sonnet 116

In Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116, the idea of true love is defended through multiple metaphors, and personification. Shakespeare manages to personify love as being an “ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken” as well as “the star to every wandering bark.” Love also takes on the metaphor of longevity, in the sense that it prevails despite the shortage of time on earth.  Though all the sonnet’s metaphors and literary devices are relatively simple in context, they serve the overall purpose of exposing Shakespeare’s conviction of love in the most genuine yet poetic way.

 By calling love an “ever-fixed mark”, Shakespeare is trying to play upon the idea of love being a constant and dependable instrument. The line “the star to every wandering bark” also corresponds with this idea. Because the star’s “worth is unknown, although his height be taken” love’s true nature might also sometimes be ambiguous. Nevertheless its progress and longevity can be measured in years. Then he establishes that “Love's not Time's fool” though its beauty, “rosy lips” come with its “bending sickle’s compass,” which is the inevitability of diminishing time. Through this metaphor, Shakespeare is trying induce the idea that despite time as a limitation, love prevails till one meets their doom or “sickle”. Overall the metaphors Shakespeare uses in this sonnet, can also be interpreted to be fundamental qualities one hopes to find in love which are quality, dependability, stability, and longevity. Thus the sonnet’s metaphors resonate with its readers personally, yet more deeply.