Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. The logic of the eyes plays an important role in influencing the heart and the mind when it comes to love however, where does the love lie? The war between the heart and the eye continues to provoke each other in perception and comprehension of the poets love. In sonnet 46, Shakespeare conveys the message of truth, beauty and the consequences of the two combating for where the love lies within, which ends in an agreement of their separate infatuations. The use of structure and figures of speech including chiasmus, metonymy and metaphors help convey the message.
“Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war”, says the poet who cannot put to rest the battle of where his love lies. The first stanza is comparing the two in a deadly battle, where both contain such strong emotion, the poet is torn and each continues to get in the way of the other. As one continues to attempt to veto the other in war, the lines interchange the placement of the heart and the eye in each line. While line one speaks about the two simply at war, line three and four place the attribute which is overriding the other at the beginning of the line. The interchange creates a chiasmus between the strengths of one over the other and how one continues to fight that they are the beholder of the love. Line three; his eyes are trying to bar the heart from loving the beauty that they see, therefor being the leader of the line. However, line four demonstrates the heart is attempting to stop the eyes from viewing his beauty which then changes to be the leader of the line to display superiority. The first stanza is there to present the ideas of what is happening in the war and for the reader to understand the basic thoughts that are lingering through his mind through the constant repetition. The fight to death of both the eye and the heart force the reader to reflect on what the truth is and what is superficial. Truth most likely lies within the heart while loving beauty...