Sonnet 116 - Shakespeare PDF

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Analysis of “Sonnet 116 - William Shakespeare” Level of the Enounced This first chapter provides a detailed analysis of the level of the enounced of Sonnet 116 specifying on the addressee and the addressed as well as the overall content of the sonnet. Sonnet 116 is seen as a rather detached and impersonal sonnet as the poet does not address a specific character but rather gives a clear definition of what love is or not is. Even though it is known that the sonnets 1-126 are addressed to a young man, one cannot say the same about sonnet 116 as the poet does not directly address any other person. The only character appearing in the sonnet is the poet himself, who could be identified as Shakespeare himself though it is still not clear whether or not Shakespeare’s sonnets are written autobiographical. In the first quatrain the speaker states that nothing can stop love from lasting. The first line and a half can be seen as an opening statement. The metaphor “true minds” (line 1) can be interpreted as a connection of souls rather than a physical connection and implies that if two people truly love each other than there should be no barrier between them. What follows is his first observation of true love (line 2, 3) which can be understood in the way that love was never true love in the first place if it changes with time. The poet explains true love by defining it by what it is not. Lastly, the quatrain is closed by the poet saying that love does not bend with the remover (line 4) which could mean that love stays constant and does not vanish with time. In contrast to the first quatrain the speaker now provides metaphors of what love actually is in the second quatrain. Love is being compared to a lighthouse standing firm no matter how rough the storm might be (line 5, 6) suggesting that true love will look at any troubles and will still be unshakeable and unmoved. The term “wand ‘ring bark” in line 7 is a metaphor for sailing ships, therefore one can assume that love can also be compared the North Star navigating these ships through the storm (line 7) and that true love plays a guiding role in life. The last line of the second quatrain suggests that even though love can be measured by the affection shown between two people, its value can never be calculated. In the final quatrain the poet again states what love is not and the given metaphors in those four lines suggests that love should not be seen as a brief light-hearted destruction 1

(line 9, 10). One can also argue that the main focus of the last quatrain lies on mortality for the reason that the speaker brings up themes such as a sickle standing for the grim reaper (line 10) and the doomsday referring to the end of the world (line 12). Furthermore one can assume that the speaker wants to display that true love does not fade away even if physical beauty vanishes. The metaphor says that sincere love even surpasses death and is therefore seen as something eternal (cf. Duncan 2010: 342f.). In the final couplet the poet is concluding his arguments by stating that if his definition of love should be proven wrong, he never wrote a poem and no man has ever experienced true love before. To sum up one can say that the poet speaking in Sonnet 116 is highly self-assured and is strongly guaranteeing that what he says is the absolute truth. In the next chapter provided in this paper the level of the enunciation will be discussed.

Level of the Enunciation This part of the paper serves the purpose of presenting detailed information about the level of the enunciation focusing on the overall structure of the sonnet, discussing the rhyme scheme, the meter as well as various sound patterns emerging in the sonnet.

3.1 Overall structure of the poem As mentioned before, Sonnet 116 is a traditional English sonnet which is also commonly known as a Shakespearean Sonnet and therefor follows the typical rhyme scheme of fourteen alternating rhyming lines which can be described as an ABABCDCDEFEFGGrhyme. These fourteen lines are divided into three stanzas also known as quatrains each being formed out of two alternate rhymes. At the end of the sonnet one can find a heroic couplet consisting of two rhyming lines. Furthermore, it is written in a constant iambic pentameter resembling a heartbeat which is typical for love sonnets. The next chapter will provide a more precise analysis of this rhyme scheme.

3.2 Rhyme scheme As mentioned in the previous chapter of this paper Sonnet 116 is written in the typical schemata of an English sonnet following the ABABCDCDEFEFGG rhyme scheme. In the first quatrain the words “minds” and “finds” of line 1 and line 3 are monosyllabic full rhymes which form an end rhyme. In line 2 and 4 the words “love” and “remove” at the 2

end of the line are understood to be the B-rhyme. What is more, those two words are considered sight rhymes as they do not sound the same but still look like a rhyme once written down. In the second quatrain the word “mark” in line 5 does not rhyme with any other word that comes before thus a new C- rhyme is introduced forming a rhyme with the word “bark” in line 7. The same system is applied in the last quatrain of the sonnet as the word “cheeks” in line 9 forms the D- rhyme with the word “weeks” in line 11. Once again the words “come” in line 10 and the word “doom” in line 12 form a sight rhyme as they only look alike but do not sound the same. Finally, the last lines 13 and 14 form the rhyming couplet building the G-rhyme with the words “proved” and “loved” which again accrue as a sight rhyme at the very end of the sonnet (cf. Nünning 2014: 61ff). The rhyme scheme gives the sonnet a pleasant flow which is also reflected in the meter of the sonnet examined in the next chapter.

3.3 Metre This section of the paper will pay closer attention to the meter used in Sonnet 116 in hindsight of its relation to the content. The said work follows a typical iambic pentameter as every line has five two-syllable feet being formed out of ten syllables that exist per line. The iambic pentameter almost perfectly pervades the whole sonnet which, for example, can be seen in line 7 “It is the star to every wand ‘ring bark”. The metrical pattern of the first line has been widely discussed, George Wright for instance suggests putting the stress on the first word “ Let” by reversing the iambic pentameter (cf. Wright 1988: 22). Therefore the first line can be pointed out as a trochaic substitution. Furthermore, in the first line one can find an enjambment meaning that the line runs into the second line where it is stopped by a caesura (Let me not to the marriage of true minds / Admit impediments;). The caesura is marked by a semi-colon and stops the flow of the sentence therefor giving the reader time to reflect on the previous one and a half lines. The sonnet continues in iambic pentameter though it is interesting to mention that the unstressed syllables of the words “shaken” and “even” in line 8 and 12 are removed in order to fit the rhyme scheme. This occurrence is called an “outride” which makes line 8 and 12 hypercatalectic lines. The word “ever-fixẻd” in line 5 would normally have two syllables however the accented “ẻ” demands an extra syllable in order to fit the scheme. In line 2, 5 and 7 it is important to notice that the word “ is” is being stressed and therefore empathises what true love actually is. In line 7 one could argue that because

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the stress lies on the word “is” it sounds as though the poet is disagreeing with someone who has another understanding of true love (cf. Wright 1988: 76ff). All this considered one can say that Sonnet 116 follows an almost perfect iambic pentameter with little deviation from the norm giving the sonnet a convincing tone, which is also reflected in the sound patterns described in the following chapter.

3.4 Sound patterns In this section of the paper the sound patterns of Sonnet 116 will be discussed by looking at the individual quatrains and the final couplet one by one. As mentioned previously one can find an enjambment in line 1 of the first quatrain. The enjambment causes the reader to read the line at a faster pace carrying the train of thought along into the second line. Additionally, the phrase “alters when it alteration finds” in line 3 displays a repetition of words also known as a polyptoton which means that the words derive from the same root but diver from its endings. This can also be found in line 4 with the mirrored words “remover” and “remove”. The sound patterns that can be detected in the second quatrain are two alliterations in line 8 consisting of the words “ Whose worth’s […]” and “[…] his height […]”. In the third quatrain a consonance occurs in line 10 (Within his bending si ckle’s compass come). The repetition of identical consonants in the neighbouring words archives an internal half rhyme putting emphasis on the consonant “c”. The almost cutting sound of the line represents the cutting movement of the sickle thus line 10 can be described as iconic. A third alliteration can be found at the beginning of line 10 (But bears […]). The final two lines of the sonnet function as a closing statement and can be seen as the Volta (cf. Nünning 2014: 64). The way the poet declares his trustworthiness sounds rather bold and dramatic letting the poet sound self-convinced. Finally, in the last line the alliteration "[…] nor no […]” can be found. What this all amounts to is that the sonnet does not have a noticeable amount of sound patterns, but strikes with its simplicity. The majority of the words are monosyllable, only three words contain more than three syllables and the word choices are simple and straight forward.

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Let me not to the marriage of true minds x

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Admit impediments; love is not love x

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Which alters when it alteration finds, x

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Or bends with the remover to remove. x

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O no, it is an ever-fixed mark, x

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That looks on tempests and is never shaken; x /

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It is the star to every wand ‘ring bark, x

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Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken. x

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Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks x

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Within his bending sickle’s compass come; x

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Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, x

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But bears it out even to the edge of doom. x

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If this be error and upon me proved, x /

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I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

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Sources and References Primary Literary Jones, Katherine Duncan (2010). Shakespeare’s Sonnets. London: Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare Secondary Literature Nünning, Ansgar und Vera (2014). An Introduction to the Study of English and American Literature.11th edition. Stuttgart: Klett. Vendler, Helen (1999). Sonnet116 as a Rebuttal.In: Herold Bloom. Shakespeare’s Poems and Sonnets. United States of America: Chelsea House Publisher. 62-64 Wright, George (1988). Shakespeare’s Metrical Art. London: University of California Press

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