Sonnets from the Portuguese 14: If thou must love me, let it be for nought

1. The persona
The persona is someone who wants to be loved for the sake of love. It can be hinted at
the words “if thou must love me, let it be for nought, except for love's sake only” and “but
love me for love's sake.”
2. Effects of words, grammatical structures, or punctuations on the poem
The ellipsis in the poem gives an effect like the persona is taking his/her time to describe
someone with admiration. The ellipsis can be seen at the line, “I love her smile… her
look… her way of speaking gently… for a trick of thought.” The dashes in the poem
gives a barrier to separate the ideas in the poem. For example, from the first line “if thou
must love me” up until “a sense of pleasant ease on such a day,” these idea in and
between these lines explains how the persona wants to be loved for love. The lines from
“for these things in themselves” to “be changed or change for thee” states how the
qualities of the persona, which can be the reason a person may love them, is temporary
and may change in time. The idea from the lines “and love, so wrought” until “thine own
dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry”, states to not love the persona out of pity. Lastly, the
lines from “a creature might forget to weep” until “ through love's eternity” explains how
loving the persona for love’s sake can make a love stay for all eternity.
3. Structure of the text
The structure of the text is persuasive. The poem begins with the position that one
should love because of love and not for anything else. This position pertains to the first
lines before the dash. The second group of lines that are being separated by the dashes
states that one should not look for reasons to love someone, such as a person’s smile or
a person’s way of talking as these can be temporary. This is a supporting idea for the
position of the poem. The last group of lines is also a supporting idea that states that a
love that’s for eternity is a love that is done out of love’s sake.
4. Tone
The tone is assertive. It is developed by providing an idea which is that you should love
because you love the person and not because of reasons that would not last forever. It
also asserts more ideas such as loving for the sake of love is a love that stays for all
eternity.
5. Theme
The theme is love. It teaches us that in our lives, we should love a person because we
love them. We do not have to look for reasons to make our love for them valid. If the
person we love is the right one for us, then it is all that matters and things will fall into
place.