16 A Sonnet to Consider
“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”
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-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.
Reflection
I love this sonnet. I love Shakespeare! I remember exactly when I fell in love with Shakespeare. I was in kindergarten, and it was our first trip to the library. We were told to look around and select a book or two. So interested, I was all over the small library, looking at every shelf, my eyes racing across all of the spines of all of the beautifully lined books. It was as I was looking up at one of the tallest selves beside the tallest window that I had ever seen, when I saw a set of books all green with gold lettering and sparkling in the sun that was filtering that window. They were on the top shelf, and my heart skipped a beat. I went over to ask the librarian to help me. She followed me over, and I showed her my interest and asked her what those books were all about. She laughed and said, those books are the writings of Shakespeare. And she said that I wouldn’t be able to read them and then took me back to the short shelves to the fairy tales. I wound up going home with a picture book of Beauty and the Beast (which I loved) and the name Shakespeare. I told mom about Shakespeare, and she got me his whole collection. I have been reading Shakespeare ever since.
This sonnet is one of my favorites. I love the line “ . . . it is an ever-fixed mark,” I love the metaphor - that love is a star - a compass - and that in the midst of a moving world, it is permanent.
Questions
What type of sonnet is this?
How many lines are in this poem?
Do you see any repeating words or phrases?
What imagery stands out to you?
Does the writer employ figurative language? If so, explain.
What is your interpretation of this poem?
How do the words make you feel?
Does this work inspire you in any way?