Sonnet 116 - William Shakespeare
An Ode to Love’s Unyielding Truth
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me prov'd,
If this be error and upon me prov'd,
I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd.
I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd.
In “Sonnet 116,” William Shakespeare presents an eloquent definition of unwavering love, emphasizing its constancy and resilience. The poem rejects any notion of impediment to the “marriage of true minds,” suggesting that genuine affection is free from limitation or alteration. Love, Shakespeare insists, does not bend or waver in the face of change; rather, it stands as a steadfast guide, much like a lighthouse in stormy seas or the fixed star that sailors once used for navigation.
Shakespeare personifies Love as a transcendent force, timeless and unaffected by external influences. Despite the power of time to fade beauty and youth, true devotion does not yield. In illustrating how love remains intact even under the threat of Time’s “bending sickle,” the poet situates love beyond the mortal realm, endowing it with an almost eternal quality.
The final couplet underscores this conviction. Should the speaker’s assertions be proven false, Shakespeare declares he never wrote a single line—an impossible admission given his literary legacy—nor did any man ever truly love. This bold claim highlights the gravity of his message: that genuine, abiding love is real and irrefutable. “Sonnet 116” thus continues to resonate with readers through its celebration of love as a transformative, faultless power that transcends every worldly trial.
Key points
• Love is unwavering and unaltered by time or challenge.
• Genuine affection transcends external circumstances and remains constant.
• Shakespeare uses metaphors of navigation and time to underscore love’s steadfastness.
• The poet’s conviction is so strong that he stakes his entire literary existence on its truth.
