Choose one or more of the poems assigned to respond to.
Consider the following questions for your response (Your paper may address any or all of these questions, but don\’t bite off more than you can chew. Tightly focused responses are often the most successful.):
What do you know about the context the poem was written in? How does this inform your response?
How does point of view/persona/auditor impact the poem?
Paraphrase an important passage or the whole poem into modern language (if applicable). How does the level of diction impact the poem?
Are there any metaphors/similes worth analyzing?
Are there any symbols worth analyzing?
Are there any allusions that are made that impact the poem\’s meaning?
Is there a discernible rhyme scheme? How does it impact the poem\’s meaning?
Does the poem make any larger point about some larger issue?
Grading: Your paper must be at least 3 pages long, double spaced, in MLA format. You must include at least 2 purposeful quotations from the text to help inform your response. Your paper must have a strong thesis statement and a logical progression of ideas. You don\’t need to reach a significant or ground-breaking conclusion about the text, but should provide a scholarly insight worth discussing.
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-fixed 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 prov\’d,
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William Shakespeares SONNET 116 Let Me Not to The Marriage of True Minds
Introduction
Composing poems is one of the most interesting things one can do. Creating a poem requires a significant amount of creativity in a person. People express their thoughts and feelings about situations, persons, and objects through poetry (Sonnet 116). Poetry has a positive influence on the emotional and social learning of children and adults. It can provide a new way of thinking about something. The selected poem is SONNET 116 by William Shakespeare (Jenson) The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the poem, including the context and some literary devices used.
William Shakespeare is a globally recognized literary figure in Western history. Therefore, Sonnet 116 can deeply connect to Western cultural history. William Shakespeare wrote Sonnet 116: Let Me Not to The Marriage of True Minds in the context of love (Jenson). The context makes the response to be based on love. The sonnet tells what love is and what it is not. The speaker states that “Love is not Which alters when it alteration finds” (Jenson). This means that is enduring and long-lasting. Love does not change in times of difficulties. The line that says “Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,” tries to explain that love cannot fade away or end within hours or weeks.
The speaker is clear about the fact that what is proclaimed to be love yet changes within hours or weeks is not love but something else. The point of view of a poem has significant importance, especially to the audience. Sonnet 116 is written from the first (persona) point of view. It makes the poem looks as though it is the speaker’s experience. The point of view gives the poem context and meaning. In sonnet 116, the person gives his point of view concerning what he believes love should be (Jenson). Therefore, any reader or auditor does not alter the meaning of the poem. In this case, love does not despair but endures forever. The point of view is, therefore, a critical aspect of a poem. William Shakespeare used several metaphors in his work, sonnet 116.
The line that reads “O no! it is an ever-fixed mark” is a metaphor (Jenson). It says love is an ever-fixed mark, to mean that love cannot be erased. This particular phrase tries to justify that love does not change no matter the situation, therefore, it is an ever-fixed mark. Another metaphor is seen in the phrase “It is the star to every wand’ring bark” (Jenson). This statement of the speaker shows that love is a star to every wandering bark. It compares love to a guiding star to lost ships that “looks on the tempest and is never shaken” (Sonnet 116). It shows that love is not susceptible to violent windy storms. The term is used in a nautical sense, whereby it is the only fixed thing in the changing sea (Sonnet 116). The star is the guide that sailors look up to give them direction.
Wandering Bark is used to symbolize the journey of life, with love obstacles, and uncertainties. Only love can offer guidance on the journey of life. Symbolism is seen in the line “Within his bending sickle’s compass come” (Jenson). The sickle is a symbol of death in this case. The grim reaper carrying a sickle explains everything to support this idea. William Shakespeare uses the North Star to create an illusion. The North star is used to emphasize the steadiness of the love (Jenson). This use of illusion makes people create the image of the North Star giving a lead to sailors.
Readers of sonnet 116 might associate the North Star with love whenever they see or think of it. This is a wrong interpretation of love because love and the star do not have any connection in real life. Another use of illusion is depicted in the line that reads “Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks” (Jenson). The use of rosy lips and cheeks means the body will change over time and beauty will fade away. It is illusion reflecting that lips and cheeks are where the beauty lies (Jenson). And that when they change, the beauty is gone. It is a wrong interpretation of what beauty is. People can see beauty in the eyes, shape, breasts, and other areas.
Conclusion
Poems are used as a way of expressing feelings, emotions, opinions, and education. The selected poem is SONNET 116 by William Shakespeare. In this poem, Shakespeare is trying to define what love is and what it is not. For instance, love is an ever-fixed mark. Love is not shaken; it is like the North Star that guides sailors. This poem has used several literary devices such as metaphor, symbolism, and illusion.
Works Cited
Jenson, Jamie. Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare, https://poemanalysis.com/william-shakespeare/sonnet-116/. Accessed 14th July, 2022.
“Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds.” Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45106/sonnet-116-let-me-not-to-the-marriage-of-true-minds. Accessed 14th July, 2022.