I am supposed to mark the meter using the unaccented (u) and accented (/) marks for the first quatrain of Sonnet 116.
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
I'll mark the accented syllables of the first two lines.
Let me not' to the mar'riage of true' minds
Admit im'pediments'. Love is not' love
Which alters when alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
To mark the meter of Sonnet 116, you will need to identify the stressed (accented) and unstressed (unaccented) syllables in each line. The meter of Sonnet 116 is iambic pentameter, which means there are five pairs of syllables in each line, with the stress falling on the second syllable of each pair.
Here's how you can mark the meter using the unaccented (u) and accented (/) marks for the first quatrain:
Line 1: Let me not to the marriage of true minds
- u / u / u / u / u /
- The stressed syllables are marked with a forward slash (/) and the unstressed syllables with a backward slash (u).
Line 2: Admit impediments. Love is not love
- / u / u / u / u /
Line 3: Which alters when alteration finds,
- / u / u / u / u /
Line 4: Or bends with the remover to remove:
- / u / u / u / u /
I've marked the meter for the first quatrain of Sonnet 116 using the iambic pentameter pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. Repeat this process for the remaining lines of the sonnet, and you'll have the complete meter for the entire sonnet.