Led Zeppelin lyrics “thank you” and William Shakespeare’s sonnet 116 both discuss love and have several similarities. The compositions are both short poems whose common theme is love. Zeppelin’s mention of a woman as the target of his love and Shakespeare’s mention of, “marriage of true minds” further show that the poems mean erotic or romantic love between couples and not any other kind of love. The two poems explain the difficulties and conditions that true love is supposed to overcome and overlook. They are both extreme ideals of love stating that love never changes and never fades.
The two poems personify love. Led Zeppelin mentions of “little drops of rain whispering” while Shakespeare mentions of “lovelooks” on tempests. The poems also use symbolism where Shakespeare refers to love as “an ever-fixed mark”. This symbolism means that love is unmovable. Led Zeppelin’s mention of the sun refusing to shine is clear symbolism of sad moments when it seems impossible to love.
The two poems also make use of rhyming. Shakespeare states, “true mindsalteration finds”. “ever-fixed markwandering bark” “and cheeksand weeks”. Zeppelin states, “love is strongthere is no wrong” “drops of rainof the pain” “smileswe walk the miles”. Though rhyming is present in both poems, Shakespeare’s rhyming is uniform and spread throughout the poem unlike Zeppelin’s. However in both cases the rhyming makes the poems beautiful to read and they enhance the delivery of the message and help elaborate more on the theme of love.
There are some contrasting issues in the two poems. Led Zeppelin’s poem is dedicated or directed towards a woman he loves. Led states, “I give you my all kind woman”. This indicates that the poem is directed towards a specific woman. Shakespeare on the other hand simply defines love; what it is and what it is not without necessary directing his composition to a specific person. He states, “love is not love whichLove’s not time’s fool” among other lines to assert his glorification of love.
There are also differences in style and use of imagery between the two poems. Led Zeppelin makes use of repetition for instance when he repeats “kind woman, I givekind woman, nothing more”. Zeppelin has also twice repeated the phrase “If the sun refused to shine”. Shakespeare has made no use of repetition in his poem and its appeal to readers comes from the excellent use of rhyming throughout the poem.
Shakespeare’s poem presents what he thinks love is and also what he thinks does not merit being love. He begins by stating that “love is not love” and then states what he deems to be love. Interchangeably, Shakespeare presents two sides of love and his poem is a kind of review of love. Zeppelin on the other hand presents one facet of love; what it is. He explains the conditions under which he would continue to love his woman. Shakespeare mentions a star and Zeppelin mentions the sun to put across their message and this increases the commonalities and linkages between the two poems. While Shakespeare explains what ideal romantic love is, Zeppelin poem seems to be an application of the description of love by Shakespeare. Zeppelin pledges almost by the words of Shakespeare’s poem to stand by his lover and swears to love her unconditionally. As such the two poems come forth as complementing of each other.
References
Analysis of Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 - the marriage of true minds. (n.d.).Shakespeare Online. Retrieved October 1, 2013, from http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/116detail.html
LED ZEPPELIN LYRICS - Thank You. (n.d.). A-Z Lyrics Universe. Retrieved October 1, 2013, from http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/ledzeppelin/thankyou.html
