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Poetry anthology: Sonnet 116 William Shakespeare - Coggle Diagram
Poetry anthology: Sonnet 116
William Shakespeare
Summary: Sonnet 116 explores the qualities of ideal love and how it doesn't change when circumstances change - constant and enduring
Shakespeare may have been critiquing the institution of marriage as the impossibility of their legal union may have left him with the view that it is flawed and does not reflect nature
Structure:
Shakespearean sonnet - Three quatrains and a rhyming couplet
Volta on line 9
Rhyme scheme - ABABCDCDEFEFBB
Iambic pentameter
Meter: Iambic pentameter is known to have a heartbeat sound reflecting the subject
The first line's meter is irregular which is unconventional - illustrative of love that it weathers and overcomes storms without altering its nature like the meter has rocky parts but smooths out and conforms to sonnet form
Volta: The volta occurs early between lines 8 or 9 - image of love as a guiding star is replaced by the personification of love as eternal that resists death introducing the immortality of love - continuity mirror's love's constancy
Context
The sonnet gained popularity in the 1590s
It was written at the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign - she supported the stats, literature and poetry
He lived through a time of uncommon peace in politics and wars
People began introspecting and focusing on matters of the heart maybe accounting for the popularity of the sonnet synonymous with love poetry
This was written before the descent into turmoil when Elizabeth died
This sonnet was one of 154 published posthumously in 1609
They have been split into 3 groups: The Fair youth sonnets (1-126), the Dark Lady sonnets (127-152) and the Greek sonnets (153-154)
Sonnet 116 is considered a fair youth sonnet which were addressed to an unnamed young man rumoured to be the Earl of Pembroke or Southampton
Writes about him in a romantic and loving way suggesting a sexual relationship/platonic love between them
Quotes
'Let me not to the marriage of true minds/admit impediments' - Begins with a negative wish. Immediately evokes the sacrament of marriage but the speaker suggests the union of two suited minds should be free to join together - gay marriage would have been considered ridiculous and was illegal
The speaker suggests he is for the union of this and love does not need to be recognised by the law or the church because it is spiritual - Fair Youth sonnet
Enjambment separates the two phrases emphasising true love should have no impediments
'ever-fixed mark' - Metaphor for a lighthouse which guide ships and withstand harrowing storms (tempests) - love can be a guiding light and withstand many trials - love is eternal
'Love's not Time's fool...sickle's compass' - Capitalisation personifies Time as the Grim Reaper or Death enforced by 'sickle' a scythe used by the grim reaper - Shakespeare is saying that death is ineluctable so physical attributes will pale under 'compasses come' - alliteration alludes to a clock ticking - However love is eternal and is not 'times foole'
'I never writ, nor no man ever loved' - Negative statement - If true love is not this then his words are pointless and doesn't exist.
The final rhyming couplet sounds arrogant and confident - sense of strength and truth of his words. Also creates a sense of finality drawing the poem to a conclusion
Creates a sense of unity as if two people who love connect - Final line is in past tense highlighting the love was once strong but now there is no pair and he can't focus in the present as it troubles him - affair - so relives past
Links to other poems
Ae Fond Kiss - Represent true and pure love and societal barriers and limitations to love (affair and homosexual relationships). Idealised and fantastical love
Burns is saying goodbye while Shakespeare believes goodbye will never exist, Sonnet 116 is a general reflection on love while Ae fond kiss is a particular account of a love affair
La Belle Dame sans Merci - Both see love as inalterable - Sonnet 116 states love is unchanging and the knight's love although he has been abandoned is still strong
Keats creates a strong while Shakespeare has a short sonnet, Sonnet 116 portrays love as pure and spiritual while La Belle contains erotic references, the knight may be infatuated while Shakespeare describes perfect love
The Great Gatsby
Love is based on an emotional connection rather than economic convenience - Gatsby arguably is in love with Daisy but also finds her attractive for her money 'her voice is full of money'
Sonnet 116 describes love as something that does not alter like how Gatsby remains devoted to Daisy for 5 years treating love as a constant force
Shakespeare's love is shaken by 'tempests' mirroring how Gatsby attempts to defy time to recreate the past holding onto his dream desire the changing world of the 1920s
While the sonnet portrays an ideal 'marriage of true minds' Gatsby's love is an idealistic image of Daisy rather than reality
Sonnet 116 suggests love bears out 'even to the edge of doom' which is reflected I Gatsby's willingness to take the blame for Myrtle's death to protect Daisy resulting in his death