Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Today we are looking at a Shakespearean Sonnet that you may be familiar with or have heard quoted before.
It reads:
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-fixèd 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 proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
In this episode of Cultural Artifacts, we explore the claims made about love in Sonnet 116, focusing on Shakespeare’s use of metaphors and literary devices.
Chapters:
00:00 Exploring Shakespeare’s Legacy
03:22 Understanding Sonnet Structure and Themes
06:15 The Role of Metaphor in Poetry
08:37 Analyzing Sonnet 116: Love’s Unchanging Nature
11:04 Concluding Thoughts on Shakespeare’s Sonnet
Resources Mentioned:
Soul of the Age by Jonathan Bate
Shakespeare and the Arts of Language by Russ McDonald
