homework (don't ask)
Tom Greffin
Mr. O’Connell
11/29/2006
Topic: Type a six-paragraph essay analyzing arguments made by Shakespeare in his sonnet “Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds”. When doing so, you will carefully trace the argument through the three quatrains and, finally, the couplet, paying careful attention to diction and metaphor. In your conclusion, evaluate the effectiveness of his rhetorical strategy.
Love is, without a doubt, one of the most powerful forces within the realm of literature. Throughout the ages, love has been the cause of life, death, war, music, poems, stories, and many other things. However, many people seem to be unable to give voice to what love is; not what it is perceived to be, but what it can truly be defined as. Thus, the question of what love truly is is addressed in Shakespeare’s sonnet “Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds.” Throughout all three of its quatrains, love is portrayed in various ways through the use of specific metaphors and diction. The argument, while remaining true to The original intention throughout, shifts from one of love existing despite imperfection, to one it being a permanent facet of one’s life, to something which endures whatever it is forced to endure. In the final couplet of this sonnet, love is shown for what it truly is and the message it extends to us through this unveiling.
In the first quatrain, the argument that love exists, despite imperfection or change is introduced to the reader. Love does not “admit impediments” (2); it doesn’t let you stop loving someone because of a simple problem. Love does not “alter when it alteration finds” (3). The specific use of “alter” and “alteration” here is key; the speaker’s love will not change, will not “alter” if it discovers an imperfection. Also, the speaker’s love will not “bend with the remover to remove” (4). This line compliments the previous line, in that the love of the speaker will not “bend” should their love “remove” something. These sentences work together to support the argument made that, even if the speaker’s love did something to change or “alter” themselves, the speaker will still love them. This is a powerful message, as it shows the speaker’s compassion, and the extent of their love for another.
The argument of the second quatrain shifts slightly, into portraying love as an ever-existing entity. While akin to the argument of the first quatrain, it does have its differences. According to the second quatrain, love is an “ever-fixéd mark” (5), that “looks on tempests and is never shaken” (6). The metaphor here is key to the entire quatrain; love is, in essence, being compared to a lighthouse, or a rock protruding from the water. Love is something that, despite being battered continuously by waves and storms (“tempests”) it remains and guides you. Love is “the star to every wand’ring bark” (7), and the specific use of the word “star” is a reference to the practice of sailors using the stars to guide them on the ocean. Also, it refers to the North Star in particular; a guiding light that leads you through clear skies and “tempests”. The metaphor, comparing love to something guiding or steering you, is extremely potent and effective. Love is seen as something that steers the speaker through good times and bad, and perseveres until the very end to show the path to the speaker even through his “wand’ring”. It is, indeed, a permanent thing.
The third quatrain sees a shift in the argument once again. Love is seen as something that manages to endure in spite of everything that may occur in life. In fact, the speaker proclaims that love is “not Time’s fool” (9), meaning that no matter how long of a time may pass, true love will not simply cease from existence and terminate. The speaker goes on to say that “Love alters not with his [Time’s] brief hours and weeks” (11). The specific mentioning of the words “brief,”, “hours,”, and most especially “weeks,”, work to create a situation of verbal irony in the discrepancy between the words. Specifically, the combination of the words “brief”and “weeks” work to portray not only irony, but the sense that when in love, time truly does not exist, with weeks seeming to be hours when together, and vice versa when apart. This is supported by the following line, in which the speaker claims that love doesn’t fade with time, “but bears it out even to the edge of doom” (12). The metaphor created throughout these four lines is of a massive, immovable boulder representing the speaker’s love, and no matter how time might weather the boulder, it shall endure for love’s own sake. A powerful metaphor on its own, it is made even more striking with the specific diction and syntax of the final line. In saying that love “bears it out”, the image of love enduring hardship and trial after trial is created and maintained, almost conjuring the idea of a tragedy into the mind of the reader. However, this is balanced by the rest of the final line, “even to the edge of doom” (12). While this could be either death itself, or Judgement Day, the idea of it being death delivers a message that is somewhat comforting; up until the very second that the speaker is claimed by death, he will love his love.
The final couplet of the sonnet is powerful on its own, and yet truly achieves its lasting effect through following the third quatrain. “If this be error and upon me proved,/ I never writ, nor no man ever loved” (13-14). The speaker implies, in essence, that if he is a fool and loving in this manner “be error,” then everything he has ever done or lived for is a lie and worthless. If he is wrong, then he “never writ”; if what he said is wrong, then everything he has ever written is untrue, and as such, he has never truly written. And, if he has loved in this way and it is somehow an “error,” then “no man ever loved.” The metaphor of love being truth is especially powerful considering it follows in the wake of the third quatrain, and in fact depends upon the powerful message of the third quatrain in order to fully present itself. In sacrificing the couplet’s total independence, the total effectiveness of it is enhanced, making it that much more powerful and affecting to the reader.
In writing this sonnet, Shakespeare created a portrait of love to last ages beyond reckoning. The individual arguments combined to form a potent brew of images and phrases, forcing the reader to examine their own lives for instances much like the sonnet describes. It is, in a word, magnificent.
Mr. O’Connell
11/29/2006
Topic: Type a six-paragraph essay analyzing arguments made by Shakespeare in his sonnet “Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds”. When doing so, you will carefully trace the argument through the three quatrains and, finally, the couplet, paying careful attention to diction and metaphor. In your conclusion, evaluate the effectiveness of his rhetorical strategy.
Love is, without a doubt, one of the most powerful forces within the realm of literature. Throughout the ages, love has been the cause of life, death, war, music, poems, stories, and many other things. However, many people seem to be unable to give voice to what love is; not what it is perceived to be, but what it can truly be defined as. Thus, the question of what love truly is is addressed in Shakespeare’s sonnet “Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds.” Throughout all three of its quatrains, love is portrayed in various ways through the use of specific metaphors and diction. The argument, while remaining true to The original intention throughout, shifts from one of love existing despite imperfection, to one it being a permanent facet of one’s life, to something which endures whatever it is forced to endure. In the final couplet of this sonnet, love is shown for what it truly is and the message it extends to us through this unveiling.
In the first quatrain, the argument that love exists, despite imperfection or change is introduced to the reader. Love does not “admit impediments” (2); it doesn’t let you stop loving someone because of a simple problem. Love does not “alter when it alteration finds” (3). The specific use of “alter” and “alteration” here is key; the speaker’s love will not change, will not “alter” if it discovers an imperfection. Also, the speaker’s love will not “bend with the remover to remove” (4). This line compliments the previous line, in that the love of the speaker will not “bend” should their love “remove” something. These sentences work together to support the argument made that, even if the speaker’s love did something to change or “alter” themselves, the speaker will still love them. This is a powerful message, as it shows the speaker’s compassion, and the extent of their love for another.
The argument of the second quatrain shifts slightly, into portraying love as an ever-existing entity. While akin to the argument of the first quatrain, it does have its differences. According to the second quatrain, love is an “ever-fixéd mark” (5), that “looks on tempests and is never shaken” (6). The metaphor here is key to the entire quatrain; love is, in essence, being compared to a lighthouse, or a rock protruding from the water. Love is something that, despite being battered continuously by waves and storms (“tempests”) it remains and guides you. Love is “the star to every wand’ring bark” (7), and the specific use of the word “star” is a reference to the practice of sailors using the stars to guide them on the ocean. Also, it refers to the North Star in particular; a guiding light that leads you through clear skies and “tempests”. The metaphor, comparing love to something guiding or steering you, is extremely potent and effective. Love is seen as something that steers the speaker through good times and bad, and perseveres until the very end to show the path to the speaker even through his “wand’ring”. It is, indeed, a permanent thing.
The third quatrain sees a shift in the argument once again. Love is seen as something that manages to endure in spite of everything that may occur in life. In fact, the speaker proclaims that love is “not Time’s fool” (9), meaning that no matter how long of a time may pass, true love will not simply cease from existence and terminate. The speaker goes on to say that “Love alters not with his [Time’s] brief hours and weeks” (11). The specific mentioning of the words “brief,”, “hours,”, and most especially “weeks,”, work to create a situation of verbal irony in the discrepancy between the words. Specifically, the combination of the words “brief”and “weeks” work to portray not only irony, but the sense that when in love, time truly does not exist, with weeks seeming to be hours when together, and vice versa when apart. This is supported by the following line, in which the speaker claims that love doesn’t fade with time, “but bears it out even to the edge of doom” (12). The metaphor created throughout these four lines is of a massive, immovable boulder representing the speaker’s love, and no matter how time might weather the boulder, it shall endure for love’s own sake. A powerful metaphor on its own, it is made even more striking with the specific diction and syntax of the final line. In saying that love “bears it out”, the image of love enduring hardship and trial after trial is created and maintained, almost conjuring the idea of a tragedy into the mind of the reader. However, this is balanced by the rest of the final line, “even to the edge of doom” (12). While this could be either death itself, or Judgement Day, the idea of it being death delivers a message that is somewhat comforting; up until the very second that the speaker is claimed by death, he will love his love.
The final couplet of the sonnet is powerful on its own, and yet truly achieves its lasting effect through following the third quatrain. “If this be error and upon me proved,/ I never writ, nor no man ever loved” (13-14). The speaker implies, in essence, that if he is a fool and loving in this manner “be error,” then everything he has ever done or lived for is a lie and worthless. If he is wrong, then he “never writ”; if what he said is wrong, then everything he has ever written is untrue, and as such, he has never truly written. And, if he has loved in this way and it is somehow an “error,” then “no man ever loved.” The metaphor of love being truth is especially powerful considering it follows in the wake of the third quatrain, and in fact depends upon the powerful message of the third quatrain in order to fully present itself. In sacrificing the couplet’s total independence, the total effectiveness of it is enhanced, making it that much more powerful and affecting to the reader.
In writing this sonnet, Shakespeare created a portrait of love to last ages beyond reckoning. The individual arguments combined to form a potent brew of images and phrases, forcing the reader to examine their own lives for instances much like the sonnet describes. It is, in a word, magnificent.