Sonnet 116 (Let me not) – Reasoning (20+ Questions)

Complete the following sentences by providing a brief reason. Do not write the question.

1. The speaker refuses to "admit impediments" to true love because __________

2. Shakespeare uses the term "marriage of true minds" rather than "marriage of lovers" because __________

3. Love that "alters when it alteration finds" is declared not to be love because __________

4. True love is compared to "an ever-fixed mark" because __________

5. The metaphor of love as a star guiding "every wand'ring bark" suggests that __________

6. Shakespeare uses the word "tempests" to describe life's challenges because __________

7. The "star" metaphor includes the line "Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken" to indicate that __________

8. Shakespeare declares that love is "not Time's fool" because __________

9. The "rosy lips and cheeks" are mentioned specifically because __________

10. Time is personified with "bending sickle" and portrayed as destructive because __________

11. Love "bears it out even to the edge of doom" because __________

12. The speaker's final claim—"I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd"—is so absolute because __________

13. The poem employs negation and "not" throughout because __________

14. The sonnet form with fourteen lines and a concluding couplet serves the poem's purpose because __________

15. Shakespeare emphasizes "marriage" rather than "love" in the opening because __________

16. The speaker demonstrates absolute confidence in his definition of love because __________

17. Enjambment appears throughout the poem because __________

18. The poem defines love by contrasting it with temporary emotions and attractions because __________

19. Physical beauty is acknowledged yet downplayed in the poem because __________

20. The "wandering bark" requires a guide from the "star" because __________

21. Shakespeare's audience for this sonnet was likely the "fair youth" because __________

Answer Key

i) True love is the ultimate union of compatible minds that no external force can prevent or hinder.

ii) To emphasize intellectual and emotional connection transcending physical attraction and legal marriage contracts.

iii) Genuine love remains constant regardless of circumstances; if it changes, it was merely infatuation or shallow emotion.

iv) Fixed marks are unchanging reference points; love, like a fixed mark, provides constant guidance and stability.

v) Love serves as essential guidance helping people navigate life's turbulent and treacherous circumstances.

vi) Tempests represent violent, unpredictable forces that test love's strength; love remains unshaken despite such challenges.

vii) True love's value transcends human comprehension; though its guidance is measurable, its ultimate worth remains unknowable and infinite.

viii) True love is not manipulated or controlled by time's passage as love remains constant while everything else changes with time.

ix) Youth's beauty with rosy lips and cheeks represents physical attractiveness that inevitably fades; true love transcends physical appearance.

x) Time is a destructive force leading to death, aging, and decay; the sickle symbolizes the Grim Reaper's mortality.