u/FourWorldsAudio

I tried to imagine what Sonnet 116 might have sounded like if it had actually been sung in Shakespeare's time.

A few days ago I started a discussion here about how people interpret Sonnet 116, and I really enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts.

For quite a while I've wondered what the poem might have sounded like if it had been performed as a song rather than simply recited. That idea led me to write an original melody and arrange it in a Renaissance folk style using lute-inspired strings, mandolin, violin, cello, bodhrán and acoustic guitar.

I'd genuinely appreciate feedback from people who know Shakespeare better than I do. I'm especially interested in whether the music feels like it fits the spirit of the sonnet, even if it's obviously an imaginative interpretation.

You can listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0G8L5nfcNg

u/FourWorldsAudio — 1 day ago

▲ 14 r/classicliterature+1 crossposts

When the feeling fades, what remains?

In Sonnet 116, Shakespeare says that “love is not love which alters when it alteration finds” and that it “bears it out even to the edge of doom”. He also says that love “looks on tempests and is never shaken” and that “it is an ever-fixed mark”.

Is love a feeling that disappears with time? If love as a feeling fades away, is there something stronger that still bonds two people together even after the feeling is gone? And can that bond sometimes even bring the feeling back?

I’m curious how others see this, especially considering what Shakespeare seems to be saying about love as something constant and unchanging.

reddit.com

u/FourWorldsAudio — 4 days ago