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FChiesa - Sonnet Analysis "If thou must love me, let it be for nought"
by FChiesa - (2011-10-30)
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From the title I expect the poem will be about love and its problems. The poem is a sonnet and it follows the Shakespearean's model, consisting of three quatrains and a couplet. The reader can notice the sonnet is part of a collection because the title and the first line are the same. In the first quatrain the speaking voice tells to her husband her opinion about love. She says to her husband she doesn't want him to love her for her smile, her look, her way of speaking or for a clever opinion. The poet makes a monologue to her husband, that listens in silence. In the second quatrain the speaking voice says she agrees with her husband's opinion, but she says this type of love causes pleasure only on such a day and for this love must be changed. In the last quatrain the poet is asking for a kind of love, where lovers might forget to cry and they must comfort themselves. In the couplet the speaking voice discusses about the perfect love saying that it must be eternal. Concerning connotation, the reader can notice all the sonnet is a lyrical investigation about the conditions of love on the part of the speaking voice. Not only the first line repeats the concept of the title, but it puts the message himself into a better focus, inviting the lover to love just for love. Since the second line the exclusive thought about love is remarked and the expression the phrase "for love sake" becomes the condition justifying the all sonnet. All the remaining sonnet part provides the argumentation for that choice. The message, which is immediately clear, is reinforced by the direct invitation of the speaker to her beloved not to use mechanical words. The speaking voice seems to tell her interlocutor that love is not such when you love somebody for her smile or for her look. Love implies something different going beyond attitude. In the second line there is a key work (only) put at the centre of line to highlight its importance. It explains the specificity of love. Besides the invitation to her husband is expressed by the imperative form. The reader can find the semantic field of the way of a woman to approach to a man (smile, look). In conclusion, the poet wants to underline the particularity of love and its eternity.