In this essay, I will argue that Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 116,” is the best, truest, representation of mature, long-lasting, human love compared with Ben Jonson’s “Song to Celia,” and John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning.” All three poets have challenged or varied the use of the Courtly Love Tradition in their love poems. However, I will argue that through Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116, he modified the theme of the Courtly Love Tradition to make it more honest, true, and everlasting. The poem, “Song to Celia,” written by one the of metaphysical poets Ben Jonson, is a poem more about unrequited love rather than true love. The speaker in the poem uses different ploys in order to win over his beloved’s heart. Based on the first couple of lines in the poem, the speaker is deeply …show more content…
13-16). In these lines, his beloved sent the flowers back to him as a sign of rejecting his love and she also breathed onto the flowers. The speaker concludes that the roses that were sent back continued to grow and smell, not because of nature’s doing, but because his beloved breathed life into them and gave them immortal powers. Mentioning her sweet breath is also connected to the Courtly Love Tradition. From the first lines of the poem, the speaker suggests that all he needs is a physical look from her eyes from him to pledge and commit his love for her. This poem is a love poem; however, it is more about an unrequited love and infatuation with the idea of Celia rather than being a true representation of true love. The poem, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” written by John Donne begins to show a better representation of true love. Donne uses many metaphors throughout the poem in order to demonstrate that time and distance do not change or alter true love. The poem begins with the speaker indicating to his beloved that he must leave and they will be forced to spend some