# LVI explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by William Shakespeare.

## What happens

The speaker urges love to renew its force and not become duller than appetite, which is satisfied one day and sharpened the next. He compares the sad interim of separation to the ocean that parts two lovers, making their reunion more blessed, or to winter that makes summer more welcome.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Desire

The speaker personifies love and urges it to remain sharp and not dull, comparing it to appetite that renews daily.

### Time and Mortality

The poem reflects on the passage of time, using the metaphor of seasons (winter and summer) to emphasize the value of reunion after separation.

## Character check-ins

### Love

Addressed as 'Sweet love' and urged to renew its force.

## Key lines

> Sweet love, renew thy force; be it not said Thy edge should blunter be than appetite, Which but to-day by feeding is allay’d, To-morrow sharpen’d in his former might

Dear love, regain your strength; don't let it be said that your sharpness is duller than physical hunger, which is satisfied today but returns tomorrow as strong as before.

_The speaker compares love's vigor to appetite, urging it to be perpetually renewed._

> Let this sad interim like the ocean be Which parts the shore, where two contracted new Come daily to the banks, that, when they see Return of love, more blest may be the view

Let this sorrowful period of separation be like the ocean that divides the shore, where two newly betrothed lovers come daily to the banks, so that when they see love's return, the sight may be more blessed.

_The speaker uses the metaphor of an ocean separating lovers to suggest that absence makes reunion more joyful._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lvi
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_28_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters