Sonnet 116 Flashcards
(19 cards)
Sonnet 116 themes
… love:
-… theme
-defined as a … force
-is …
… & stability:
-… does not …
-love is …
-remains … in the … of …
… vs …:
-… the concept of … love with … love
-… love … fade
-if it … it’s not …
True love:
-central theme
-defined as a strong force
-is unwavering
Endurance & stability:
-love does not fade
-love is impervious
-remains strong in the face of adversity
Real vs Superficial:
-contrasts the concept of true love with superficial love
-true love doesn’t fade
-if it does it’s not real
Sonnet 116 tone
-c… and r…
-states … what love … and … with certainty and …
-… quality as he … on the … of love and its …
-confident and resolute
-states clearly what love is and isn’t with certainty and conviction
-philosophical quality as he reflects on the nature of love and its power
What meter does sonnet 116 employ
Iambic pentameter, 10 syllables in each line
Sonnet 116 rhyme scheme
ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
What structure does sonnet 116 follow
The traditional structure of a Shakespearean sonnet, 3 quatrains and a final rhyming couplet
What is the focus of each quatrain in sonnet 116
1st quatrain- consistency of love
2nd quatrain- love provides guidance
3rd quatrain- love is long lasting
How many quatrains does sonnet 116 have
3
What is the purpose of sonnet 116
-to … what true … is
-argues that is …, constant and …
-… to … love
-to define what true love is
-argues that is unbreakable, constant and unconditional
-aims to celebrate love
What does the final rhyming couplet show in sonnet 116
That if he is wrong then he has never been in true love
“Let me not to the marriage of true minds”
“Let me not”
-⭐️imperative⭐️
—>introduces the poem through denial
—> defining what love is not
“Marriage of true minds”
-⭐️alliteration⭐️
-⭐️metaphor⭐️
—>for perfect love
—>suggesting true love is not a physical attraction but is a mental and spiritual connection
-a genuine, true, deep connection
“Admit impediments; love is not love”
“Admit impediments”
-⭐️caesura⭐️
-allow faults and errors
-if you love someone you will look past it
-refers to anything that may get in the way of true love
“love is not love”
-⭐️monosyllabic language ⭐️
—>gives certainty and strength
—>short simple words to make a universal statement
-⭐️repetition ⭐️
—> repeated for emphasis
—>he is redefining lobe by stating what it is not
-⭐️paradox⭐️
—>seems contradictory
—>hes emphasising that superficial love is not true love
—> makes the reader question what love really is
“Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove”
“Which alters when it alteration finds”
-⭐️polyptoton⭐️
—>emphasises change and instability, the very things Shakespeare says love is not
-defining love by what it it not
-⭐️personification⭐️
—>love is personified as if it has will and integrity if it’s own
—>gives love a moral strength
“Or bends with the remover to remove”
-⭐️polyptoton⭐️
—> emphasises change and instability, the very things Shakespeare says love is not
-defining love by what it it not
-⭐️personification⭐️
—>love is personified as if it has will and integrity if it’s own
—>gives love a moral strength
“remover”
-suggests someone leaving or taking love away
-if it’s true love it will remain steadfast
“O no, its an ever-fixed mark”
“O no”
-⭐️shift in tone⭐️
-⭐️Volta⭐️
—>it rejects the idea that true love can change
—>creates a sense of urgency
“ever-fixed mark”
-⭐️metaphor”
—>suggests reliability and permanence
-⭐️monosyllabic language⭐️
—>gives it a firm steady rhythm
—>enforces the idea love is unwavering
—>the lack of complex words mirrors the clarity of true love
“That looks on tempests and is never shaken;”
“That looks on”
-⭐️personification⭐️
—>love is personified
—>it looks calmly as if it’s aware of the danger but still remains unmoved by it
—>sense of conscious strength
“Tempests”
-⭐️metaphor⭐️
—>represents life’s hardship, emotional turmoil or challenges to a relationship
“never shaken”
-⭐️hyperbole⭐️
-emphasises how unchangeable true love is
“It is the star to every wandering bark”
“It is the star”
-⭐️metaphor⭐️
—>compares love to a guiding star
—>provides direction and hope
—>star represents something constant, reliable and eternal
—>stars are distant and untouchable, like true love should be
—>gives love a spiritual quality
“Wandering bark”
-⭐️metaphor⭐️
—> suggests the ship is lost or directionless
—>which is guided by the star
—>refers to relationships that seem to have drifted but can always make their way back if it’s true love
Link to tempests
-⭐️extended metaphor⭐️
—>of love being a guide through emotional storms
“Whose worth unknown, although his height be taken.”
-continues the ⭐️metaphor⭐️ of love being a guiding star
“unknown”
-can’t define the value of love
“His height be taken”
-refers to navigation where sailors use the height if the star to determine their position in the sea
-loves value is immeasurable
-⭐️personification⭐️
—>star is referred to as “his” giving it human qualities
—>making it more relatable
“Loves not times fool, though rosy lips and cheeks”
“Loves not times fool”
-⭐️personification⭐️
—>both love and time are personified
—>”time” is represented as something that has power over aging and physical beauty
—>”love” is shown as the resisting power
-⭐️metaphor⭐️
—>suggesting love is not at the mercy of time
—>true love is not controlled or manipulated by time
—>love outlasts time even after death
“rosy lips and cheeks”
-⭐️symbolism⭐️
—> these are symbols of youth, beauty and physical attraction
—>if love fades with these things then it was shallow and true love is deeper that physical appearances
“Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks”
“His brief hours and weeks”
-⭐️personification⭐️
—>the pronoun “his” makes love seem as if it is in control
—>time is described as fleeting which is contrasted with the enduring nature of love
