SONNET 116

BACKGROUND OF THE POEM

• William Shakespeare published the poem in 1609.
• This type of poem is called a sonnet (a sonnet is a love poem).
• Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets and 37 plays.
• In Shakespeare's day a sonnet was an essential expression of love.

IDEA BEHIND THE SONNET.

• The poem is about love, not between the writer ( Shakespeare) and a lover but rather as a concept and an idea. He wants to show that love is constant in life and does not change over time.

FORMATION OFA SONNET

• A sonnet is comprises of 14 lines divided into 3 stanzas of 4 lines, and a final couplet.
• The rhyming scheme in a sonnet follows AB, CD, EF, GG. This shows that the couplet at the end is a rhyming couplet.

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LANGUAGE

• Shakespeare uses language which talks about the power of love showing that it overpowers the prospect of "doom".
• He talks about how love is a constant "love alters not" it is an "ever-fixed mark".
• He also often uses metaphors based on natural elements " that looks on tempests and is nether shaken".

NATURE IN SONNET 116

• There is a recurring theme of nature in Shakespeare's sonnets.
• He uses the metaphor of "the sky" to show the relation to love. Like the stars love can be observed across the globe throughout time. It is not restricted by time place and can exist despite these.

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• He talks about love and time as conflicting enemies. I think that he uses this really well throughout the poem.
• Sonnet 116 is very close to some of the other sonnets written by Shakespeare such as To His Coy Mistress. Where they both explore the theme of love and time.

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