18 pages • 36 minutes read
William ShakespeareSonnet 116
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1609A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art“ by John Keats (1838)
John Keats, an English Romantic poet, wrote numerous sonnets during his short life. This is a sonnet meditating on the theme of love as eternal. Written during a terrible bout of tuberculosis that would result in his early death, Keats reflects on his love for Fanny Brawne. Keats uses the same comparison to a star that Shakespeare does in “Sonnet 116” to show that his love for Fanny will surpass his life’s end.
“Sonnet 307“ by Francesco Petrarch (1470)
Petrarch, a 14th-century Italian poet who wrote during the early Renaissance famously wrote love sonnets inspired by his muse, Laura. This series of sonnets is called Il Canzoniere. His sonnets became the model for lyric poetry. “Sonnet 307” meditates on love’s cruelty and the feelings of despair and regret that an unreturned love has wrought. The central theme is Petrarch’s suffering due to his unrequited love for Laura. His desperation to win the affections of a cold, haughty muse contrasts strongly with the depiction of love in “Sonnet 116.”
“And Death Shall Have No Dominion“ by Dylan Thomas (1933)
Dylan Thomas, a Welsh poet who lived during the early 20th century, was influenced by Shakespeare, and his poems discuss many of the themes, such as love’s immortality and death, that Shakespeare’s writings explore. This poem is a lyric poem on death’s limitations, with a biblically inspired refrain that encourages bravery in the face of death. The first stanza states: “though lovers be lost, love shall not” (Line 8), a sentiment that strongly echoes “Sonnet 116.”
Further Literary Resources
“The Poet’s Hand“ by Adam Gopnik (2014)
This article by Adam Gopnik, staff writer for the New Yorker, discusses the story of two book dealers who believe they have discovered the dictionary that Shakespeare used. Gopnik discusses the reasons for the continuing obsession with relics of Shakespeare’s life and times, arguing that it is likely rooted in the scarcity of biographical details about his life.
"The Sonnets: The State of Play" by Hannah Crawforth (2018)
Edited by Early Modern literature professor Hannah Crawforth, this book of essays offers multiple perspectives and thematic explorations of Shakespeare's sonnets.
“What Shakespeare Actually Wrote about the Plague“ by Stephen Greenblatt (2020)
In this article for the New Yorker, Stephen Greenblatt, a renowned Shakespeare scholar and John Cogan Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University, discusses the Black Plague’s influence on Shakespeare’s works. He states that while the plague makes few appearances in his work, disease is a frequent figurative device, reflecting societal fears as London was ravaged by illness and death.
Listen to Poem
English actor Tom Hiddleston, a classically trained, award-winning Shakespearean actor known best for his role as Loki in the Marvel Universe movies, voices Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 116.”
Related Titles
By William Shakespeare
