Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds
Love is not love which alters
Find the images of constancy and explain the special meanings of 'bark' and 'compass'.
'Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds' is a sonnet by William Shakespeare. The speaker says he will not admit any obstacle ('impediment') to the union of two faithful minds: nothing can stand in the way of true love.
He then defines love mainly by negatives, by saying what love is not. Love that changes when the loved one changes, or goes away when the other goes away, is not real love.
True love, he says, is like a fixed sea-mark, a lighthouse, that looks on storms and is never shaken.
It is like the star that guides every lost ship ('bark') at sea. Sailors can measure the star's height to find their way, but its true worth is beyond measuring. In the same way, love guides us, though we can never fully know its value.
True love stays fixed, like a lighthouse and a star.
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