Complete Summary and Solutions for Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds – Woven Words NCERT Class XI English Elective, Chapter 2 – Summary, Explanation, Questions, Answers
A Shakespearean sonnet by William Shakespeare that portrays true love as unchanging and steadfast despite any obstacles or alterations. The poem explores themes of constancy, love’s permanence, and time’s inability to diminish true affection. It includes detailed NCERT questions, answers, and exercises for Class XI
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Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds - William Shakespeare | Woven Words Poetry Study Guide 2025
Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds
William Shakespeare | Woven Words Poetry - Ultimate Study Guide 2025
Introduction to Poetry - Woven Words
Poetry is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language—such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre—to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, a prosaic ostensible meaning. It may use condensed or compressed verse or prose to convey emotion or ideas unusually.
In the Woven Words anthology, poems like Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 explore timeless themes such as love's constancy through structured forms like the sonnet. This 14-line poem in iambic pentameter divides into three quatrains and a final couplet, blending philosophical assertion with vivid imagery.
The sonnet tradition, popularized in English by Shakespeare, allows for intellectual depth within brevity, often addressing love, time, and mortality. Here, true love defies change, portrayed as an unyielding force.
Purpose: Philosophical defense of ideal love's immutability.
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About the Poet: William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
William Shakespeare was one of the greatest poets and dramatists of the English language. Born at Stratford-on-Avon, England, he went to London where his reputation as a dramatist and poet was established. His Sonnets, 154 in number, probably written between 1593 and 1598, were published in 1609. The above sonnet is sonnet number 116 in which we have a depiction of true love. His voluminous work includes 37 plays and two narrative poems.
Major Works
154 Sonnets (published 1609)
37 Plays (e.g., Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet)
Narrative Poems: Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no, it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error, and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
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Paraphrase: English & Hindi (Line-by-Line Overview)
English Paraphrase
I refuse to acknowledge any obstacles to the union of two true lovers. True love doesn't change when circumstances do, nor does it waver when faced with separation. No, love is a steadfast beacon, unmoved by storms; it's the guiding North Star for lost ships, its value immeasurable despite being charted. Love isn't enslaved by time, even as youth fades under its scythe; it remains constant through fleeting moments, enduring to the world's end. If I'm wrong about this, proven so, then I've never written a word, nor has any man truly loved.
हिंदी अनुवाद/सारांश
सच्चे मन की शादी में मैं कोई बाधा न आने दूँ। प्रेम वह नहीं जो परिस्थितियों के बदलने पर बदल जाए, या अलग करने वाले के साथ झुक जाए। नहीं, यह एक अटल निशान है जो तूफानों को देखकर कभी न हिले; यह हर भटकते जहाज के लिए तारा है, जिसकी कीमत अज्ञात है भले ऊँचाई मापी जाए। प्रेम समय का मूर्ख नहीं, भले गाल और होंठ उसके फाल के घेरे में आ जाएँ; यह उसके क्षणभंगुर घड़ियों से न बदले, बल्कि प्रलय के कगार तक सह ले। यदि यह भ्रम है और सिद्ध हो, तो मैंने कभी न लिखा, न किसी ने प्रेम किया।
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Understanding the Poem
1. ‘Constancy’ is the theme of the poem. Indicate the words, phrases and images that suggest the theme.
Answer:
Words/Phrases: "Ever-fixed mark," "never shaken," "alters not," "bears it out even to the edge of doom."
Images: Lighthouse ("looks on tempests"), North Star ("star to every wandering bark"), Time's sickle (unyielding to decay).
These evoke unchangeable endurance, contrasting love's stability with life's flux.
2. Why do you think the poet has used so many ‘negatives’ to make his statement?
Answer:
Negatives ("not love," "never shaken," "alters not," "not Time’s fool") define true love by exclusion—what it isn't—strengthening assertion through denial.
This rhetorical device (apophasis) builds emphatic conviction, mirroring love's defiant permanence against doubt.
Couplet's ultimate negation ("I never writ, nor no man ever loved") stakes poetic authority on the ideal.
3. What does the line ‘I never writ, nor no man ever loved’ imply?
Answer:
A hyperbolic challenge: If love's constancy is false, Shakespeare's entire oeuvre and human love are illusions—absurdity underscoring truth.
Implies unwavering faith in ideal love as foundational to art and existence.
Dramatic volta in couplet resolves quatrains' arguments with personal vow.
4. Love is presented as the subject or doer of actions in the poem. Why do you think the poet has used this form rather than involving human agents?
Answer:
Personifies love as autonomous force ("looks on tempests," "bears it out"), elevating it beyond frail humans to eternal principle.
Avoids personal anecdote for universal abstraction, making argument philosophical.
Emphasizes love's agency over lovers', reinforcing theme of unchanging essence.
5. Explain the phrases
a. his bending sickle’s compass
Time personified as grim reaper; "bending sickle" (curved scythe) "compass" (encompasses/reaches) youth's decay ("rosy lips and cheeks").
b. Time’s fool
Love isn't mocked/tricked by Time ("fool" as plaything); defies mortality unlike transient beauty.
Talking about the Poem - Discussion Prompts
Discuss in pairs or small groups
1. How does Shakespeare's ideal of love contrast with modern notions of relationships?
Discussion Points:
Sonnet's unchanging "ever-fixed mark" vs. contemporary fluidity (e.g., dating apps, breakups)—explore if constancy is romantic or unrealistic.
