Love, an intense feeling of deep affection, is an emotion which most people have experienced in their lifetime. Many people even claim that they have experienced what could be characterized as true love. However, does such a pure level of this emotion actually exist, and if it does are we as human beings able to attain and define this emotion? In William Shakespeare’s text, “Sonnet 116,” he examines this claim through the utilization of metaphors, personification, and melodic meter in order to convey his belief that true love is infinite and unwavering, even in the face of death.
Shakespeare builds the theme of love by employing powerful metaphors and symbolism to underscore true love’s ideal form, and negate popular belief of love being solely a relationship of physical attraction. In the first two lines, he proclaims, “Let me not to the marriage of true minds / Admit impediments” (line 1). Shakespeare uses the metaphor of marriage and likens it to true love. He portrays the union of two minds or souls, which suggests a long-term mutual commitment that transcends “impediments” through change of circumstances and outward appearance.
In the second quatrain, Shakespeare introduces and illustrates true love as a beacon when he states, “Oh no! It is an ever-fixed mark…It is the star to every wandering bark” (line 7). An “ever-fixed mark” is being utilized as a metaphor to describe true love as a firm landmark that helps people to navigate the ‘unforgiving ocean’ of life. Similarly, Shakespeare compares true love to a distant star, perhaps the North Star, to convey its constancy, despite “tempests” or other obstacles. Additionally, stars are considered heavenly bodies or other worldly entities, giving true love, and “the marriage of true minds” (1) an existence that transcends death and our comprehension.
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Shakespeare further supports his argument and belief in true love when he describes, “Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks / Within his bending sickle’s compass come” (lines 9-10). He draws a parallel by illustrating how love does not submit to Time, as a fool does to a king. Time’s “hours and weeks” are brief in comparison to the longevity of true love. Shakespeare’s personification of time is important because it emphasizes loves undying essence of prevailing against the bending sickle of time, despite the loss of physical beauty or changing circumstances.
Furthermore, the alliteration and polysyllabic language of line ten helps to emphasize the speed of physical beauty fading. The compass is also a metaphor that is used to describe the range of the sickle, and how love is beyond that radius, it is unaffected by time and death. “Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, / But bears it out even to the edge of doom” (lines 11-12).
