Analysis

“Sonnet 116” by William Shakespeare is a very popular poem; couples often choose it to be read at weddings. The speaker of the poem discusses romantic love and attempts to define it in various ways.

The poem follows the strict traditional structure of a sonnet, using a specific structure and rhyme scheme. The content of the poem also follows a linear structure, developing an argument about true love over the course of the poem.

The speaker of the sonnet appears to be a poetic persona of the author. The poem is narrated in the first person. 

The language is full of literary devices such as personification, metaphor, and and allusion.