Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
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.
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 even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me prov'd,
I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd.
True
Love a beautiful sonnet by the great writer of all ages, William Shakespeare
deals with the theme of love. Though Shakespeare was not educated at the famous
universities of Oxford and Cambridge he had all the qualities which the
students of these famous universities had. Shakespeare was a master in writing
sonnets. His sonnets were dedicated to Dark Lady and Fair Youth, Mr. W.H. in
his lifetime, Shakespeare has written 154 sonnets out of which 1-126 are
dedicated to Fair Youth and the rest are dedicated to Dark Lady (127-154). In
his sonnet, Shakespeare has taken the theme of love, one of the most prevalent
and common themes during his age. Shakespeare was a great artist and it is his
this artistry that brought him name and fame together.
Now,
we will focus on the theme as well as the meaning of the graceful sonnet. This
sonnet deals with unconditional and selfless love. The sonnet portrays the
philosophical truth that love is an eternal feeling which is boundless and
infinite. This feeling is a slave to the human heart in which it thrives.
Shakespeare believes that love is having its shelter and abode in the human
heart and this is the place where love prospers. The abode of love is the human
heart since the beginning of the universe and it will remain the abode till the
end of the Universe. The path of love is a mixed one that is craggy as well as
smooth. The path of love has obstacles and hardships which the lover had to
pass through. If the love is true it will not budge to the impediments, it will
not allow hindrances to hinder the marriage of true minds. True love is not
which changes and alters with the coming of a substitute. True love stands
steadfast; it is upright bearing the hurdles at every step of its journey.
Shakespeare has used beautiful symbols and imagery to make his work worthy as
well as outstanding. The poet further says that no matter how tempestuous the
sea is, the radiance will always reach the eye and guide it safely to the
shore. Love is like the North Star which is worthy. Though its height can be
estimated it is worthy. Though its height can be estimated its worth beyond
calculation. Love can be regarded as an extended metaphor that compares human
relationships as priceless cargo carried during a mortal journey. Here the poet
has emphasized human bonds that are nurtured and cherished by true love only.
The third stanza of this graceful sonnet brings out Shakespeare’s pet imagery
of the time. The time is here personified in the form of a compass. It holds
the key to evolution. The human being is bound in the cycle of birth and death
and thus is subject to decay and destruction, but the feeling of love which
exists in the heart of two persons are true to one another just as the true
love. Love is a treasure that the time cannot bear down and art cannot over
spare for. Time takes away everything except true love.
The
concluding couplet of the sonnet presents a different idea. Shakespeare says in
the concluding couplet that if whatever he has conveyed through the sonnet is
false and error some, may he and his creations be forgotten and if his ideas
are wrong and baseless then in this world no one had ever loved. The language
of the poet is metaphorical and poetical. Shakespeare had succeeded in
presenting his ideas very precisely and accurately through the sonnet. Time and
love are personified in the sonnet; enjambments are also employed by the poet.
The concluding couplet has all the sympathy which the reader witnesses while
analyzing it. rhetorical questions and alliterations are used. Altogether, the
sonnet had been able to serve its purpose of explaining the meaning of love.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© Manjari Shukla
(Original)Copyright Protected
thank u maam for this
ReplyDelete