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What kind of marker is it, though? The answer to this question comes in the second half of the quatrain.

Lines 7-8 It is the star to every wand’ring bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. 

Here, we discover that the "ever-fixed mark" that came up in line 5 is a star – not just any old star, but the North Star, the only one that never changes position in the night sky.

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This refers to old-fashioned navigational knowledge; before the days of GPS and even reliable maps, sailors would chart their location in the ocean based on the position of the stars.

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Line 8 also refers to these astronomical ideas. In the Elizabethan period, nobody knew what stars were made of (which is why the star’s "worth [is] unknown"), even though mariners did know the location of stars in the sky, or their "height."

Lines 9-10 Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's com come: 

OK, new image: the poet introduces a familiar figure, that of the Grim Reaper. He’s called "Time" here, but we can read that not only as hours and minutes, but as age and death as well.

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Line 9 tells us that Love isn’t Time’s "fool" – that is to say, Love isn’t a court jester that panders to the will of Time, despite the fact that the "rosy lips and cheeks" of a loved one may fade as they age.

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The "bending sickle" that swings in line 10 is the scythe that is traditionally pictured in images of the Grim Reaper.

Lines 11-12 Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. 

These last two line of Quatrain 3 sum up the point of the whole poem: love doesn’t change over time. It endures the ing of time, which is depicted as fleeting and "brief," and lasts until "the edge of doom," otherwise known as Judgment Day, the end of time, or whatever you want to call it.

Lines 13-14

If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

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The final two lines of the sonnet provide a dramatic and quite bold closing statement.

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Line 13 uses rather legalistic language to basically say, "If these ideas are wrong and anyone can prove that I’m incorrect…"

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The line poses something of a challenge to readers (do any of you have proof that he’s wrong?).

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The final line resolves this challenge through a somewhat complicated twist; by saying that the poet has never written anything and that nobody has ever really been in love before if love actually turns out to be less than eternal, the poem’s truth immediately becomes impossible to dispute.

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Why? Well, of course the poet has written – we’re reading his poem right now – and of course people have loved before…therefore, the ideas posed in the poem must be correct.

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It’s odd logic, but hey, it works. Kind of. Just don’t think about it too much.

Notes marriage...impediments (1-2): T.G. Tucker explains that the first two lines are a "manifest allusion to the words of the Marriage Service: 'If any of you know cause or just impediment why these two persons should not be ed together in holy matrimony'; cf. Much Ado 4.1.12. 'If either of you know any inward impediment why you should not be coned.' Where minds are true - in possessing love in the real sense dwelt upon in the following lines - there can be no 'impediments' through change of circumstances, outward appearance, or temporary lapses in conduct." (Tucker, p. 192). bends with the remover to remove (4): i.e., deviates ("bends") to alter its course ("remove") with the departure of the lover. ever-fixed mark (5): i.e., a lighthouse (mark = sea-mark). Compare Othello (5.2.305-7): Be not afraid, though you do see me weapon'd; Here is my journey's end, here is my butt, And very sea-mark of my utmost sail. the star to every wandering bark (7): i.e., the star that guides every lost ship (guiding star = Polaris). Shakespeare again mentions Polaris (also known as "the north star") in Much Ado About Nothing (2.1.222) and Julius Caesar (3.1.65). Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken (8): The subject here is still the north star. The star's true value can never truly be calculated, although its height can be measured.

Love's not Time's fool (9): i.e., love is not at the mercy of Time. Within his bending sickle's com come (10): i.e., physical beauty falls within the range ("com") of Time's curved blade. Note the comparison of Time to the Grim Reaper, the scythe-wielding personification of death. edge of doom (12): i.e., Doomsday. Compare 1 Henry IV (4.1.141): Come, let us take a muster speedily: Doomsday is near; die all, die merrily. Sonnet 116 is about love in its most ideal form. The poet praises the glories of lovers who have come to each other freely, and enter into a relationship based on trust and understanding. The first four lines reveal the poet's pleasure in love that is constant and strong, and will not "alter when it alteration finds." The following lines proclaim that true love is indeed an "ever-fix'd mark" which will survive any crisis. In lines 7-8, the poet claims that we may be able to measure love to some degree, but this does not mean we fully understand it. Love's actual worth cannot be known – it remains a mystery. The remaining lines of the third quatrain (9-12), reaffirm the perfect nature of love that is unshakeable throughout time and remains so "ev'n to the edge of doom", or death. In the final couplet, the poet declares that, if he is mistaken about the constant, unmovable nature of perfect love, then he must take back all his writings on love, truth, and faith. Moreover, he adds that, if he has in fact judged love inappropriately, no man has ever really loved, in the ideal sense that the poet professes. Structure and language Structure The Shakespearean sonnet has 14 lines divided into three stanzas of four lines each and a final couplet. The rhyme scheme can be described as a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g. This predictability and use of a regular pattern is frequently found in older poetry as writers tended to stick to the restrictions of a set format. This poem follows the conventional structure and includes the usual 'turn' at the end - a pair of lines (or couplet) that either shifts the mood or meaning of the poem, or asserts some sort of revelation. Language Sonnet 116 uses repeated pairs of words: "love is not love", "alters when it alteration finds" and "remover to remove" are examples from the first three lines. This mirroring of words is suggestive of a loving couple. As well as pairs of words, there are some opposites and negatives used to stress the qualities of love by saying what it is not: true love can observe storms ("tempests") and not be affected; "Love's not Time's fool". Shakespeare uses metaphors based on natural elements: love "looks on tempests and is never shaken" and "is the star to every wand'ring bark". So love is presented as an essential part of our physical world; it's a fixed point of light in the sky - a "star"- guiding a boat ("wand'ring bark") lost at sea.

The opening lines of the poem echo the conventional Christian marriage service and they stress the idea that love ("the marriage of true minds") should be without "impediments" or barriers and obstacles. These lines can also be interpreted as meaning that love, if it is true, should be without fault. There are lots of references to the idea of love enduring in Sonnet 116. As well as being "unshaken" by storms, "Love alters not" - it is a constant, an "ever-fixed mark", just as a "star" is reliably found in the night sky. As well as not changing appearance or position, love "bears it out even to the edge of doom". Shakespeare is using language associated with extremes to show the power of love, confirming love as a positive force that triumphs over the prospect of "doom". THEMATIC and SYMBOLIC ANALYSIS MARRIAGE The idea of marriage is present in the background of this poem from the very first line. However, the poet doesn’t necessarily define marriage the way people typically do, as a religious sacrament or a legal procedure; instead, he emphasizes a more idealistic, transcendent vision of it. The marriage described in this poem is not a formal contract; rather, it is a "marriage of true minds," a phrase that suggests a deep understanding between two equals, rather than a mere legal bond. In Shakespeare’s time, marriage was far from an association between two equally powerful and independent people; women were basically surrendered into the control of their husbands when they got married. The relationship that Sonnet 116 discusses certainly does not conform to this conventional view of marriage. Instead of talking about the importance of obedience or subservience in married life, it focuses on faithfulness, forgiveness, and equality in any loving relationship. 

Lines 1-2: The poem alludes directly to the Church of England’s official marriage service: before a couple can be officially married, the priest asks the gathered congregation if there is any impediment to the marriage. The poet sees none here.

NAVIGTION The idea of love as a guiding star isn’t a new one, but in this poem, Shakespeare approaches it with a renewed enthusiasm. The poem’s central extended metaphor is the comparison of love to a star – specifically the North Star, which doesn’t ever change position in the night sky. This made it particularly important to sailors, who calculated the location of their ships based on the stars. The North Star provided a stable point around which the other stars appeared to revolve, making it central to navigation for centuries. The poet uses nautical imagery to construct the mental picture of love as a star leading all of us through life.  Lines 5-8: In line five, the declaration that love is "an ever-fixed mark" introduces this extended metaphor of love as a star to which we all look. The poet also goes a step further into figurative language land and personifies this love-star, saying that it "looks on tempests and is never shaken" (6), and later, that the star’s "worth’s unknown, although his height be taken" (8).

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The idea of love as a star guiding the rest of the world really takes off in lines 6 and 7. The "tempests" that threaten the seas are a metaphor for the challenges that may plague a relationship, like arguments or infidelity, while in line 7, the "wand’ring bark" is a metaphor for the lover, being led through the tumultuous sea of life by love. The word "wand’ring" also personifies this lost ship, giving us the feeling that it’s looking for something.

TIME/AGE/DEATH The macabre image of the Grim Reaper was quite familiar to Shakespeare’s Elizabethan readers. This skeletal, scythe-bearing figure of Death became an icon of European culture in the medieval period, in which death was a horrifyingly present part of everyday life (we can blame the devastating impact of the Black Plague for that). This image of death has stuck with Western civilization ever since, and is commonly invoked in poetry and art to remind us all of our own mortality. However, in this poem, the Reaper (referred to simply as "Time") actually loses – it turns out that Love is the one thing that can resist the power of death.  Lines 9-10: The poet personifies both Love and Time here, claiming that Love isn’t just a court jester at the beck and call of Time. This is an allusion to the medieval conception of death as a character known as "King Death," an allegorical figure that represented the Black Plague, more familiar to us as the figure of the Grim Reaper, here brought to mind by the mention of the "bending sickle" (10). Finally, the phrase "sickle’s com come" (10) makes use of alliteration to bring home the idea of ing time; the harsh "c" sounds mimic the ticking of a clock in an onomatopoeic way.  Lines 11-12: The "his" in line 11 signifies that the "brief hours and weeks" belong to Time, continuing the personification of this concept that we saw in lines 9-10. This notion that Time has no control over Love is emphasized in this line, since the ing of Time has no effect whatsoever upon true love.