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What Does the Sonnet 116 Mean?

Alexander Ross • • 7 min read
What Does the Sonnet 116 Mean?
Summary: Sonnet 116
This sonnet attempts to define love, by telling both what it is and is not. In the first quatrain, the speaker says that love—”the marriage of true minds”—is perfect and unchanging; it does not “admit impediments,” and it does not change when it find changes in the loved one.

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Beside this, what is the message of Sonnet 116?

The main theme of this sonnet, like so many of Shakespeare's sonnets, is love. In the poem, he is talking about the constancy and permanency of love. In this sonnet, Shakespeare talks about how love does not change. He says love does not change depending on the circumstances.

Similarly, how does Shakespeare define true love in Sonnet 116? Sonnet 116 sets out to define true love by firstly telling the reader what love is not. It then continues on to the end couplet, the speaker (the poet) declaring that if what he has proposed is false, his writing is futile and no man has ever experienced love.

Besides, what does impediments mean in Sonnet 116?

In Sonnet 116, the word 'impediments' refers to any obstacles keeping people from being married.

What is the structure of Sonnet 116?

Sonnet 116 follows this structure and this meter. The rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg. Often, the beginning of the third quatrain marks the volta ("turn"), or the line in which the mood of the poem shifts, and the poet expresses a revelation or epiphany. Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments.

Related Question Answers

What is marriage of true minds?

The marriage of true minds. "The marriage of true minds" is a phrase both widely used and difficult to understand, at least in the way Shakespeare meant it. When we speak of a "marriage of the minds" we get around the problem of what "true" means.

Why then her breasts are dun meaning?

This sonnet compares the speaker's lover to a number of other beauties—and never in the lover's favor. Her eyes are “nothing like the sun,” her lips are less red than coral; compared to white snow, her breasts are dun-colored, and her hairs are like black wires on her head.
Alexander Ross
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Alexander Ross

Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.