Sonnet 110

by William Shakespeare, Kristin Linklater (Narrator)

Alas! 'tis true, I have gone here and there...

Genres: Poetry

Audiobook

Published August 7, 2012

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

[John Yelverton · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this sonnet, William Shakespeare confesses a litany of failings, but begs that they may be forgiven by the one that he loves so that he can be with her.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The poet profoundly remorses his gap of attention to his young friend and wishes to show his revulsion and remorse. He lists his errors and articulates bitterness at being bound to his "motley" course and for selling "cheap what is most dear" his love for his friend, the young noble man. The sonnet is united by the poet's idea of truth and the numerous diverse ways truth is expressed: "'tis true," "Most true," "looked on truth," and "pure and most loving". The sonnet integrates the poet's movement from regret of an earlier behaviour to his toadying over the young man. In the first quatrain, the poet admits that he offended the young man by his actions, although just what those actions were he doesn't say until in the second quatrain: He displayed affection for "another youth". However, this brief relationship has only strengthened his love for the young man, whom he calls "my best of love". Guaranteeing never again to "grind/On newer proof, to try an older friend," the poet begs the young man, "Then give me welcome, next my heaven the best", and he grovels himself to the youth by calling him his "pure and most most loving breast." The dual use of the word "most," although it seems incorrectly unnatural, emphasises the abysmal sentiment the poet has for the young man, "A god in love" to whom the poet is "confined".

[Amelia Bujar · Rating 2 out of 5]

FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...

In this sonnet William Shakespeare pretty much confesses a litany of failing but begs to have them become forgiven.

I gotta say that this wasn’t the greatest sonnet ever because the plot here felt like the most generic poem plot ever.

The writing style here was probably the best part of this poem because it was really on the level with William Shakespeare

[K. Anna Kraft · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have arranged my takeaway thoughts into a haiku, as best I could with this one:

"With Love, it’s given
To promise change, looking back
On one’s sordid ways."