Friday, April 18, 2014

Please explain to me the figure of speech used in the line "let me not to the marriage of true minds" in Sonnet 116.

The figure of speech (also called poetic device or
literary device) in the following line of Shakespeare's "Sonnet 116" is
personification.


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Let me not to the marriage of true
minds.



Personification is the
giving of non-human/non-living things the ability or characteristics seen in humans. For
example, "the clouds cry". Clouds are objects. In the example, clouds are stated to cry.
Crying is a human ability and clouds cannot literally cry. The clouds are given a human
ability (crying) and this is personification.


The
personification in this line comes from the understanding of the word "marriage." If one
looks at the action of marriage, and not the process of marrying (joining two things
such as oil and water together), one could justify that marriage is a ceremony which
only two people can take part in. Minds cannot be married, only people
can.


Another figure of speech that could be justified in
the line of poetry is a hyperbole. A hyperbole is an exaggeration which an author uses
with the intent that it not be taken literally, but importance lines in the meaning or
symbolism of the hyperbole used. Here, the marriage of true minds could be justified as
a hyperbole given minds cannot marry. Regardless of the fact that minds cannot marry,
readers understand that the symbolism of the image is of much more importance- two minds
being brought together with "true" thoughts.


With either
example or explanation, remember that poetry is subjective. This means that the meaning
or interpretation of a poem, or line of poetry, is left up to the feelings which the
poem brings out in the individual reading it.

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