I have been touched by many poems throughout my short time dabbling in poetry, but none so much as a beautiful sonnet sketched from the magical pen of William Shakespeare. I spent one non-eventful day surfing through his near 200 published sonnets, and I distinctly remember one catching my eye and touching me on a deeper level than any piece of writing I have ever perused. I'd like to do an analysis of the 14 lined poem – describing and explaining its words, phrases and ideas to help myself, as well as others grasp a better understanding of the beauty behind this poem. It is my personal belief that the content of this writing descriptively describes the essence of true love. It is a short but profound exploration into the idea that surrounds the term "love", using the Sonnet form and imagery to perfection in his quest to set the record straight.
             Let's first understand some of the structural requirements of a sonnet. Being that there are two forms of a sonnet, this one written by Shakespeare, it is obvious which form it takes. The rhyme scheme is ababcdcdefefgg – the "gg" being the couplet of the poem, and usually having a defining feature about it. This holds true in Sonnet 116, but that is to be discussed later on. We will begin with the first sentence of the poem.
             1.(a) Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. An interesting introductory sentence, one that sets the tone for the poem to stress the idea of love, instead of lust. The term "true minds" suggests a union that is non-physical, platonic and idealistic. Shakespeare is also not admitting impediments. An impediment can be thought of as an obstacle, or a barrier. He refuses to admit them (to the marriage of true minds), which could be prevented by legal impediments such as being underage, or already being married. This is likely because he feels that this ideal union shouldn't have any of ...