Personification In Sonnet 116

Shakespeare examines love in two different ways in Sonnets 116 and 130. In the first, love is treated in its most ideal form as an uncompromising force (indeed, as the greatest force in the universe); in the latter sonnet, Shakespeare treats love from a more practical aspect: it is viewed simply and realistically without ornament. Yet both sonnets are justifiable in and of themselves, for neither misrepresents love or speaks of it slightingly. Indeed, Shakespeare illustrates two qualities of love in the two sonnets: its potential and its objectivity. This paper will compare and contrast the two sonnets by Shakespeare and show how they represent two different attitudes to love.

William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 116” and Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Love Is Not All” both attempt to define love, by telling what love is and what it is not. Shakespeare’s sonnet praises love and speaks of love in its most ideal form, while Millay’s poem begins by giving the impression that the speaker feels that love is not all, but during the unfolding of the poem we find the ironic truth that love is all. Shakespeare, on the other hand, depicts love as perfect and necessary from the beginning to the end of his poem. Although these two authors have taken two completely different approaches, both have worked to show the importance of love and to define it. However, Shakespeare is most confident of his definition of love, while Millay seems

In the first three lines of his sonnet Shakespeare maintains the repletion of such words as “love” and “love”, “alters” and “alteration”, “remover” and “remove”. This way he underlies the consistency of feelings that prevail over other conditions in his poem. With each line Shakespeare’s thought is like bouncing between unusual changes to embrace the whole meaning of love that stays strong no matter what it has to sustain. In the next few lines Shakespeare is using metaphorical associations of love to give the reader the impression of majesty of love. “O no! It is an ever-fixed mark” (5), in this essence the meaning of mark pertains to sea-mark, which is a lighthouse, “That looks on tempests and is never shaken;” (6). The author is giving love metaphorical meaning of strength which is like a lighthouse never shaken with tempests. The next metaphorical close: “It is the star to every wandering bark,” (7), in

Sonnets are known for having a rigid format and being the hoard of poets’ flowery love confessions and tormenting heartache. While most poets generally stick to that cliche topic of love and the traditional English or Petrarchan structures, sonnets are not defined by these common features. Both Shakespeare’s “My mistress’ eyes are…” and Collins’s “Sonnet” satirically poke at typical sonnets, however, Shakespeare follows the standard English sonnet style while parodying the classic subject of love to show how ridiculous and idealistic love sonnets can be. On the other hand, Collins breaks free from those stern sonnet rules to joke about the strictness of sonnet structures while defining typical sonnet rules.

Within sonnet 116, Shakespeare personifies the abstract noun of love when he states ‘Whose worth’s unknown’. Through personifying his ideology of true love, it makes it increasingly

Made up of three quatrains and couplet in iambic pentameter, Sonnet 1 contains the common thread of encouraging procreation, however each has a small topic shift that defines the tone of the quatrain. The first quatrain is an axiom, ending with the line “His tender heir might bear his own memory” signifying to the reader the speaker’s purpose behind their argument. By structuring the sonnet this way Shakespeare uses a structure that is similar to some persuasive arguments in real life. The rhyme scheme also helps to reflect this as Shakespeare uses the ABAB CDCD EFEF GG rhyme scheme to draw the reader’s attention to word that strengthen the speaker’s argument. An example of this is the rhyme between ‘’spring’’ and ‘’niggarding’’ in the third quatrain.

Is true love an unattainable ideal? Do we all have a soul mate? Is love just an exchange of lies for the purpose of flattery? These questions, and countless others, regarding love have been pondered by philosophers and pop music stars alike for hundreds of years. William Shakespeare examines these questions from two vantage points in “Sonnet 116” and “Sonnet 138.” Firstly, in “Sonnet 116”, Shakespeare analyzes love in a rhetorical manner, meaning that he is not discussing a specific relationship of his, but theorizing on the concept of love as a whole, in abstract terms. Conversely, in “Sonnet 138”, Shakespeare analyzes love in a specific manner. He looks inward to inspect a relationship between him and a woman, also known as The Dark Lady, and paints a much different picture of love than in “Sonnet 116”, in specific terms. In William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 116” and “Sonnet 138”, Shakespeare analyzes love in abstract and specific terms; concluding that abstract love relies on affection, does not change or age, and is built upon a solid foundation of truth, while specific love, on the other hand, relies on lust, actively ignores change and aging, and revolves around deception. These two sonnets paint entirely adverse portraits of love in order to emphasize the dichotomy between the poet’s expectations of love, and the reality which does not live up to the poet’s expectations.

One of William Shakespeare's tools from his choices of words was figurative diction since most words used to describe the narrator’s mistress were based in comparing her to other objects. For example, the poem starts with the narrator using the words “eyes”, “like”, “nothing”, and “sun”. The narrator introduces an example of a simile from the figurative choice of words since the word “like” is been used to compare her to something else. In this case he's comparing the sun’s brightness to the dull light of his mistress's eyes and the eyes are important because they are the door to the soul. Then in line 2 from Sonnet 130, the narrator says that the color of the coral outcast more “her lip’s red”. This is an example of a metaphor since the narrator

Love comes in many colors. The blood-crimson of lust and the jade-green of jealously are but two of the vast palate required to paint this inescapable human passion. William Shakespeare’s store of colors is unrivaled. No human failing, foible or foolishness escapes his gentle, comedic reproof. He equally enjoins his audience to venture as bravely as he does into the palpable horror of love gone amiss. In “OTHELLO,”“MACBETH,” and many more dramas, love’s fatal potential to provoke vengeance or the quest for earthly power is powerfully felt. These are epic investigations of love’s progression. A sonnet, however, is the equivalent of the modern short story. It is a snapshot of a single, significant experience. In two of Shakespeare’s sonnets – diverse in time and temperament, but complimentary in their conclusions – Shakespeare states his deepest feelings about the potential for a human love that is an un-judgmental commitment to the selfless nourishment of a partner. Sonnet 116, with a certainty and wisdom obtained from experience and suffering, marches out a rigorous and profound definition of true love. Sonnet 29 finds a soul in turmoil salvaged by an epiphany of understanding the power of true love to heal. By examining the perspective of the respective speakers, their individual progresses, the themes evoked and the poetic devices employed to compliment content this essay argues that for Shakespeare, true and enduring

Shakespeare has been known for the use of old English and deeper meanings between the lines of all of his work. He is most known for Romeo and Juliet, the Tragedy of Othello, and especially his one hundred and fifty four sonnets. Sonnets are a 14-line poem that rhymes in a particular pattern. The sonnet, like any other work of Shakespeare, is very difficult to interpret and even more difficult for the poet to write himself due to the restrictions of length. Sonnets 1-126 start off with the affection the poet feels for another young man and how it becomes corrupt and unhealthy. Sonnets 127-154 then have to do with the poet and a new love interest, that just like the first one, doesn’t end up well. The sonnets weren’t published until 1609

Shakespeare’s sonnet “Let me not to the marriage of true minds” elucidates Shakespeare’s thoughts and opinions on the theme, love. The poet describes how true love is eternal, how it can stand up to time and the way it resists negative inducement. During the sonnet, the poet changes the mood and atmosphere from somber to emotionally positive. Shakespeare uses many language techniques -such as metaphors, repetition and enjambment- to do this.

‘Sonnet 116’ by William Shakespeare and ‘What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, And Where, And Why” by Edna St. Vincent Millay are both sonnets that discuss companionship and a glimpse of each poet’s experiences. In ‘Sonnet 116’, Shakespeare illustrates how capability is weakened by its metaphysical stereotype and ideals such as, love, while on the contrary, in ‘What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, And Where, And Why” Millay feeds on the chaos between the ideal of love and its harsh reality, heartbreak. Both poets seem to be love struck but there is a significant difference in the two. I will compare and contrast ‘Sonnet 116’ by William Shakespeare and ‘What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, And Where, And Why” by Edna St. Vincent Millay. I will also inquire and analyze why this particular form of poetry established different effects.

Shakespeare’s sonnet 60 expresses the inevitable end that comes with time and uses this dark truth to express his hopefulness that his poetry will carry his beloved’s beauty and worth into the future in some way so that it may never die. This love poem is, as all sonnets are, fourteen lines. Three quatrains form these fourteen lines, and each quatrain consists of two lines. Furthermore, the last two lines that follow these quatrains are known as the couplet. This sonnet has the rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, as most Shakespearean sonnets follow. In each of the three quatrains, Shakespeare discusses a different idea. In this particular sonnet, the idea is how time continues to pass on, causing everything to die. The couplet connects these ideas to one central theme, this theme being Shakespeare’s hope for the beauty of his beloved’s immortality through his poetry’s continuation into future times.

     The sonnet, being one of the most traditional and recognized forms of poetry, has been used and altered in many time periods by writers to convey different messages to the audience. The strict constraints of the form have often been used to parallel the subject in the poem. Many times, the first three quatrains introduce the subject and build on one another, showing progression in the poem. The final couplet brings closure to the poem by bringing the main ideas together. On other occasions, the couplet makes a statement of irony or refutes the main idea with a counter statement. It leaves the reader with a last impression of what the author is trying to say.

Shakespeare, who wrote the sonnets in 1609, expresses his own feelings through his greatest work of literature. The theme of love in the poems reflect thoughts from the Renaissance period. Love is one of many components of Shakespeare’s life shown in the sonnets. Love can be defined in many ways other than a strong affection for a lover. In Shakespeare’s sonnets, the concept of love can be seen through many uncommon means such as the love of life before death in “Sonnet 73,” love in marriage in “Sonnet 116,” love through sexual desire in “Sonnet 129,” and love through nature in “Sonnet 130,” proving that love can be expressed through many different feelings and emotions.