easy and simple revision includes poem key words and layers of meaning excellent revision material

1. Sonnet 116
Shakespeare

2. Sonnet 116
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments; love is not love
Which alters when it alteration fins,
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 the star to every wand’ring bark
Whose worth unknown although height be taken
Loves not Times fool, though rosy lips and checks
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 proved
I never writ, nor no man ever loved

3. Poem dictionary
 Impediment- something that stops something or holds it up
 Bark- small ships with sails
 Sickle- a sharp, curved tool for cutting corn always used on pictures of old father time an death
 Compass- reach
 Doom- doomsday: the very last day at the end of the worl d

4. What the poems about
 Shakespeare is writing about how constant true love is. It cant be shaken, even when people
change and get older- if it is true love then it stays just as powerful as ever
 If it really is genuine love, then it doesn’t change when circumstances change
 He says that if what he says isn’t true then he never wrote anything and no man has ever been in
love.
 Since we know he did write and men do love he is saying his words on love are true

5. Form structure and language
 Form- this is a sonnet. Sonnets were a popular form of poetry in Shakespeare's day and they were
often used for writing about love. The sonnet is made up off three quatrains ( a group of four line
poems) with a rhyming couplet at the end. The regular rhyme scheme gives the poem a sense of
order and completeness.
 structure- the quatrains all discuss the same idea of love being unchanging in the slightly different
ways and using different imagery. The final couplet is the narrators guarantee that he is telling the
truth
 Language about sailing- true love is shown to be reliable- it guides us in an uncertain and stormy
world
 Language about time and ageing- when we get older we look different, perhaps not as attractive
but true love isn’t tricked by t he effects of time- it remains the same. Love isn’t at the mercy of
time- has no end i

6. Feelings and attitudes in the poem
 Devotion- the voice in the poem is declaring a love which will not change
 Constancy- he sees love as fixed and eternal- something which wont change even when the object
of his love changes
 True love- its not a shallow, superficial love which is based on what the loved one looks like

7. Exploring the poem in more depth
 Has the traditional sonnet form.... 14 lines with a A,B,A,B,C,D,C,D,E,F,EF,G,G structure
 The last couplet follows the conventional structure..it asserts a revelation and conclusion
 The sonnet explores what is meant by love? Suggests that true love is constant it doesn't change
with time or circumstances.
 Love is enduring ...it is ”never shaken “ and an “ever-fixed mark”. “love alters not”... It never changes.
Shakespeare suggests love can conquer every extreme...it “bears it out even to the edge of doom”.
Love is a positive force
 The poem uses repeated pairs of words: “love is not love”, ”alters when it alterations finds”
“remover to remove”. Reflects the symbiosis of a loving couple
 Shakespeare also uses opposites and negatives (“loves not times fool”) to show what true love isn’t

8. Exploring the poem in more depth
 Shakespeare explores the traditional idea of love and time being enemies. But his attitude is
positive....even if “rosy lips and cheeks” are challenged by times “sickle”, love will remain. Love and
time are personified here.
 Shakespeare explores the whole concept of love....not just one couples experience.
 The poems opening lines refer to Christian marriage ceremonies. Love is “the marriage of true
minds” and should be without “impediments”
 Metaphors- are based on nature: love “looks on tempests and is never shaken”....”is the star to every
wand’ring bark”. These show love to be an essential part of our natural world. Perhaps the
metaphor of the star is the most crucial..... It is timeless

9. Exploring the poem in more depth
 The poem ends with Shakespeare challenging us...”if this be error and upon me proved/ I never writ
nor no man ever loved”.... If he's wrong then he has never written and no man has ever loved
 The sonnet could be contrasted with many poems Hour where time is a obstacle to love, His coy
mistress we should grab opportunities for love, because times running out, In paris with you love
does end