"Sonnet 116" by William Shakespeare

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. Let's read the poem.

What would you describe the mood of this poem? 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.

Let's break this poem down and try to decipher what is going on literally... Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Vocab: impediments - things that may slow down the process

Let's break this poem down and try to decipher what is going on literally... Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: Vocab: alteration - change

Let's break this poem down and try to decipher what is going on literally... O no! It is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; Vocab: mark - seamark; a prominent object on shore that serves as a guide to sailors tempest - violent storm at sea

Let's break this poem down and try to decipher what is going on literally... It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Vocab: bark - ship Ships used the height of a star to determine their position.

Let's break this poem down and try to decipher what is going on literally... Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come. Vocab: sickle - compass - range, reach

Let's break this poem down and try to decipher what is going on literally... Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. Vocab: bears it out - survives The "edge of doom" is a reference to the end of the world.

Let's break this poem down and try to decipher what is going on literally... If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved. Vocab: writ - wrote

Literary devices in the poem

Line 1 - "the marriage of true minds" is a metaphor comparing joining two minds to love 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.

Line 5 - "It is an ever-fixed mark" is a metaphor comparing love to a landmark 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.

Line 7 - "It is the star" is a metaphor comparing love to a star 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.

Line 7 - "wandering bark" is a symbol of someone who wants love 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.

Line 9 - "Love's not Time's fool" is personification. To be someone's fool is to let that person rule over you. Shakespeare is giving love human characteristics by saying that love doesn't let anyone (or anything) rule over it. 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.

Line 9 - "rosy lips and cheeks" is synecdoche. Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part of something represents the whole. In this case, the rosy lips and cheeks represents youth and beauty. 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.

Line 10 - the "sickle" is an allusion to death 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.

Rhyme scheme Let me not to the marriage of true minds a Admit impediments. Love is not love b Which alters when it alteration finds, a Or bends with the remover to remove: b O no! It is an ever-fixed mark c That looks on tempests and is never shaken; d It is the star to every wandering bark, c Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. d Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks e Within his bending sickle's compass come: f Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, e But bears it out even to the edge of doom. f If this be error and upon me proved, g I never writ, nor no man ever loved. g This rhyme scheme makes the sonnet a Shakespearean sonnet since it has 3 quatrains (a quatrain is a four line stanza) and a couplet

What is the theme of this poem? (Remember, a theme should be a complete sentence that argues something - just saying "society" is not a theme, but "society pressures us to do things against our will" is)

Create a thesis statement for the following questions: “How does the language in this poem convey the speaker’s attitude toward the subject?” Sample thesis statement: “The speaker in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 relies on juxtaposition and imagery to describe the nature of true love.”

Do you have any questions?