English fal
,2 Noted © IEB ENGLISH F.A.L POETRY GRADE 12
,MORE ABOUT THE POEM: SONNET 116 – William Shakespeare
SONNET 116 SUMMARY
The poet makes his point clear from line 1: true love always perseveres, despite any
obstacles that may arise. He goes on to define love by what it doesn’t do, claiming that it
stays constant, even though people and circumstances may change. Love never dies,
even when someone tries to destroy it. Rather than being something that comes and
goes, love is eternal and unchanging – so much so that the poet compares it to the North
Star, which never moves in the sky and guides lost ships home. This metaphorical star is
mysterious and perhaps incomprehensible, even though we can chart its location.
Moving on to a new image, love isn’t at the beck and call of time (or time’s consequences,
age and death); mortality isn’t an issue for true love, which doesn’t fade even when
youth and beauty disappear. Love doesn’t change as the days go by; rather, it remains
strong until the lover’s dying day.
Finally, the poet stakes his reputation on this definition, boldly claiming that if anyone can
prove him wrong, he’ll eat his words. That is to say, if this idea of love turns out to be
wrong, then he’ll take back everything he wrote and it’ll be as though it never existed.
Furthermore, if this specific portrayal of love is somehow proved to be the wrong one,
then nobody, as far as the poet is concerned, has ever loved at all.
QUATRAIN 1 (LINES 1-4)
Lines 1-2
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
• This poem opens with one of the most famous lines ever: "Let me not to the
marriage of two minds/ Admit impediments…" Sure, it sounds nice – but what does
it mean? Is he talking about a real marriage? If so, who’s getting married? What
impediments?
• Yes, there are a lot of questions just in this one declaration – but relax, we’ll walk
you through it.
• First of all, the poem alludes to marriage, and to the actual marriage ceremony,
which remains unchanged; the word "impediment" is lifted straight from the official
Church of England wedding service (you might recognize its modern equivalent, the
whole "speak now or forever hold your peace" section of weddings, so frequently
used and abused in romantic comedies).
• However, don’t get all crazy and start throwing rice or anything – this poem isn’t
talking about a real marriage.
• The "marriage of true minds" is a metaphor for true love. We’re not sure if this
refers specifically to platonic love or sexual love; instead, we are intended to see it
as capital-L, ideal, perfect Love.
3 Noted © IEB ENGLISH F.A.L POETRY GRADE 12
, • Note that the Poet uses the word "minds" instead of anything more base, like
"hearts" or (heaven forbid!) "bodies." This is to let us know that this perfect love is
the partnership of two thinking, willing individuals, who aren’t simply driven by
emotions or hormones.
• Finally, the truly genius part of this opening statement comes in the enjambment
between "minds" and "Admit" – by putting the idea of obstruction in the second line,
the Poet doesn’t even admit the word "impediment" into the same line as the
phrase "the marriage of true minds."
Lines 2-4
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
• Here, we see love defined by what it’s not.
• The repetition here is very significant – and very confusing to puzzle out. Let’s
tackle the first phrase: apparently, real love doesn’t change ("alter") under
different circumstances. That is to say, even if the lovers themselves change, or
if the world around them does, true love remains constant.
• The doubled "alter" and "alteration" pairing reminds us of what a less worthy
sentiment, which we might think of as "not-love," is like – it’s changeable, fickle, and
all too easily altered.
• So what about the next phrase? What does all that "bends with the remover to
remove" business mean? It makes the above point even more vehemently, claiming
that even when someone tries to "remove" affection, real love doesn’t give in and
disappear. Faced with difficulties or adversity, love will always survive.
QUATRAIN 2
Lines 5-6
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
• Now that we’ve seen what love isn’t, we learn what the poet thinks love is.
• In these two lines, he brings some nautical imagery into the mix (think storms and
ships, not anchor tattoos and pirates).
• In Line 5, he dramatically changes the tone with "O no!" to signal this shift from
negative to positive, and immediately launches into an affirmation of love’s
qualities. It is, as he says, an "ever-fixed mark" – that’s easy enough, it just means
a marker that never moves.
• Line 6 emphasizes this steady, solid quality, saying that it weathers storms
("tempests") but is never disturbed.
• What kind of marker is it, though? The answer to this question comes in the second
half of the quatrain.
4 Noted © IEB ENGLISH F.A.L POETRY GRADE 12
