Sonnet 116: Let me not to the Marriage of True Minds
William Shakespeare
Sonnet 116
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-fix'd mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring 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.
----
Shakespeare, through this sonnet ( 14 lines, 4+4+4+2)
brings to light what he defines as "true love."
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments.
True Love is that elusive fairy we all chase but we miss! But as if to put our minds to rest WS begins with the very first requirement of true love, it will not allow any obstacles to over-power it. There will be no hurdles( impediments) that true love cannot jump over or defeat. Thus, its not marriage of true hearts alone, but a union of "true minds" that he refers to when he wants to refer to love. The marriage here refers not to the actual social contract but to the quiet bond which springs up between two people.
Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds
or bends with the remover to remove
Love alters not a whit when circumstances change, thus when life changes and alters, love will not alter. Love is not transient and is not given to blowing with the wind, it stands steadfast and does not cooperate with the "remover" by bending to his will. Here the remover reminds me of the hay-farmer and when he goes to cut the hay and often-times one finds hay-blades bending forward towards the remover i.e. the farmer, to cooperate with him in his act of cutting it off from the ground( the essence of man being love, he would be eagerly cooperating in his own destruction). No, love will not bend, whatever be its fate.
O no, it is an ever-fixd mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Here Love is being used metaphorically as the pole-star which used to guide mariners to find and fix their position in the 16th century. Like the pole-star love stands firm, watching storms from afar, untouched and unaffected by them, undeterred. The wandering bark here refers to the little and large wooden boats on the high seas that need to be steered in the correct direction with the help of the guiding pole-star.
Love is something that one can examine but one cannot truly assess its real value. it is such a precious commodity that there appears to be no known "valuation" to it. Its intrinsic worth is beyond comprehension.
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.
Time was personified in the past as an old bearded man who walked around with a sickle that was curved; Father Time could, at will, destroy anybody's life. Here WS claims that the true marriage of minds is outside the purview of Father Time, he can do it no harm, it is independent of Time. Although the two lovers might lose their good looks which fall within the realm of Father Time, he could do nothing about the real love the true shared which went over and beyond the reach of Time. Time is helpless, impotent when it comes face to face with a true marriage of minds, and could cause it no ruin. Forget hours, weeks, even years, eons can do nothing to the love shared by two soul-mates such as these.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Here WS put his entire credibility at stake and asserts forcefully that he is so sure that this is so that if he were to be ever proven wrong, why then this would mean that the fact that he had written at all would be in question, that any man had ever loved was in question. Essentialy, he is forceful in emphasising that this is indeed the nature of the union of two souls whose unshakeable love, grounded as it is in their minds and not hearts, is beyond the reach of Time, beyond the vagaries of life, beyond destruction, beyond both Man and God.
Sonnet 116
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-fix'd mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring 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.
----
Shakespeare, through this sonnet ( 14 lines, 4+4+4+2)
brings to light what he defines as "true love."
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments.
True Love is that elusive fairy we all chase but we miss! But as if to put our minds to rest WS begins with the very first requirement of true love, it will not allow any obstacles to over-power it. There will be no hurdles( impediments) that true love cannot jump over or defeat. Thus, its not marriage of true hearts alone, but a union of "true minds" that he refers to when he wants to refer to love. The marriage here refers not to the actual social contract but to the quiet bond which springs up between two people.
Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds
or bends with the remover to remove
Love alters not a whit when circumstances change, thus when life changes and alters, love will not alter. Love is not transient and is not given to blowing with the wind, it stands steadfast and does not cooperate with the "remover" by bending to his will. Here the remover reminds me of the hay-farmer and when he goes to cut the hay and often-times one finds hay-blades bending forward towards the remover i.e. the farmer, to cooperate with him in his act of cutting it off from the ground( the essence of man being love, he would be eagerly cooperating in his own destruction). No, love will not bend, whatever be its fate.
O no, it is an ever-fixd mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Here Love is being used metaphorically as the pole-star which used to guide mariners to find and fix their position in the 16th century. Like the pole-star love stands firm, watching storms from afar, untouched and unaffected by them, undeterred. The wandering bark here refers to the little and large wooden boats on the high seas that need to be steered in the correct direction with the help of the guiding pole-star.
Love is something that one can examine but one cannot truly assess its real value. it is such a precious commodity that there appears to be no known "valuation" to it. Its intrinsic worth is beyond comprehension.
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.
Time was personified in the past as an old bearded man who walked around with a sickle that was curved; Father Time could, at will, destroy anybody's life. Here WS claims that the true marriage of minds is outside the purview of Father Time, he can do it no harm, it is independent of Time. Although the two lovers might lose their good looks which fall within the realm of Father Time, he could do nothing about the real love the true shared which went over and beyond the reach of Time. Time is helpless, impotent when it comes face to face with a true marriage of minds, and could cause it no ruin. Forget hours, weeks, even years, eons can do nothing to the love shared by two soul-mates such as these.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Here WS put his entire credibility at stake and asserts forcefully that he is so sure that this is so that if he were to be ever proven wrong, why then this would mean that the fact that he had written at all would be in question, that any man had ever loved was in question. Essentialy, he is forceful in emphasising that this is indeed the nature of the union of two souls whose unshakeable love, grounded as it is in their minds and not hearts, is beyond the reach of Time, beyond the vagaries of life, beyond destruction, beyond both Man and God.
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