English Literature AS level
Sonnet 116, By William Shakespeare
The Sonnet 116 is another well-known 'Shakespearian Sonnet' written by William Shakespeare. This poem is written in alternative ways, presenting Shakespeare's definitions of love. This sonnet is divided into three quadrants, each with four lines, and a closing rhyming couplet. Each quadrant describes a different aspect of love. The rhyming couplet gives the poem a perfect ending and a bit of a conclusion. There is use of enjambment, metaphor and personification throughout the poem to make it sound emotionally powerful and to give the reader some idea of the message that the poet was trying to get though.
In the first stanza, the poet explains the qualities of love. He also explains what love is and what it isn't. He says that love is a commitment and bonding between two true minds. It is a marriage with trust and honesty, which does not and should not admit impediments. The writer uses the phrase "love is not love which alters when it alteration finds" implying that love doesn't allow any obstacles to come on its path and change it. "Or bends with the remover to remover" explains that love cannot be removed by anything. In this quadrant, Shakespeare uses enjambment in order to keep the rhythm, at which he wrote the poem, constant. The four lines in this stanza have a rhyme of "a, b, a, b", where 'a' rhymes with its corresponding 'a' and the same with 'b'.
Sonnet 116, By William Shakespeare
The Sonnet 116 is another well-known 'Shakespearian Sonnet' written by William Shakespeare. This poem is written in alternative ways, presenting Shakespeare's definitions of love. This sonnet is divided into three quadrants, each with four lines, and a closing rhyming couplet. Each quadrant describes a different aspect of love. The rhyming couplet gives the poem a perfect ending and a bit of a conclusion. There is use of enjambment, metaphor and personification throughout the poem to make it sound emotionally powerful and to give the reader some idea of the message that the poet was trying to get though.
In the first stanza, the poet explains the qualities of love. He also explains what love is and what it isn't. He says that love is a commitment and bonding between two true minds. It is a marriage with trust and honesty, which does not and should not admit impediments. The writer uses the phrase "love is not love which alters when it alteration finds" implying that love doesn't allow any obstacles to come on its path and change it. "Or bends with the remover to remover" explains that love cannot be removed by anything. In this quadrant, Shakespeare uses enjambment in order to keep the rhythm, at which he wrote the poem, constant. The four lines in this stanza have a rhyme of "a, b, a, b", where 'a' rhymes with its corresponding 'a' and the same with 'b'.
