# Love — Poetry character guide > Love in Poetry by William Shakespeare. **Role:** minor **First appearance:** 0027-sonnets ## Who they are Personified love, a central theme in the sonnets. ## Relationships ### [Adonis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/characters/adonis) _psychological_ Adonis is the objectified embodiment of love itself, pursued by Venus but ultimately rejecting its mortal form. ### [Venus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/characters/venus) _psychological_ Love is personified as an entity Venus both embodies and struggles to control in her pursuit of Adonis. ## In the story ### [Venus and Adonis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/venus-and-adonis) Personified as a central theme; Venus speaks of love's future sorrows and deceptions. ### [Sonnet 138](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/i) Personified as a force that accommodates deception and soothes age-related insecurities. ### [Sonnet 144](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/ii) Personified as the two conflicting spirits of comfort and despair. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/vii) Personified as a force that is framed and then betrayed by the beloved's actions. ### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xii) Referred to as 'my love' who is young, and the speaker longs for their arrival. ### [Sonnets to Sundry Notes of Music](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/sonnets-to-sundry-notes-of-music) Personified as a force that causes the lover's despair and is declared dead in the shepherd's lament. ### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xvi) Personified as a force in the combat between love for the master and love for the knight. ### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xvii) Personified as a lover whose month is always May, spying a blossom. ### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xviii) Personified as dead, causing the shepherd's grief. ### [The Passionate Pilgrim: XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xx) Personified as the subject of the invitation and the conditional response. ### [The Phoenix and the Turtle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/the-phoenix-and-the-turtle) Love and constancy is dead; the anthem declares love's demise. ### [Sonnet XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xxiii) Personified as the force that overwhelms the speaker and renders him speechless. ### [XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xxv) Love is presented as the source of the speaker's happiness, immune to the vicissitudes of fortune. ### [Sonnet XXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xxix) The beloved whose memory brings the speaker from despair to ecstatic joy. ### [XXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xxxi) Personified as reigning in the beloved's bosom, embodying all loving parts. ### [XXXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xxxiv) The beloved whose tears are described as pearls that ransom ill deeds. ### [Sonnet XXXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xxxvi) Personified as the force that unites the two despite their physical separation. ### [XL](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xl) Personified as a witness to the speaker's greater grief at love's wrongs compared to hate's injuries. ### [XLII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xlii) Personified as the force behind the emotional entanglement. ### [Sonnet LI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/li) Personified as the force that drives the speaker's desire and excuses his horse's sluggishness. ### [LVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lvi) Addressed as 'Sweet love' and urged to renew its force. ### [Sonnet LVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lvii) Personified as a true fool that thinks no ill of the beloved. ### [LXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxi) Personified as the speaker's own true love that keeps him awake. ### [Sonnet LXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxiii) The poet's love for the beloved is the subject of preservation against time. ### [Sonnet LXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxiv) The beloved who will eventually be taken by Time, causing the poet to weep. ### [Sonnet LXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxvi) The beloved whose existence prevents the speaker from seeking death. ### [LXXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxxii) Personified as the beloved's true affection, which might be tainted by dishonest praise. ### [Sonnet LXXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxxvi) Personified as the central subject of the poet's verse, alongside the beloved. ### [Sonnet 80](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxxx) The poet's love is cited as the cause of his decay. ### [Sonnet LXXXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxxxviii) Personified as the force that bends all loving thoughts on the beloved, driving the poet's self-sacrifice. ### [Sonnet LXXXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/lxxxix) Personified as the beloved, the object of the poet's devotion and the one whose will dictates the poet's actions. ### [XC](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xc) Implied as the beloved whose potential hatred is the speaker's greatest fear. ### [Sonnet XCIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/xciii) Personified as having a face that may seem constant despite inner change. ### [Sonnet 100](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/c) The poet's love is the subject whose fame is to be preserved against time's decay. ### [Sonnet CV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cv) Personified as the poet's constant affection. ### [Sonnet CIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cix) Personified as the force binding the speaker to the beloved. ### [Sonnet CX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cx) Personified as a god to whom the poet is confined, representing the idealized beloved. ### [Sonnet CXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxii) Personified as the source of the beloved's pity and the force that fills the impression of scandal. ### [Sonnet CXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxv) Described as a babe that continues to grow, challenging the poet's earlier claim of loving at the fullest. ### [Sonnet CXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxvi) Personified as an ever-fixed mark and guiding star, immune to alteration and time. ### [Sonnet CXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxvii) The beloved whose constancy is being tested. ### [CXXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxxiv) Personified as the speaker's dear love, independent of fortune and time. ### [Sonnet CXXX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxxx) Personified as the poet's genuine affection, which he values despite the lack of conventional beauty. ### [CXXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxxxi) Personified as the force that makes the speaker groan in adoration. ### [Sonnet CXXXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxxxii) The beloved whose eyes are described as pitying the poet. ### [CXXXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxxxvi) Personified as the force driving the speaker's suit. ### [Sonnet CXXXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxxxvii) Addressed as a blind fool who deceives the poet's eyes and heart. ### [CXXXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxxxviii) Personified as the force that prefers seeming trust over truth. ### [CXL](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxl) The personified beloved addressed as cruel yet desired to show love. ### [Sonnet CXLI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxli) Personified as the foolish heart that enslaves the speaker. ### [CXLII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxlii) Personified as the sin the speaker feels, and as a force that binds both speaker and beloved. ### [CXLIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxliv) Personified as the two conflicting spirits. ### [Sonnet CXLV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxlv) Personified as the creator of the beloved's lips. ### [Sonnet CXLVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxlvii) Personified as a fever that consumes the speaker. ### [Sonnet CXLVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxlviii) Personified as a cunning force that blinds the poet with tears. ### [Sonnet CXLIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cxlix) Personified as the addressee, the cruel beloved who is both loved and hated. ### [Sonnet CL](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cl) The poet addresses the beloved, whose unworthiness paradoxically raises love in him. ### [Sonnet 151](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cli) Personified as too young to know conscience ### [Sonnet CLIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cliii) Love's brand is used to create a healing bath, but the poet's cure is found only in his mistress's eyes. ### [Sonnet 154](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/cliv) Personified as the general of hot desire, disarmed by a virgin hand. ### [A Lover's Complaint](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/chapters/a-lover-s-complaint) Personified as a powerful force that overcomes vows, reason, and shame, making the youth irresistible. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/characters/love - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_28_se/characters