Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare

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.

Sonnet 116 is about love in its most ideal, perfect form. The first four lines reveal the poet's pleasure in love that is constant and strong, and will not "alter when it alteration finds." Insinuating that any love that does change for shallow circumstances or one’s vicissitudes is not a true, pure love. The poet states that love's actual worth cannot be known – it remains a unattainable truth. The ending reaffirms the perfect nature of love that is unshakable throughout time and remains so "ev'n to the edge of doom", or death. In the final couplet, Shakespeare declares that, if he is mistaken about the constant, unmovable nature of perfect love, which he sees as common fact, then he never wrote a word or love never existed.

Shakespeare wrote this poem to extricate the complicated meaning around love. He uses simply, monosyllable words to describe the purity of love. There is nothing too complicated about this poem, it is a common Shakespearean couplet. He attempts to take away the onerous implications of love and strip it down to its simplest, most perfect form.

Keeping all of the above in mind, I would argue that lines 5-7 “O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,/ That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;/It is the star to every wandering bark,” are the most important series of words in this sonnet. Shakespeare is attempting to put a definition to this abstract idea of love, but I feel he sums up the most integral parts of love. Love is indeed an "ever-fix'd mark" which will survive any crisis, no matter how beaten, love stands strong. Although many think love is a fleeting, unattainable entity, it is actually a resilient connection that can help any wandering soul find his or her place. If you look carefully at the poem, Shakespeare never categorizes the type of love he is describing. Although many would assume it would be romantic love; I believe Shakespeare is referring to any love that gives someone comfort and security, no matter if it is a love to a person, place, or thing. Even in the last line where he states “nor no man ever loved”, he does not specify loving a woman.