The Bard

William Shakespeare shows his view on love in many of his works such as Sonnets 29, 116, and 130. I especially like Sonnet 116 not only because it is applicable to everyone whereas the other two are addressed to a certain person, but also because it shows a very positive and idealistic side of love with the Bard's beautiful diction. 

In Sonnet 116, Shakespeare depicts true love as enduring and unchanging. Love does not change even when there is “alternation” (3), nor does it allow itself to be “bent” (4) and twisted with the change or departure of the loved one. It is a strong, powerful, and “ever-fixed mark’’ (5) that is “never shaken” (6) even in face of adversity as harsh as “tempests” (6). As time goes by, appearance and beauty – “rosy lips and cheeks” (9) change, but love does not because it is not based merely and superficially on appearances. Time’s “hours and weeks” (12) are “brief” (12) compared to love’s undying essence, its permanence. There are no “impediments” (2) when it comes to love, nothing can stand in its way.

The sonnet’s tone is candid and confident, giving the readers a very positive and optimistic feeling towards love. In the couplet, Shakespeare makes a very strong and clear stand on his view. He claims that if there is any “error” (13) in his illustration of the constant and unmovable nature of love, then he has “never writ” (14), nor has any “man ever loved” (14). The Bard uses various types of poetic devices to illustrate different qualities of love. The constant use of metaphor facilitates the explanation of his ideas of the abstract love with concrete images. Love is compared to “an ever-fixed marked” (5) and “the star to every wandering bark” (7) to show its endurance, dependability, and importance. The use of enjambment not only adds rhythm to the poem, but also hints the passage of time, in which love still stay unchanged.