The Sonnets
These are a group of 154 poems, each fourteen lines long, in iambic pentameter. This means each line’s rhythm is da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM.
I thought this would be a breeze. I was wrong.
The first dozen are deceptively simple: they are directed at some total hottie, exhorting him to marry and have kids, pronto, because that way his beauty won’t die with him. Our Will really pushes him on this, which is odd, as these are love poems and I’m fairly certain that gay couples using surrogates for sprogging wasn’t a thing then. But what do I know?
Then he brings in the big guns, with no.18, ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’ which is just a joyous celebration of his love.
And now he’s got the bit between his teeth and it’s full throttle raw, honest, vulnerable, unabashed, tender, painful, helpless, overwhelming, searing, boundless and brittle emotion until the very last word.
There’s nothing to do with love that he leaves unspoken, and numbers 27-29 just broke me, so truly did they engage with my own grieving.
I mean, these lines alone - ‘But day doth daily draw my sorrows longer, and night doth nightly make grief’s strength seem stronger.’ He just knew, the bastard.
Two particular favourites: -
No.128, where he pours out the intensity of his desire to kiss the palm of his love’s hand, but she’s playing the piano, and he’s jealous of the keys that she’s touching.
I know, right?
And No.145, describes one heart-stopping moment of crushed dreams between his love saying ‘I hate’, and then saving him by adding, ‘not you.’
Moving on from the hot guy, and the duplicitous Dark Lady is now the subject. Ergo, we have the other famous one, no.130, ‘My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun.’ This is powerful shit, I kid you not.
By the end, Will has really earned his place at my imaginary perfect dinner party. I’ve stuck him between Joe Lycett and Zelda Fitzgerald, so he should have a whale of a time.
10/10, especially if you read them in one hit.
Summary
I read this because I had the book lying around and it seemed a cool thing to do.
And because I wondered what it would be like to read a play I knew nothing about, that wasn't being interpreted for me by talented actors and a skilful director.
So often we are introduced to Shakespeare primarily as a text.
No one generally thinks to take a snotty, bored, 13 yr old to see The Taming of the Shrew, just for shits and giggles.
And so, few of us get to see the plays performed before being asked to read them. It truly is a different experience.
So
If you do want to read them, here's how the scoring worked out: -
In the top slot, all scoring 10/10, we have Hamlet, Othello and the Sonnets.
Coming up close with 9 and 8 are Much Ado about Nothing and Anthony and Cleopatra.
Very respectable 6's and 7's go The Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, Henry V, Twelfth Night, All's Well that Ends Well, Coriolanus, Cymbeline and The Tempest.
If you have to, these aren't terrible, but only scored 4 or 5. Richard III, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Measure for Measure, Macbeth, King Lear, Timon of Athens and Venus and Adonis.
Avoid like the plague, as they scraped 2's an 3's, are Henry VI parts 1, 2 and 3, The Merchant of Venice, Henry IV part 1, Troilus and Cressida, Pericles, A Winter's Tale, A Lover's Complaint and The Passionate Pilgrim.
Run, screaming, from the building before even thinking of reading Titus Andronicus, King John, Love's Labours Lost, Richard II, Henry IV part 2, Henry VIII, Lucrece or The Phoenix and the Turtle. If anyone tries to make you read them they are evil, and need to be blocked immediately.
These are a group of 154 poems, each fourteen lines long, in iambic pentameter. This means each line’s rhythm is da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM.
I thought this would be a breeze. I was wrong.
The first dozen are deceptively simple: they are directed at some total hottie, exhorting him to marry and have kids, pronto, because that way his beauty won’t die with him. Our Will really pushes him on this, which is odd, as these are love poems and I’m fairly certain that gay couples using surrogates for sprogging wasn’t a thing then. But what do I know?
Then he brings in the big guns, with no.18, ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’ which is just a joyous celebration of his love.
And now he’s got the bit between his teeth and it’s full throttle raw, honest, vulnerable, unabashed, tender, painful, helpless, overwhelming, searing, boundless and brittle emotion until the very last word.
There’s nothing to do with love that he leaves unspoken, and numbers 27-29 just broke me, so truly did they engage with my own grieving.
I mean, these lines alone - ‘But day doth daily draw my sorrows longer, and night doth nightly make grief’s strength seem stronger.’ He just knew, the bastard.
Two particular favourites: -
No.128, where he pours out the intensity of his desire to kiss the palm of his love’s hand, but she’s playing the piano, and he’s jealous of the keys that she’s touching.
I know, right?
And No.145, describes one heart-stopping moment of crushed dreams between his love saying ‘I hate’, and then saving him by adding, ‘not you.’
Moving on from the hot guy, and the duplicitous Dark Lady is now the subject. Ergo, we have the other famous one, no.130, ‘My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun.’ This is powerful shit, I kid you not.
By the end, Will has really earned his place at my imaginary perfect dinner party. I’ve stuck him between Joe Lycett and Zelda Fitzgerald, so he should have a whale of a time.
10/10, especially if you read them in one hit.
Summary
I read this because I had the book lying around and it seemed a cool thing to do.
And because I wondered what it would be like to read a play I knew nothing about, that wasn't being interpreted for me by talented actors and a skilful director.
So often we are introduced to Shakespeare primarily as a text.
No one generally thinks to take a snotty, bored, 13 yr old to see The Taming of the Shrew, just for shits and giggles.
And so, few of us get to see the plays performed before being asked to read them. It truly is a different experience.
So
If you do want to read them, here's how the scoring worked out: -
In the top slot, all scoring 10/10, we have Hamlet, Othello and the Sonnets.
Coming up close with 9 and 8 are Much Ado about Nothing and Anthony and Cleopatra.
Very respectable 6's and 7's go The Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, Henry V, Twelfth Night, All's Well that Ends Well, Coriolanus, Cymbeline and The Tempest.
If you have to, these aren't terrible, but only scored 4 or 5. Richard III, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Measure for Measure, Macbeth, King Lear, Timon of Athens and Venus and Adonis.
Avoid like the plague, as they scraped 2's an 3's, are Henry VI parts 1, 2 and 3, The Merchant of Venice, Henry IV part 1, Troilus and Cressida, Pericles, A Winter's Tale, A Lover's Complaint and The Passionate Pilgrim.
Run, screaming, from the building before even thinking of reading Titus Andronicus, King John, Love's Labours Lost, Richard II, Henry IV part 2, Henry VIII, Lucrece or The Phoenix and the Turtle. If anyone tries to make you read them they are evil, and need to be blocked immediately.
