Sonnet+116

Sonnet 116

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. O, no! It is an ever-fixed 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. 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. If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Review and Assess 1. Which speaker’s idea of love do you prefer? Why? The first one because of its language, it’s more romantic and not as blunt as the second one. The second one actually talks down on a person, “I love to hear her speak. Yet well I know; That music hath a far more pleasing sound.” (ln. 9-10). The first sonnet is not exactly optimistic but it states that once you find love you cannot just brush it off, and that love is the best feeling. “O, no! It is an ever-fixed mark; That looks on tempests and is never shaken;” (ln. 5-6).

2. A) To what is love compared in the second quatrain? B) Why is love similar to this object? It is compared to the North star, love is similar to this object because although the times may change love will always remain the same. The idea of love remains unchanged even though it can come in many forms.

3. A) Identify two images that show the effects of time? B) Compare the effects of time on love with the ideal of love in the poem. A) The North star: although time goes by it never changes, “It is an ever-fixed marked” (ln. 5) And a more literal image is also provided, “Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, ; But bears it out even to the edge of doom.” (ln. 11-12). B) The sonnet states love never fades even after many years, time does not effect love. Love is not something that just comes and goes. The ideal love never changes and stays strong and can’t be ride of.

6. Apply in which of these sonnets does the speaker’s attitude toward love seem more typical of our times? Explain. Sonnet 116 is more of an ideal form of love for modern times, but it appears that Sonnet 130 is more like modern times. In modern times many people rush into love and it turns out like the love found in sonnet 130, where nobody is happy and the people involved resent each other. But most people would like to have the love described in sonnet 116, where love can’t be shattered and where it last forever.