The strength of his rational mind is not diminishing the pains of his emotions. On the contrary, the speaker is losing his sanity as time progresses. In the past, perhaps, the speaker's rational thought processes allowed him to cope with failed romances. However, in the presence of this love for his dark mistress, all his logical mental abilities are overpowered. His rational mind, which he depends on for truth and sanity, has left him in …showed first 75 words of 608 total…

…showed last 75 words of 608 total…his reason though, are internalized, sparring forces. In contrast to poem 147, Sonnet 130 describes the experiences of a man's struggle against external, social factors, such as his culture's romantic ideal for one's beloved. Here, the speaker's love is an internal force which overcomes external factors, as the speaker uses love as a justification for his adoring relationship with a woman ("The Works" 134). In Sonnet 116, Shakespeare goes one step further, and depicts two external forces, Love and