Sonnet Number 116
Sonnet Number 116 :
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
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’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
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 prov’d,
I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.
William Shakespeare
Note : The first collected edition of Shakespeare’s sonnets appeared in 1609. There are totally 154 sonnets and the major themes of these sonnets include the destructive power of time, the permanence of poetry (art), triangular love and the analysis of amorous emotion (love). It has to be noted that apart from these 154 sonnets Shakespeare also wrote two long poems titled ‘Venus and Adonis’ and ‘The Rape of Lucrece’.
Sonnet : A sonnet is a lyric (short, personal poem) written in a single stanza consisting of fourteen lines. Sonnet 116 (“Let me not to the marriage . . .") deals with the theme of true love. Many critics consider it “incomparable" and call it “the finest of all". In this poem various images are used to highlight the nature of true and deep love.
The word POETRY originates from a Greek word meaning TO MAKE. A poet is thus a maker and the poem something that is made or created. No single definition of poetry is possible but some characteristic features of poetry may be mentioned. Poetry has a musical quality with rhythm, pitch, metre and it may use figures of speech such as simile and metaphor. While quite a few poems in this selection are in traditional forms, the unit also includes modern poems that are free from formal restrictions.
Here is a list of English Poems written by various authors. Whatever the question is, poetry may be the answer. Writers say poetry provides them with comfort, a way to express themselves and the discipline of finding the essence with few words. Writing the poem (and finding just the right word) is the measure of success that the authors use. Really good poetry is instinctive. It’s who you are. It’s from the heart. You need to expose yourself to all kinds of poets and you may find your motivation and muse that way. Poetry gets to the core meaning. Poetry expands ideas.
