"Sonnet 116" was written by the English poet and playwright William Shakespeare. Most likely written in 1590s, during a craze for sonnets in English literature, it was not published until 1609. Although Shakespeare's sonnets were not popular during his lifetime, "Sonnet 116" has gone on to become one of the most universally beloved and celebrated poems in the English language. In magnificent, moving terms, the poem describes true love as an enduring, unbending commitment between people: a bond so powerful that only death can reshape it. Though the poem is moving and romantic, it risks at times falling into hyperbole or cliché: some readers may doubt the plausibility—or the sincerity—of its depiction of love.
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The Full Text of “Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds”
1Let me not to the marriage of true minds
2Admit impediments. Love is not love
3Which alters when it alteration finds,
4Or bends with the remover to remove.
5O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
6That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
7It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
8Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
9Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
10Within his bending sickle's compass come;
11Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
12But bears it out ev'n to the edge of doom.
13 If this be error and upon me prov'd,
14 I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd.
The Full Text of “Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds”
1Let me not to the marriage of true minds
2Admit impediments. Love is not love
3Which alters when it alteration finds,
4Or bends with the remover to remove.
5O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
6That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
7It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
8Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
9Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
10Within his bending sickle's compass come;
11Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
12But bears it out ev'n to the edge of doom.
13 If this be error and upon me prov'd,
14 I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd.
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“Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds” Summary
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“Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds” Themes
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Love and Change
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds”
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Lines 1-2
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. -
Lines 2-4
Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove. -
Lines 5-8
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. -
Lines 9-12
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 ev'n to the edge of doom. -
Lines 13-14
If this be error and upon me prov'd,
I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd.
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“Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds” Symbols
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Mark
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Star
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Sickle
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“Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Hyperbole
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Alliteration
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Consonance
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Enjambment
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End-Stopped Line
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Metaphor
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Personification
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Caesura
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Polyptoton
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“Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Marriage
- Impediments
- Alteration
- Remover
- Ever-fixed
- Tempests
- Bark
- Sickle
- Compass
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds” Speaker
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“Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds”
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More “Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds” Resources
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External Resources
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"My Galley Charged With Forgetfulness" by Thomas Wyatt — Thomas Wyatt's poem "My Gallery Charged With Forgetfulness," whose tropes Shakespeare reworks in "Sonnet 116."
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Patrick Stewart Reads "Sonnet 116" — Actor Patrick Stewart reads "Sonnet 116."
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Linda Gregerson Introduces "Sonnet 116" — Contemporary poet Linda Gregerson introduces "Sonnet 116" for a general audience at the Atlantic magazine.
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Shakespeare's Accent: How Did the Bard Really Sound? — An interview with actor Ben Crystal, discussing how pronunciation has shifted between Shakespeare's time and our own, including a discussion of some of the rhymes in this poem.
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