Love in Shakespeare's Sonnet 138

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The Philosophy of Love in Sonnet 138

Shakespeare was a superb philosopher, but in his sonnets, he was a philosopher of love. Shakespeare sets forth the experiences of love and its torments fully within his sonnets. The philosophy of love is that, love reconciles all. Love is the evil and the good, the lies and the truth. Love is all there is. It passion as well as deception and lies.

"Sonnet 138", is a notable example of Shakespeare's philosophy of love. Written as a dramatic monologue, this sonnet (also known as "song") is a lyric. Like all sonnets, there are fourteen lines, with every four lines written as quatrains in a b a b format. The last two lines are known as a couplet. This sonnet has a staggered structure, with a main clause, sub clause, and another sub claus, all forming a complex sentence. The first six lines mirror each other in thought.

When my love swears that she is made of truth,

I do believe her, though I know she lies,

That she might think me some untutored youth,

Unlearned in the world's false subtleties....

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