Question

Compare and contrast Shakespeare sonnet 116 and 55

Answer 1

Both sonnets tackle the topic of the eternity of love and its resistance to transience and all the considerations of this world. The speaker of the Sonnet 116 says that love is "an ever fixed mark", and it isn't "Time's fool". Love is also present in the Sonnet 55, but its more pervasive theme is his beauty and the role of poetry to preserve it. There is a tiny little reference to poetry and the poet's role in the Sonnet 116 as well - in the final line, the speaker refers to himself as a writer (and preserver of beauty and truth, obviously).

However, in the Sonnet 116, we can't be sure as to whom the speaker speaks. He briefly mentions a listener in the second person - "let me". But it is not his beloved. He speaks about love in the general sense, giving us just a glimpse of his personal life in the penultimate line - "If this be error and upon me prov'd". The Sonnet 55 has a more intimate tone, as the speaker openly addresses his lover, whose beauty has the central place in the poem. He even writes the sonnet to make his lover's beauty live forever - so, even the poetry itself is subordinate to his primary occupation. The poetry is only a means to an end.