When it comes to the concept of love, it is clear that everyone has their perspective and wants validation. When I asked people what “love” meant to them, I was rather surprised by the answers I received. Well, to be honest love is the most beautiful emotion there is.
I always thought it was a complicated feeling until today, but if you ask me now, I would probably give you the simplest explanation: loving is so easy, you have to offer in your heart, but it still sounds complicated, doesn’t it? I’ve read a poem named Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare. I always thought William Shakespeare was a sad guy because all the plays I had read then were dramatic and tragic, even the romantic ones like Romeo and Juliet ended tragically. After I read the poem, I was like “OMG, Mr. Shakespeare is a secret romantic!” Then, it turns out that he has written many other poems but I’ve just not read any.
Anyway, coming back to Sonnet 116, the poem tells us what real and true love is. The poet attempts to define love by defining what is and is not love. He strongly declares that “Love is the only permanence in the world of impermanence.”
In the first quatrain, he starts by saying that love is the union of sincere minds and that true love doesn’t alter over time or fade away when the lover leaves; it is constant. As we read, the speaker describes love through a metaphor, he says that love is the guiding star to lost ships and that they are not prone to storms. Here, he tells us how love becomes the North Star to the sailors, helping them find their way and getting them safe back. The speaker again describes what love is not: it is not alterable to time.
The poet then beautifully tells how, over time, a person’s appearance will change but love will not, regardless, and that love outlives beauty. Love will travel with the person until their end.
In the poem, William Shakespeare constantly says that love doesn’t alter with time. At the end of the poem, out of his certainty, he says that if there was an error in what he just said, he never wrote or no man ever loved. After this, we must come to a conclusion that what he said is right because Shakespeare did write (otherwise we wouldn’t be reading it) and man did love.
In reading this poem, one experiences a wide range of feelings. For me, this is one of the most aesthetic poems I’ve read. The beauty of the poem’s language, wordplay, and rhythm can leave a reader feeling in awe or appreciative of the poet’s craft. This poem encourages readers to think more deeply about relationships, and themselves, leaving a person intrigued or puzzled. It makes them curious to explore the poem further or find hidden meanings. Reading this can be an immersive and transformative experience, touching both the intellect and the heart. What do you think about love and how does poetry make you feel?
