Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare discusses the essence of real love, characterizing it as everlasting and eternal. The speaker continues by stating that love should be unaffected by barriers or changes.

True love is unaffected by challenges or external factors, and it remains constant even when the person being loved changes. The speaker believes that love should be consistent no matter what happens, and that it never acknowledges boundaries.

In the second section of the poem, Shakespeare utilizes the metaphor of love as a guiding star for lost ships to demonstrate how love helps individuals traverse tough circumstances. This guiding star remains stable even amid storms, representing how love endures under adverse circumstances. It is unaffected by trials or problems.

In the third quatrain, Shakespeare states that love is unaffected by time. True love endures, even when physical beauty diminishes with age. Even when someone’s look evolves throughout time, love remains strong and does not fade. Love endures, no matter what happens to the body or how much time passes.

The poem concludes with a strong declaration in the couplet. Shakespeare claims that if anyone can demonstrate that love evolves, no one has ever genuinely been in love. He is so certain of his vision of love that he declares that if his description is incorrect, the concept of pure love never existed in the first place.

In summary, Sonnet 116 presents love as a steadfast power that transcends time and adversity. It depicts love as timeless, powerful, and untouched by changes in circumstances or physical appearance. True love, according to Shakespeare, endures forever.