True Love In Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 By William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare writes Sonnet 116 about what true love is between “...the marriage of true minds” (line 1). Shakespeare’s use of metaphors and navigational terms throughout Sonnet 116 to describe how true love does not change, how true love lasts, and how love changes a person to, in a sense, present a map of love and how to beat it. Shakespeare begins Sonnet 116 with, “Love is not love / Which alters when it alteration finds” (Shakespeare lines 2-3). Here Shakespeare writes that love cannot be true if, when a problem arises, the love is lost. Not only a problem, but also physical characteristics. An alteration could mean the graying of hair as age progresses. In true love, a person does not lose love for their partner because of these physical changes. True love means loving a partner for their inner self and all the changes and flaws that come with that person. Shakespeare believes that love “is an ever-fixèd mark / That looks on tempests and is never shaken” (lines 6-7). Meaning that in love, there will be obstacles to overcome and challenges to face with a partner, which is normal,

“Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, / But bears it out even to the edge of doom” (line 11-12). Here, Shakespeare writes that time does not cause changes between two partners. The love between them can withstand the harsh trials of time even till death. He sets the boundaries of the relationships or, in other words, draws the boundaries of the map by describing “the edge of doom” (line 12). “...[Though] rosy lips and cheeks / Within his bending sickle’s compass come” (lines 9-10) The partners in the relationship are bound to meet new people, but their love is so strong and true that they remain faithful to each other. The compass he mentions is the human heart. If a new person is introduced to one of the partners, their heart will help guide them back to who they truly love the same way that a compass can help a sail find his way back