Innumerable poets have written poems about love. This battle continues today between positive and negatively oriented love. There aren’t many poets who will write poems that compare the positive and bad aspects of love. Shakespeare, a poet who is unconventional, accomplishes this in his Sonnet CXVI. Shakespeare gives an initial positive impression about love. But, as we learn more, his true intentions could be the opposite. Shakespeare’s explicit descriptions of a love ideal are disguised by his implicit use vocabulary and form to show that it is rare for love to be as perfect as you would hope.
Shakespeare starts the sonnet in an imperfect way, perhaps to foreshadow how he will describe love later. The first line in Sonnet CXVI is written in two trochees. This is a departure from the traditional iambic pentameter. Ironically, the sentence admits impediments because it begins with a contradiction. Shakespeare insists on a “marriage true minds” and suggests that only a perfect relationship will allow for these impediments. The fact that he strayed from the iambic-pentameter suggests hindrances in achieving such perfection. The first thing that comes to mind is that love never is perfect.
The sonnet also violates the traditional use of metrical measurements to highlight the shortcomings of love. Shakespeare’s sonnets are usually written in iambic-pentameter, but he includes some lines with eleven instead of ten syllables. These lines have been chosen to focus the reader on their meaning and draw attention to them. In line 8, he compares love to an unknown star whose “worth is not known, but his height has been taken”. This suggests that love’s value is often unnoticed, and it’s not revered to its fullest. In reality, most people measure it superficially. He suggests that we long for unconditional, unrestricted love but are distracted by our own restrictions. Shakespeare also deviates from the usual form of comparing love with time. One could read the line as if love is strong even in the face of tragedy and disaster. If we look closer, it is clear that love cannot overcome tragedy, but can only meet it on its edge. Shakespeare could have been trying to convey the idea that, although love may seem invincible to some people, it is only capable of enduring up to a particular point.
Shakespeare uses negation to suggest imperfection throughout his sonnet. One can assume from the sonnet that love will remain unchanged and without change. When we examine each description more closely, it becomes clear that they are not as positive and uplifting as initially believed. He uses words that convey a cynicism. Shakespeare, for example, emphasizes the opposite of love: “Love isn’t love / That alters when alteration is found” (lines 2-3). This is also what he does when he states that time has no effect on love: “Love doesn’t fool Time” (line nine). In a way, this is a better way to describe love. Most people tend to focus on what love is instead of what it’s not. Shakespeare challenges the audience to question their preconceived notions and realize that love can be a facade. He uses words to mask his real meaning: that love is a façade. This emotion may look wonderful on the outside, but it is actually a very harsh emotion.
Shakespeare uses negative words to show the flaws in love. The sonnet contains words that aren’t usually associated with love. “Tempests,””fool,””sickle,” and “sickle” are all used to convey melancholy. Line 10: “His sickle’s come bending” is an image of the Grim Reaper and death. Shakespeare mentions “his brief weeks and hours” (line 11), but it is unclear whether “his” is referring to Time or Love. If “brief” is used to describe love, it implies that the love will be short-lived.
Shakespeare, who is an expert at obfuscating hidden meanings, makes allusions to unsatisfactory aspects of romantic love in his sonnet. He repeats specific words, and what makes them stand out is that they change form every time. Alters changes to “alteration”, and then back again. Shakespeare has not chosen words at random. “Bends”, “bending”, and “remover”, “remove” are all synonyms for “change”. These three root terms (“alter,” “bend,” “remove”), all of which are associated with changes, may be a reference to the changing natures in love.
Shakespeare’s sonnet offers a new perspective on love. This may be a way to capture the essence of love, but it is not a single extreme. Shakespeare’s use of dualistic love to show its dark side is a great way for readers to understand the often-false facade that it can take. Shakespeare’s sonnets use form and words to show us how often we are blinded with the love we feel for people and miss the negative aspects.