... sonnets does, however, eventually conclude that nature does not hold a match to the love that is being spoken about. Sonnet 16 uses the metaphor of "a summer's day" to compare love with. Sonnet 116 uses the night sky to define love, while sonnet 130 uses many splendids of nature to compare love. While some of these sonnets may use nature more than another ... poem. "So long lives this, and this gives life to thee." As much as Sonnet 18 attempts to give life to love through nature, Sonnet 116 is an attempt to define love by telling of both what it is and what it is not. While Shakespeare...

• Word Count: 896
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... , and the result is that the passion seems stronger and more urgent for the restraint in the speaker's tone. My next interpretation of Sonnet 116 is that it attempts to define love. It defines love by telling both what it is and is not. In the first quatrain, the speaker says that love, "the marriage of true minds" (Line 1), is perfect ... removal, showing that there was once "true" love that has now changed, and any change will bring forth the death of love. Then, the speaker tells what love is through a metaphor: a guiding star to lost ships "wandering barks" (Line 7) that are not susc...

• Word Count: 919
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School