Ordering Shakespeare: Shakespeare's Sonnets and the Relay of the Rose

by Peter J. Smith

For centuries, we have been told William Shakespeare was the author of his famous collection of sonnets. An industry was created and thrives today to sustain and benefit from Shakespeare's name. But what if Shakespeare was not the author of the sonnets? What if what we have been told about the sonnets is fiction, not fact? In "Ordering" Shakespeare , author Peter J. Smith tackles the controversies surrounding the sonnets and addresses the questions of why the sonnets were originally disarranged, why they must be read in their correct sequence, and who the real authors were. Smith presents an arrangement of Shakespeare's Sonnets and explains why this ordering is the best way in which to read them. He illuminates the lives of the men who wrote the verses, showing they were the recipients of a legacy they passed on as participants in a literary relay-the Relay of the Rose. Smith communicates that the sonnets were conceived and written to serve the relay in order to express, preserve, and perpetuate a philosophic and spiritual way of life that will ultimately lead humankind to perfection.

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011