If Thou Must Love Me, Let It Be For Nought

Just considering the title the intelligent reader understands that it poses a condition in loving. Such expectation is suggested by the words "me" and "must". So the reader may be interested in discovering the particular condition, which is reinforced by the repetition of the title in the first line.

Indeed all the sonnet is a lyrical investigation about the condition of love on the part of the speaker.

However, the sonnet follows the Elizabethan structure, consisting of 14 lines arranged into three quatrains and a couplet.

Considering the denotative level of the text, in the first quatrain the speaking voice says that the lover hat to love for love's sake, not for her actions and behaviour. So the first quatrain has the function to introduce the situation.

In the second quatrain it is explained why the poetess want such way of loving. Indeed things like "smile", "look", "way of speaking" might change in time, so love based on them could be destroyed, not eternized.

In the third quatrain the poetess invites the lover not to love her for his pity's wiping her cheeks, because every creature could forget to weep, and losing their love, as a result.

In the couplet it is said that the lover has to love her for love's sake, in order to make their love eternal. So the couplet gives a possible solution of the problem posed in the whole sonnet.

Considering now the connotative level of the text, an intelligent reader can easily notice that the theme of the sonnet is the poetess' exclusive thought about love, suggest by words like "only", "except", "for love's sake". She is claiming to be above physical attraction and meaningless relationships. She wants true love, love for "love's sake". In addition, she says that the compliments and reassuring physical quips are easy and comforting but love is greater than that. She "just" wants a true, stable, genuine love that isn't hindered by any of the mortal traps that many before have fallen into. In a way, she's seeking something impossible, a perfect love that humans are incapable of reaching.

In the text there are some interesting devices the aim to put the theme into a better focus. First of all, the alliterations between the words "these-things" and "trick-thought" underline that true love, in the poetess's opinion, is not based on earthly things, because they can change in time. In addition, the thought is put into a better focus by the enjambment between the lines 13-14 and by the long vowel sound in words like "mine", "love", "be", "look". The sound creates a sense of vastity and also underlines the poetess' intention to reach the eternal unreachable love.

Then, it is possible to create two opposite semantic fields: the first consists of the words "smile", "look", "way of speaking", "things", "destroyed" and the key-word is "things", while the second is formed by the words "love's sake", "eternity", "evermore", " only", "must" and the key-word is "must". So they have the function of highlighting the difference between physical love and love's sake. The concept can be easily understood by the simple use of syntax, which implies the poem to be remembers easier. In addition, the run-on lines aims to link together all the poem parts, in order to a better comprehension of the theme.