half of this duality, "Sonnet 144" expresses both while giving a further basis for the understanding of "Sonnet 116" and "Sonnet 147." "Sonnet 144" opens with the line "Two loves I have of comfort and despair," (1). When used as a foundation, this opening line reveals that the reader can expect one of the two sonnets to deal with the comfort of love while the other deals with the despair of love. Shakespeare goes on to say, "The better angel is a man right fair, / The worser spirit a woman, colored ill." (144.3-4) which shows that he considers his young friend to be the comfort aspect of love and his dark woman to be the despair aspect of love. Shakespeare goes on to say that the dark woman tempted his young friend from his side. This shows that an affair has occurred between the young man and the dark woman. Taking this poem as a basis, the reader can better understand how "Sonnet 116" deals with the comfort of love and how "Sonnet 147" deals with the despair of love."Sonnet 116" can be viewed by the reader in two different ways. It can be seen as a soliloquy by the author written to his young friend about their friendship or it can be seen as a letter written to the young friend about Shakespeare's view of what ideal love is. In either case, it was written after the affair between the young man and dark woman was discovered by Shakespeare. The first quatrain informs "the reader of what love is not" (Shakespeare 2). The words "marriage of true minds" (116.1) can be seen as the concept of soulmates or as a literal marriage. He could be saying that he and his young friend are soulmates meant to be true, nonsexual lovers. However, Shakespeare could be saying that he and the dark woman are meant for each other despite her infidelity with his best friend. Shakespeare believes that there are no "impediments" that can disrupt this "marriage." "Impediments" means obstacles. In the case of his friendship, Shakespeare could be me...
