In this short text I’m going to analyse the sonnet 116 by Shakespeare.

First of all the title “Let me not to the marriage” makes us understand that this sonnet belongs to a collection of sonnets written by the sonneteer.

The text is arranged into three quatrains and a final rhyming couplet as a matter of fact it takes the Elizabethan model of structure.

The three quatrains deal with the three aspects of the main subject of the sonnet which is “true love”. In my opinion the first quatrain  describes true love as something that cannot be changed or removed. The second stanza focuses on true love as something that guides people through their lives. It’s described as a star that lead the boat. In conclusion the third stanza focuses on true love as something that can’t be altered by time but survive in any case “even to the edge of doom”.

In the final rhyming couplet the sonneteer says that according to him this is true love. He adds that if he is wrong he has never written about love.

To sum up, the reader can understand that Shakespeare defines “Love” as something that can’t be changed or altered by anything but survives even to the edge of doom.

In all the text the rhetorical level has an important role; in the third stanza this is emphasised. As the reader can read, the verses in this stanza have no sense among them if we consider them in their own real meaning. Every line has its own meaning which cannot connect to the following or the previous. On the other hand if we approach to them considering their metaphorical meaning we discover that this quatrain has an important and unique aim. It focuses on true love as something that cannot be altered by Time.

In the final rhyming couplet the sonneteer wants to underline his though writing the words never and ever. He says that according to him this is true love but if he is wrong then he has never written about love. The words never and ever emphasise this concept.