The theme of constancy and the eternal nature of love permeates every line of Shakespeare's 116th sonnet. Sonnet 116 “speaks of love in its most ideal form, praising the glories of lovers who have met freely and enter into a relationship based on trust and understanding” (Mabillard). It attempts to define love by stating both what it is and what it is not. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay According to T.G. Tucker, Shakespeare strongly supported the idea of ​​marriage and even alludes to a marriage service with his wordplay in the first two lines of the work. These verses are “echoes of the Book of Common Prayer”: “If any of you knows the cause, or the just impediment, why these two persons should not be united in holy matrimony, he must declare it” (Davies). the first quatrain introduces the theme of true and constant love. The first two lines explain that true love, the "marriage of true minds", does not "admit impediments" nor does it change when the loved one changes; therefore, it is unconditional. The third and fourth lines inform the reader what love is not. It does not “bend” or falter in the face of external pressures such as the temptation of other lovers, and it cannot be changed (Sonnet). While the first quatrain states what love is not, the second quatrain focuses on what love is. Up to this point in the sonnet, Shakespeare's language and diction have been simple and relatively unremarkable. The second quatrain, however, consists of an important metaphor that likens love to “an ever-fixed sign,” or a star that guides every lost ship safely through “storms” and is “never shaken.” The word “mark” is in fact defined as “a lighthouse to warn sailors of dangerous rocks” (Mabillard). With this translation, the author describes love as an unshakable and invincible constant, fully aware of all the dangers that await the traveler, as well as a beacon that guides the traveler forward (Let). Furthermore, this constant prevents the navigator of the ship of life from becoming the subject of any harm, ultimately putting himself in the face of danger to protect the beloved traveler. “Storms,” or storms on a ship, also symbolize storms that can occur within a relationship, demonstrating that true love “is a steady eye that looks at problems and does not lose faith” in the relationship (Explanation) . In line eight, the speaker states that the value of this love is unfathomable. It cannot be measured by human means, such as height or stars, and is therefore beyond human understanding. The author's interpretation of true love is practically "cerebral", and therefore remains a mystery why the true value of love cannot be known (Mabillard). The final quatrain begins with another powerful yet simple statement: “Love is no fool of time.” The weight of this openness transcends for the reader the sense of passion the speaker must feel. The poem's varied pace and tone, however, are balanced, keeping the flow from appearing too heavy and instead enhancing the beauty of the sonnet. This quatrain continues to tell the reader what love is not. Love is not “subject to change with the passage of time” (Sonnet), but “survives at the same time although physical beauty is diminished by time” (Davies). It is also important to note that time is capitalized in this line, signifying the importance of the topic and the role played by time. Line ten consists of the speaker's statement that beauty will bend "within the beam of his scythe." This could refer to the previous metaphor of the second quatrain, in which Love is represented as a starconstant, which guides you throughout your life. The compass sickle is similar in that it also serves as a guide for the lost ship to return to a safe port. Or perhaps the “scythe” (a bent blade or bow) is that of the Grim Reaper, a popular symbol representing death and the passing of time. Since beauty is “represented as bending contrary to the unyielding character of true love” (Davies), this phrase can also be taken as a reference to the Grim Reaper's scythe that “ravages the lips and rosy cheeks of beauty” (Sonnet). Love may fit into the Reaper's story arc, but while physical attractiveness diminishes, true love does not. In line eleven, the word "alter" appears for the third time, reiterating the clearly significant point that love is completely unconditional and not dependent on circumstances. . The simplicity and directness of this line is what makes the point so dramatic; this love is extreme, it will not change with hours and weeks and it is not temporary. The final line of the third quatrain is beyond human comprehension. The love the author talks about, true love, will conquer and survive death, "to the edge of ruin" because it is immutable, permanent and even immortal. In the sonnet's concluding couplet, the speaker announces rather bluntly that he is certain that everything he writes is correct. “He insists that this ideal is the only love that can be called true” (Sonnet), and leaves no room for compromise. Love will either bring with it all these qualities and values, or it is simply not love at all; there is no middle ground. If there are errors in his statements, then he declares that he does not know what he is writing about, that he has never written a word and, finally, that no man could ever love. This poem is “the extreme ideal of romantic love”. Nothing can change or harm it, it will not fade with time, it is not subject to death and will admit of no flaw (Sonnet). The way in which Shakespeare used rhythm and variation of tempo, and how he framed the passion of the poem in the disciplined rhetorical structure of the sonnet (Sonnet), adds an essential key to the impact that the poet's words impose on the reader. The sonnet uses three quatrains, each with a powerful opening remark to support three arguments about true love, giving an almost legalistic plea about the nature of true love. The distinct division of each quatrain also provides a natural pause to reflect on what has been said before moving on to the next idea. The poem, ironically, uses simple words and phrases and does not state any new ideas about love. This shows that it is not necessarily what Shakespeare says, but how he expresses his thoughts that adds to the total effect. Because the poem contains so many simple statements, it dramatically contrasts the main metaphor and imagery with the prominent, simple diction of the rest of the poem. Shakespeare concludes Sonnet 116 with typical irony. However, the use of "three negatives (never, nor, no) accumulate to create a definitive closure, accentuated by the sonnet's rhyming couplet" (Explanation). Shakespeare's purpose in writing the sonnet is to inform the reader of what does and does not constitute true love, making several points throughout the work. The theme of the sonnet revolves around the idea of ​​the constancy of Love and how genuinely true love does not falter in the face of external pressures (Davies). This central idea is highlighted by the author's specific statements, as well as the solitary metaphor consisting of “an ever-fixed mark” and “the star upon every wandering bark.” The fact that Shakespeare chooses to compare true love to a fixed star guiding a lost ship symbolizes that only a faithful and constant relationship can).