The Truth of Love: William Shakespeares Sonnet #116 - Book Report/Review Example

The Truth of Love: William Shakespeare's Sonnet #116 William Shakespeare's Sonnet #116 is a bold ment about the truth of love. It challenges the fleeting enthusiasm of immature love and asserts that true love is steadfast and unwavering in the face of all of life's adversities. Shakespeare begins this sonnet with a direct quote from the traditional marriage service of this time, "Let me not to the marriage of true minds/ Admit impediments." (lines 1 & 2). He does this to give the reader direct knowledge of the topic in which he is discussing in this sonnet.

This particular sentence was chosen, I believe, because it's making a particular statement about true love or the meeting of 'true minds' and the absence of unconquerable problems when one is involved in a genuine relationship. He reinforces this theme throughout the essay using many literary techniques. Shakespeare's favors the use of personification in much of his writing and it is very apparent in this sonnet. In lines 2 to 4of the sonnet he expresses how true love will stand up against time using this method by referring to time as the 'remover'.

"Or bends with the remover to remove." (line 4). He personifies time and love, "Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks/ Within his bending sickle's compass come." (lines 9 & 10), be stating that love is not a fool and time, again, by referring to 'his bending sickle's compass' which is speaking of being within a range of time. These lines are exceedingly interesting and complex beyond the abundant use of personification because the idea of time passing and aging are addressed in so many ways while maintaining an immersed sexual undertone.

For example, in line 9 when he refers to 'rosy lips and cheeks', this is a representation of youth as well as sexuality. These aspects are important to the sonnet because neither youth nor sexuality should impact the endurance of true love, as he concludes throughout this poem. This endurance is expressed beautifully with the use of metaphor in lines 5 to 8. It should also be noted that these lines are highlighted by the fact that they are one, long, run-on sentence. Where Shakespeare seems to somewhat consistently write a sentence for every two lines of his sonnet, this sentence is four lines and therefore the longest sentence in the poem, "O no, it is an ever fixed mark/ That looks on tempests and is never shaken;/ It is the star to every wand'ring barque,/ Whose worth's unkown although his height be taken.

" (lines 5-8). Although it is successfully broken up with a semi-colon it is still purposefully different from the pattern of the rest of the writing. It is also a very direct and specific metaphor that compares a bond with a journey at sea and love as the symbol of guidance; as when it is referred to as a 'fixed mark'. Perhaps referring to a lighthouse which guides a ship through a storm or a 'tempest'. Also, a star is used as a tool to stay on course when one is at sea in a 'barque', which is a type of ship.

A star is used in manner of measuring its distance from a horizon, so one could understand where they must go and use this for guidance but, maybe, would never understand the true value of this means of directing, much like a romantic relationship when one is absorbed in it. The techniques used by Shakespeare to portray his belief of the unwavering resilience of true love are as beautiful and artful as they are successful. He, also, clearly believes what he writes as his final lines of Sonnet #116, "If this be error and upon me proved/ I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

" (lines 13&14), show his dedication to the theme of this poem as well as his dedication to writing in general, as he compares his writing to the loves of men. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespeare. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: Norton & Company, Inc., 1997.