Sonnet 116: Let me not to the Marriage of True Minds - William Shakespeare

Who is the speaker?

A person reflecting on the meaning of true, romantic love

What is the form?

Sonnet/regular rhyme (consistency of love/never falters)

'marriage of true minds'

- Highlights focus of poem

- 'true' emphasises how it is pure and consistent

- 'mind' suggests connection is emotional/spiritual

'love is not love which alters... or bends'

- Defines love by what it is not

- Shows how love is everlasting, even when faced with challenges

- Cannot be defeated

'looks on tempests and is never shaken;'

METAPHOR

- To describe how true love stays strong even in challenges

END STOPPING

- Adds pause to demonstrate consistency

'Love's not Time's fool'

CAPITALISATION, PERSONIFICATION

- Emphasises power/importance in life

- Adds sense of defiance

- Reflects how love is forever

'the star to every wandering bark'

METAPHOR

- Love presented as guiding people

- Gives people a direction in life

'worth's unknown'

- Suggests value cannot be measured

- Ambiguity adds sense of mystery and intrigue

'bending sickle's compass'

IMAGERY

- Of death shows how love does never ceases

'brief hours and weeks'

JUXTAPOSITION

- Between short life and longevity of love

- Reflects inescapable fact that time will run out

'But bears it out'

PLOSIVE ALLITERATION

- Creates sense of defiance

'nor no man ever loved.'

END STOPPING, HYPERBOLE

- Demonstrates intensity of love/speaker's feelings

- Dramatic statement to leave reader with sense of strength?conviction