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LET ME NOT TO THE MARRIAGE OF TRUE MINDS
By William Shakespeare
About the Author
William Shakespeare was a renowned English poet, playwright,
and actor born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. His birthday is most commonly
celebrated on 23 April, which is also
believed to be the date he died in 1616.
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| William Shakespeare |
LET ME NOT TO THE MARRIAGE OF TRUE MINDS
W.
Shakespeare (England)
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 a
star to every wandering 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
I never
writ, nor no man ever lov’d
INTRODUCTION
This is a sonnet also called sonnet 116
written by a British metaphysical poet William Shakespeare (1564-1616) that
tries to fill the vacuum of infidelity and unfaithfulness in marriage
relationships. The poet shows that at least true love based on truth and
understanding can exist. He presents two glorious lovers who come into
relationship freely and are trustful to each other. He shows that this kind of
love is usually unshakable and always remains so no matter the circumstances.
THEMATIC ANALYSIS
TRUE LOVE
The kind of love that Shakespeare
brings out here is the one that stands firmly even if there might be
consequences to shake it. He says that such kind of a love does not
alter/change when it alteration finds. For him true love is like “an ever-fixed mark” which will survive
any crisis. In lines 7-8 he continues to say although we may be able to measure
love to some degrees, this does not mean we truly understand it. Love’s actual
worthy cannot be known- it is a misery.
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is a star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken
This kind of love that Shakespeare expresses is the
one that is unchangeable even when challenged by some circumstances. Love is
not flat but he warns that even if it means to go through upside downs they
should remain firm. It’s like a North
Star that guides the ship (bark) in deep sea.
On the marriage day there may really be no
impediments (obstacles) but in the long run, changes of circumstances, outward
appearance and other conducts may challenge the relationship. But lines 9-12
reaffirms that, this kind of love is unshakable throughout time and always
remains so.
Love
alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
UNFAITHFUL LOVE
On the other hand he shows that there
is another extreme of love that is not based on mutual love. If something
happens to challenge the relationship it breaks away.
…………………Love
is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
Lastly, in the final couplet the poet
declares that if he is mistaken in his view of the unmoveable nature of true
love then he must take back all his writings on love, truth and faith. Then he
says if he judged love inappropriately no man has ever really loved in the
ideal sense that the poet professes.
If this be error, and upon me prov’d
I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d
GUIDING QUESTIONS
Comment on the Tone and mood of the poem.
The tone is lovely because the poet generally talks
about true love of two lovers and the mood is romantic.
ii) What is the type of the Poem?
It is a sonnet
made up of 14 verses (line)
iii) Comment on the rhyming scheme/ Pattern
The poem has a
regular rhyming pattern of ABAB CDCD
EFEF GG
iv). Comment on the Figures of speech and sound
devices
Ø
Metaphor
Love is compared to the star
It is the star to every wandering bark
Ø
Allusion
The first two lines are a manifest of
allusion to the words of the marriage service ‘if any one of you knows cause of
just impediments why these two persons should not be joined together in a holy
matrimony’
Ø
Alliteration
….compass
come.
Ø
Personification
The poet uses abstract things like Time
and Love as human beings to show that they can do of feel like human beings. He
even uses pronoun ‘his’ when referring to them. E.g.
Ø
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks.
Ø Or bends with the remover to remove:
Is the poem relevant to your society?
Ø
In the society today there are people with true love though they are
very few. Most of them fall in the category of love which changes with
circumstances. When challenged by poor income, lack of a child, or any other
challenge it easily breaks away though on the marriage day they admitted to
remain together until death separates them. And that they will survive the coming
impediments.
What lesson do you get from the poem?
1)
We should cherish true love.
2)
True love is unshakable and remains so throughout time.
o
What are impediments? What do you think
the marriage of true minds is?
In actual sense impediments means obstacles/ hindrances.
In marriage service this is a covenant that the couple should make to see to it
that their love is free and willing and is one motivated by true love.
o
What does the poet mean when he says that
you can measure the height of a star but not its worth? How can you apply this
to love?
Always we can only judge outward appearance of
something but inward characters are difficult to be measured. So even in the
case of love it is not what it always seems to be in the outside. It’s worth
lie deeper into the heart of someone. There is more to it than just outward
appearance. No one can read someone else’s heart.
o
In Shakespeare’s day the word ‘fool’ could
mean a servant. Why is love ‘not Time’s fool’?
Love is not Time’s servant in a sense that love is
timeless. It does not last with time but it endures forever as long as those in
love have decided to remain in love no matter what circumstance may challenge
their relationship.
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