Love Sonnets of Shakespeare

by William Shakespeare

Once it blooms, it changes everything. Love is uplifting, enlightening, transforming. In this timeless collection of more than 80 sonnets, William Shakespeare pays tribute to our most beautiful emotion. Read and share them with the one you love.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Shakespeare, Fiction

176 pages, Hardcover

Published July 29, 2014

About the author

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI and I of Scotland to the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623, John Heminge and Henry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that includes 36 of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

A kind of lecture on the nature of love, in the form of a sonnet:

Sonnet 116
William Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error, and upon me prov’d,
I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.

[Mayad Tarabey · Rating 5 out of 5]

During my first year of college, we studied three of Shakespeare sonnets and the Hamlet monologue. Ever since then, my lecturer always suggested me and my colleagues to dive into the world of Shakespeare and now I can see why.
I’ve saw the hype behind the plays but the sonnets hit different. The art that is the writing style of Shakespeare is impeccable and when my lecturer said that Shakespeare’s writing level cannot be touched he didn’t lie. (Well except if you’re THE Taylor Swift, but that’s beside the point!)
As I’m writing this review I have already a list of videos and articles to go through some of the sonnets (I would definitely recommend sonnets 17, 21, 106, 145 & 153!!)

[julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

my favorite ones : 76, 98, 136. 💗

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exquisit miniatures. When they come in this kind of booklet you can enjoy them anytime anywhere! A must for every literature aficionado!

[Laia Ruiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

el 130 me ha robado el corazón

(me hace gracia que en la introducción del libro se dude de la existencia de Shakespeare porque todo lo que podía pensar mientras leía los sonetos era que quién cojnes era la persona de la portada en el caso de que no hubiese existido él)

[wik · Rating 3 out of 5]

honestly only a few got me in a chokehold

[Helena · Rating 5 out of 5]

æææ shakespeare

[Meike Kors · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shakespeare has a way with words, simply beautiful!

[[ J o ] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less of a judgement of his sonnets (magical, by the way) but more a rating on this particular book as a collection. Obviously, being so tiny it gets more brownie points, but it isn't a complete collection of his sonnets (not even all of his love sonnets) which lessens it as a whole. It's still adorable and a great way to dip in to such a vast collection of work but it's more of a novelty than anything else, in truth.


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[Barrita · Rating 3 out of 5]

El libro es muy bonito y es diminuto (cabe en una mano), perfecto como detalle para quienes aman a Shakespeare o sólo como novedad para amantes de los libros en general.

El contenido es justo lo que se espera, aunque la selección incluye sonetos que son acerca del amor pero no precisamente románticos... lo que se me hizo raro dado el estilo del libro tan cursi, rosado y con corazones.

[Jayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read some of Shakespeare's other work previously, but I feel like these sonnets are very intimate and it meant all the more to me getting this book from someone I loved. I really liked 17, 102, and various others. It's a must read!

[Jade · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part it was good I've marked this down because I found it slightly dry and most sonnets included weren't about love, more about anti-love and/or women. I'm a bit flabbergasted in how they made it into his collection of LOVE sonnets.

[Abi Pellinor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This tiny book is a collection of the majority of Shakespeare's poetry. I had read a few of these poems during school, like every other British child, but I really enjoyed getting to delve into more of these and explore more of his writing.

[Kate Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This adorable collection of Shakespeare’s love sonnets is the perfect gift for all bardolaters! It features 80 love sonnets chosen from his total number of 154 and although it doesn’t include all his sonnets, I enjoyed the collection. The book is spilt into three sections, the first section of sonnets is addressed to a young, handsome, male aristocrat, the second are written to a mysterious mistress, and the third includes two seemingly random sonnets. I feel that the collection includes a good range of his works, providing a detailed insight into Shakespeare’s emotionally romantic side, both passionate and torturous. In addition to the sonnets, this text features a nice introduction discussing some historical context, discussing his life and explaining that sonnets were enjoyed by the literary community and aristocrats, so although these were not initially published, they were what gained the playwright literary prestige during his lifetime, encouraging people to watch his plays. Discusses how little we know about his life and his sexuality, mentioning some popular suggestions about individuals who there is speculation of them being in a relationship. This encourages interesting questions, could some of these sonnets have been composed for a male lover? Shakespeare spent 20 years living away from his wife, and I have absolutely no doubt that he will have had numerous lovers, and as these sonnets suggest of both genders. Also, this book contains lots of pretty illustrations throughout it and all the pages are rose tinted - the whole format of the book feels romantic. Its small size makes it easily transportable to read on the go! A lovely, enjoyable read.

[alicha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite hard to decided which ones are my favourite. I just adore the way love gets to be described by words so much. It’s something so dear to me.
‘Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war
How to divide the conquest of thy sight;
Mine eye my heart thy picture’s sight would bar, my heart mine eye the freedom of that right…’

[Jen Cater]

I'm not going to rate this as I feel a little uneducated in the language of Shakespeare. And yes, I have completed a whole module on Shakespeare but I still feel as though I can't appreciate the sonnets enough without fully knowing what I'm talking about.

[Alandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed what I could actually understand! ;)
It was great to have this compilation of strictly love sonnets. I found some true gems to cherish in here.

[Brittany LeMoine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really a poetry person but these aren't horrid.

[Raya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Shakespeare but this book is not really serious even though it's really cute.

[Nerea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me parece precioso, lo que si no sabes inglés, considero que es un poco lioso en realidad. Un recuerdo de londres pequeño y precioso

[Megan Lewellyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was a quick read (about 40 mins) and you really get a look inside of William's brain.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

shakespeare slayed

[Iskra Profil nije aktivan u ovo vreme. · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5🌟

Odlično!

[Rebecca Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just beautiful. So lovely to have a little pocket book of sonnets to comfort me throughout the day and night - a nice break from the regular story/fiction world when reading.

[John Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute little book my favourite is sonnet 116

[Letty · Rating 4 out of 5]

reread.

[Anyssa Castro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t really understand any of it, but I thought it was pretty! I love how fancy his words are.

[Hannah Belyea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love is one of the most complex emotions to mankind, but that never stopped Shakespeare from writing some of the most beloved sonnets in English history, with some of the best collected here for the enjoyment of all readers. Shakespeare will delight fans with these romantic journeys through infatuation, desire and lost. Can there be any greater feeling than when one is lost in love?

[Yannis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting insight into the (largely unknown) world of Sonnets by Shakespeare. Further baffling as to what was going on in his private life...As a non-native speaker, it's frankly hard to follow the language, though.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very pretty as a gift and obviously incredible poetry!