Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds
by William Shakespeare
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Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 is a celebration of true, constant love. The poet declares that true love ('the marriage of true minds') admits no impediments and does not alter when it finds change in the beloved, nor bend when the lover tries to remove it. Love is 'an ever-fixed mark' that looks on tempests unshaken, and 'the star to every wandering bark', a guiding pole-star whose worth is beyond measure. Love is not Time's fool: though rosy lips and cheeks fall within Time's 'bending sickle's compass', love itself does not alter with Time's brief hours and weeks but endures 'even to the edge of doom' (till Judgement Day). The poet stakes his very identity on this truth: if this be error and proved against him, then he never wrote, and no man ever loved.
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Love admits no impediments
The poet says he will not admit any obstacles to the union of true minds. Love is not real love if it changes when it finds change in the beloved, or if it wavers when the lover tries to end it. True love remains steadfast in the face of change.
Love as a fixed star
Love is 'an ever-fixed mark' that looks on tempests and is never shaken, like a lighthouse steady in the storm. It is also 'the star to every wandering bark', the guiding pole-star for every lost ship; its worth is beyond calculation even though its position can be measured.
Love and Time
Love is 'not Time's fool': though youthful beauty, rosy lips and cheeks, falls within the reach of Time's destroying sickle, love itself does not change with Time's brief hours and weeks. It endures 'even to the edge of doom', to the very Day of Judgement.
The poet's pledge
In the closing couplet the poet stakes everything on his definition: if this be error and can be proved against him, then he never wrote a word, and no man has ever truly loved. This bold assertion underlines his absolute conviction in the constancy of true love.