How is Sonnet 116 linked with Sonnet 43?

Love is eternal
1. Love is above change
  1. 116: Line 2 => Love literally placed above the 'alterations' that indicate change describes the notion that true love is above obstacles using a metaphor
  2. 116: Love is described as a star
    1. Love is transcendent and above time/change as it is otherworldly
    2. Star is central position for sailors => In this poem love could be interpreted as the central metaphor for love as it is positioned in the middle of the poem showing that love is central, can be relied apon and will never falter
2. Love has no end and is never undone
  1. 116: Line 11 => Hours and weeks are small measurements of time when compared to the 'edge of doom' used in the next line. This helps to highlight the idea that time is insignificant and trivial when compared to the eternal nature of love
  2. Both poems present the idea that love is timeless
    1. 116: 'Rosy lips and cheeks' => youth imagery to personify abstract concepts of love and time so that the reader can understand the timeless on a metaphorical level
    2. 43: 'childhood's faith' and 'old griefs' are juxtaposed to present the concept that both the young and old can be involved with love, highlighting love as a timeless concept
  3. 43: Enjambment on line 2: shows how far her soul and love reaches as they can exceed any limitation (the end of the line could be interpreted as a limitation)
  4. 116: Line 5 => He associates love with creative writing as he compared love to an 'ever-fixed mark' showing that a mark on a page of writing is as eternal as the nature of love
Love is powerful emotion that can overcome all
1. Love is greater than obstacles
  1. 43: 'Old griefs' - things that haunt you. They represent that love will be beset by problems and regrets but it is no less powerful as true love will be able to overcome them
  2. 116 : 'Let me not...' => He can not argue with the power of love as he is but a human compared with the power and intensity of immortal love => He has no power over love
  3. 116: enjambment of second line physically presents the notion that love is above obstacles as it is syntactically placed above 'impediments' to show that love's power can overcome any obstacles
2. Love is transcendent and above death
  1. 116: Love is syntactically placed before Time in line 9 => love is primary focus as it is more powerful and can overcome death
  2. Love is on a level with the divine
    1. 116: 'Let me not...' => Literal: union of two intellectual equals. => Metaphor: love is not just about two hearts joining but is spiritual rather than physical as it is an everlasting union of two feelings
    2. 43: semantic field of religion => love is powerful and sacred as it is compared to religion and described to be on a level with the divine showing it's omnipotence
  3. 43: line 14 death is placed at the end of the sentence/poem showing that death is second to love as love is expressed throughout poem whereas death is only at end => Also, love is said to have a new intensity after death in this line portraying the idea that death can't restrict love as it is so transcendent it can destroy death
  4. 116: In line 9, 'Time' is presented as a Grimm Reaper figure. This macabre image of death would be familiar to Elizabethans with the constant threat of death/plague (they would have seen death as most powerful thing) As love does not comply with death's rules in this line, love can be seen as omnipotent and more powerful as it give people a way to defeat death
Love is portrayed as an abstract idea that is complex and without simple definition
1. Love is an abstract idea
  1. Both poems use metaphors
    1. 43: Through the semantic field of measurements, the poet creates a landscape for love and presents the limitless nature of her love as it can extend through the 3 dimensions described => this is a special metaphor
    2. 116: Through using meteorological and nautical imagery, the poet creates a setting which is imaginative => Through this use of a visual metaphor, Will allows for the reader to create their own interpretation of love whilst still presenting love through an abstract rather than physical space
  2. 43: 'soul' => demonstrates that love is more spiritual than it is physical
    1. Personifies soul using 'reach' in a way that the reader can understand
  3. 116: 'Let me not...' => demonstrates love is a more abstract idea as it a union of abstract minds not physical hearts
2. Love is too complex and beyond human understanding
  1. 43: 'old griefs' and 'childhood's faith' => love encapsulates both the image of bitter regrets epitomised by 'old griefs' and naïve nature of 'childhood's faith' => This illustrates that love is abstract as it would be impossible for something simple and physical to represent both these images, therefore love is complex
  2. 116: Shakespeare begins by stating all the things that love is not therefore demonstrating that it is easier to say what true love is not as true love is so hard to define due to it's complexity
  3. Both poems use the sonnet form to express their idea of love => sonnets are specific and restrictive due to their rhyme and meter => demonstrates potent and complex idea of love and contrasts with the unrestricted intensity of love

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How is Sonnet 116 linked with Sonnet 43?

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	Created by megankrichards9 about 10 years ago