A rare handwritten copy of William Shakespeare's famous Sonnet 116 was found at Oxford's Bodleian Library, marking only the second known manuscript of the poem. Dr. Leah Veronese, an English professor, discovered the version hidden in a 17th-century collection of texts while conducting research, according to Gizmodo.
"As I was leafing through the manuscript, the poem struck me as an odd version of Sonnet 116," Dr. Veronese stated, according to BBC News. The manuscript was part of a miscellany compiled by Elias Ashmole (1617–1692), a supporter of the monarchy during the English Civil Wars and founder of Oxford's Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology.
The discovery is notable not only for its rarity but also for the alterations found in the version of the sonnet. Parts of Sonnet 116—also known as "Let me not to the marriage of true minds"—were altered, and additional lines were added. The composition includes seven additional lines and changes to the introduction and the final couplet, original to Shakespeare.
As detailed by Gizmodo, in this copy, the introduction changes from: "Let me not to the marriage of true minds; Admit impediments; love is not love; Which alters when it alteration finds" to: "A self-blinding error takes hold of all these minds; That with false denominations call this love; Which alters when it alteration finds."
Moreover, the adapted sonnet was transformed into a song with music by composer Henry Lawes. Although this copy only includes the text, the music can be found in a songbook at the New York Public Library.
Professor Emma Smith, an Oxford expert in Shakespeare, described the discovery as "exciting" and noted that it would help researchers understand Shakespeare's popularity in the decades following his death, according to BBC News. "What Dr. Veronese shows in her investigation of this new version is that the sonnet is being understood in the context of Royalist politics—a long way from its role in modern weddings," Smith added.
The manuscript's inclusion in Ashmole's collection, which features politically charged works from the early 1640s, reflects the tumultuous events of the English Civil War. Ashmole's collection mirrors the chaos of the early modern period, including Royalist poetry, banned Christmas carols, and some original poetry by Ashmole himself.
Researchers believe that the added lines "potentially transform" the sonnet from "a meditation on romantic love into a powerful political statement.” The added lines could be read as an appeal to religious and political loyalty.
Dr. Veronese argues that the different version may have been politically motivated. "In the context of Ashmole's collection, Lawes' setting of Sonnet 116 reads as a political love-song in praise of Royalist political constancy during political turmoil," she writes in her study, according to Gizmodo. The adaptation of the sonnet might seem vague by itself, but within its historical context, it can be interpreted as a call for religious and political loyalty.
The early modern period saw England wracked by three civil wars between King Charles I and Parliament from 1642 to 1651, leading to turmoil and loss of life. Parliament ultimately won, sentenced Charles I to death in 1649, and a Republican regime ruled for 11 years before Charles I's son was reinstated as king.
While "Let me not to the marriage of true minds" is now one of Shakespeare's most famous sonnets, it did not seem to have been very popular in his time. Only one earlier reference to the sonnet was known, according to Correio da Manhã.
William Henry Black cataloged Ashmole's manuscript in the 19th century, but he may not have noticed the sonnet's significance. "He may not have read past the opening lines of the poem," Veronese wrote in the study.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.