The Sonnets and A Lover's Complaint
by William Shakespeare
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Shakespeare's Sonnets is the most famous collection of love poems in the English language. Beautiful, poignant, and intriguing, they describe the poet's passionate friendship with a young man, his friend's seduction by the poet's own mistress, his friend's relationshipwith a rival poet, and most famously, Shakespeare's humiliated infatuation with the Dark Lady, `a woman coloured ill', who, far from being the marble-hearted femme fatale of fashionable sonnet sequences, is `the bay where all show more men ride'.These 154 poems have aroused speculation ever since they were written: who are the poet's handsome friend, his rival, and the Dark Lady? Who is the mysterious Mr W. H., 'the onlie begetter of these insuing sonnets', to whom the publisher dedicated them? Despite much labouredstudy on the subject, the poems have kept their secrets.The poems are presented here, with an informative introduction and in a freshly edited text, along with A Lover's Complaint and little-known alternative versions of four of the sonnets. show lessTags
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In "A Lover's Complaint," a poem in rhyme royal, a nameless maiden complains of her seduction by a charming but untrustworthy young man. Read with the Sonnets, this poem echoes the private tragedies of love and grief that Shakespeare stages in that sequence.
Favourite: Sonnet 33 “Full many a glorious morning have I seen”. The imagery is perfect, and the poem tells us that even those we love have faults and we need to forgive. Also “Bare ruin’d choirs where once the sweet birds sang” from Sonnet 73, where at least three images interplay: the poet’s rather exaggerated description of his aging process, the trees in winter, and the ruined abbeys after the Dissolution.
gay and in love, what more do you want
I had to read it for school. It was overanalysed.
This is one of the books about William Shakespeare. This book describe the life of William Shakespeare in the view of his friend,Toby.
Some of this material is available as a free audiobook from: https://librivox.org/
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William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616 Although there are many myths and mysteries surrounding William Shakespeare, a great deal is actually known about his life. He was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, son of John Shakespeare, a prosperous merchant and local politician and Mary Arden, who had the wealth to send their oldest son to Stratford Grammar School. show more At 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, the 27-year-old daughter of a local farmer, and they had their first daughter six months later. He probably developed an interest in theatre by watching plays performed by traveling players in Stratford while still in his youth. Some time before 1592, he left his family to take up residence in London, where he began acting and writing plays and poetry. By 1594 Shakespeare had become a member and part owner of an acting company called The Lord Chamberlain's Men, where he soon became the company's principal playwright. His plays enjoyed great popularity and high critical acclaim in the newly built Globe Theatre. It was through his popularity that the troupe gained the attention of the new king, James I, who appointed them the King's Players in 1603. Before retiring to Stratford in 1613, after the Globe burned down, he wrote more than three dozen plays (that we are sure of) and more than 150 sonnets. He was celebrated by Ben Jonson, one of the leading playwrights of the day, as a writer who would be "not for an age, but for all time," a prediction that has proved to be true. Today, Shakespeare towers over all other English writers and has few rivals in any language. His genius and creativity continue to astound scholars, and his plays continue to delight audiences. Many have served as the basis for operas, ballets, musical compositions, and films. While Jonson and other writers labored over their plays, Shakespeare seems to have had the ability to turn out work of exceptionally high caliber at an amazing speed. At the height of his career, he wrote an average of two plays a year as well as dozens of poems, songs, and possibly even verses for tombstones and heraldic shields, all while he continued to act in the plays performed by the Lord Chamberlain's Men. This staggering output is even more impressive when one considers its variety. Except for the English history plays, he never wrote the same kind of play twice. He seems to have had a good deal of fun in trying his hand at every kind of play. Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, all published on 1609, most of which were dedicated to his patron Henry Wriothsley, The Earl of Southhampton. He also wrote 13 comedies, 13 histories, 6 tragedies, and 4 tragecomedies. He died at Stratford-upon-Avon April 23, 1616, and was buried two days later on the grounds of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. His cause of death was unknown, but it is surmised that he knew he was dying. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Canonical title
- The Sonnets and A Lover's Complaint
- Original publication date
- 1986
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- Reviews
- 6
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- Languages
- Czech, English, German
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- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 18
- ASINs
- 29
