Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
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 r e move .
O, no! It is an ever-fix è d mark 5
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the st a r to every w a nd'ring b ar k *,
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 proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
*bark – ship
Enjambment: The running on of the thought from one line, couplet, or stanza to the next without a
syntactical break/punctuated pause.
Paradox: a contradiction in terms; words with an implication that is opposite to their meaning.
Lexical polysemy: The coexistence of many possible meanings for a word or phrase.
Change
Chan ge s t he t one : s hif ts
fr om n egat i ve to po si tiv e . Permanent
Two -fo l d me anin g (e x ampl e
of lexi cal po lys emy ): 1)
No rth s tar & 2 ) Li ght ho use
(l i ne 7)
Storms
“c” Alliteration “o” Assonance
Grim Reaper
Grim's scythe
Im age of de ath (ag e,
mi nu tes & h o ur s).
Su m u p th e po int o f the
po em: l ove d oes n't c hange
ov er ti me.
Rhym ing co uple t (l ine s 1 3 -1 4):
ir oni cal/ para do x i cal , be cau s e
ti me i s, i n fa ct , th e ene my o f
lo v e .
Sh akes pear ean/ Eli z ab et han s onn e t: 14 l i ne dev i de d i nto 3
qua tr ain s o f 4 l i ne s e ach, en di ng i n a r hym in g coupl et.
Quat rai n 1 (l ine s 1 -4)
Quat rai n 2 (l ine s 5 -8)
Quat rai n 3 (l ine s 9 -12 )
Lo ve n e ve r be nd s w ith t i me
Th e be ndi ng o f T ime's s i ckl e
de s tr oys yo uth, but ca nn o t
al te r l o ve .
Th eme : The s peak er 's s t r ong
re solv e to l ove i n th e face of
di ff icul tie s. T he b ri ghtne s s o f
yo uth ma y di sapp ea r as ol d
age a dv ance s , b ut l ove w ill
co nt inue ev e n ti ll de at h.
Me t aph o r : l i ke ns the
co ns tancy o f l o ve to
li nes 5 & 7)
Me t aph o r : l i ke ns the
co ns tanc y o f l o ve to l i ne s
5 & 7 , b o th s ugge s tin g
th e i de a of the c ompa s s
(l i gh th o us e & n o rth s tar )
& i ts si gnifi ca nce i n
sho w i ng di rec ti ons dur i ng
sto rms a nd i mmov abil ity.
Enjambment
Enjambment
Personification
“w” Alliteration
Ton e of co nf idence , cert aint y,
sel f-be l i ef & pas si o na te
th r ough o ut t he p o em .
Obs t acl es t o l o ve : “r emo ve ” ,
“i mp ed i me nt s”, “te mp es ts ”,
“doo m”.
Im age s o f s e a j our ney s ,
sto rms , na vi gati o n by s tar s ,
li ghth o us e, e ffe ct i ve u s e o f
“com pass”.
End of time
Me t aph o r f or the u ni on o f two
pe opl e' s m i nds (m en t al l y uni ted ).
Known as a ship in Shakespearean times
Per soni fie s “ Tim e”
(G r i m R eape r ) w ho
co l lec ts the be auty
of yo ut h (“r osy l ips
and che eks ”) .
“o” Assonance
“e” Assonance
“a” Assonance
“o” Assonance
