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The Little Book of Shakespeare on Love
No writer, before or since, has matched Shakespeare in terms of influence, critical acclaim or popular success. And the Bard had plenty to say about the subject of love - the word appears more than 2,000 times in his collected works! Packed full of timeless reflections on the subject - from the star-crossed devotions of Romeo and Juliet to the witty rhetoric in Much Ado About Nothing - and complemented by fascinating facts about Shakespeare and his works - this Little Book contains some of the most romantic and profound lines ever written in the English language.
"Hear my soul speak. Of the very instant that I saw you,
Did my heart fly at your service."
Ferdinand - The Tempest, Act 3, Scene 1
"Did my heart love till now?
Forswear it, sight!
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."
Romeo - Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 5
"Doubt that the stars are fire,
Doubt that the sun doth move his aides,
Doubt truth to be a liar,
But never doubt I love."
Hamlet - Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2
No-one has influenced the modern rom-com genre as much as Shakespeare. Perhaps the Bard's most influential romantic comedy is Much Ado About Nothing, the timeless tale of sworn enemies who become lovers. Countless pop-culture pairings owe a debt to the play, from Elizabeth and Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice to the leads in When Harry Met Sally and Something's Gotta Give.
Shakespeare's best-loved sonnet, "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?", touches on the themes of unattainable love and mortality. The poem is part of Shakespeare's "Fair Youth" sequence of sonnets, which many historians believe are actually about a young man.
"Hear my soul speak. Of the very instant that I saw you,
Did my heart fly at your service."
Ferdinand - The Tempest, Act 3, Scene 1
"Did my heart love till now?
Forswear it, sight!
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."
Romeo - Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 5
"Doubt that the stars are fire,
Doubt that the sun doth move his aides,
Doubt truth to be a liar,
But never doubt I love."
Hamlet - Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2
No-one has influenced the modern rom-com genre as much as Shakespeare. Perhaps the Bard's most influential romantic comedy is Much Ado About Nothing, the timeless tale of sworn enemies who become lovers. Countless pop-culture pairings owe a debt to the play, from Elizabeth and Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice to the leads in When Harry Met Sally and Something's Gotta Give.
Shakespeare's best-loved sonnet, "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?", touches on the themes of unattainable love and mortality. The poem is part of Shakespeare's "Fair Youth" sequence of sonnets, which many historians believe are actually about a young man.
189 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 24, 2024
2 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 9, 2025
São pequenos versos e estrofes das obras de arte de Shakespeare que te abrem os olhos para os diferentes tipos de amor existentes. Como eles nos poderão desarmar, magoar, felicitar, apaixonar,…
Ler Shakespeare é e será sempre um privilégio, ele escreve de uma forma brutalmente romântica que te deixa incapaz de tirar os olhos da página. Esta foi a segunda vez em que li as suas obras na língua em que ele as escreveu e as traduções não lhes fazem jus. As obras dele fizeram dele um ser imortal.
Ler Shakespeare é e será sempre um privilégio, ele escreve de uma forma brutalmente romântica que te deixa incapaz de tirar os olhos da página. Esta foi a segunda vez em que li as suas obras na língua em que ele as escreveu e as traduções não lhes fazem jus. As obras dele fizeram dele um ser imortal.
October 24, 2025
Poems are like this, some speak to you, and others don’t.
But this three I absolutely loved:
•Love is merely a madness, and,
I tell you, deserves
as well a dark house and a whip as
madmen do;
and the reason they are not so
punished and cured
is that the lunacy is so ordinary
that the whippers
Are in love too.
•This love feel I, that feel no love in this.
•And yet, to say the truth,
Reason and love keep little company
together nowadays.
But this three I absolutely loved:
•Love is merely a madness, and,
I tell you, deserves
as well a dark house and a whip as
madmen do;
and the reason they are not so
punished and cured
is that the lunacy is so ordinary
that the whippers
Are in love too.
•This love feel I, that feel no love in this.
•And yet, to say the truth,
Reason and love keep little company
together nowadays.
June 29, 2025
I love love but reading this book doesn't reflect how I will express my love in words.
Shakespeare's love quote be best to be read with the full stories; mine can be better with even no stories told.
Sorry but not sorry I don't claim better than the literature master, I just feel my words are more suitable with my own context.
Shakespeare's love quote be best to be read with the full stories; mine can be better with even no stories told.
Sorry but not sorry I don't claim better than the literature master, I just feel my words are more suitable with my own context.
December 25, 2024
silly little book that makes me happy
August 17, 2025
Nice small book with a collection of Shakespeare’s best quotes about love 💕
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews