Shakespeare's Sonnets... Love 'em or hate 'em

[alanna]

I love 'em! I can't read more than 10 in a row or I go on overload (like when you have too much sugar), but I'm in the process of reading them straight through... again. :) Read in order, they really do tell a story, and individually they have the power to resonate (I'm particularly affected by LXI right now).

Anyhow, I haven't seen a Shakespeare thread on here... just had to start the conversation. Your thoughts?

[veinglory]

I do like "my mistress' eyes" but it is a bit egotistical. So, he was right, but still...

[alanna]

hmm... I never took that one to be egotistical. Just the opposite in fact... I think that's one of the few sonnets where he's not arrogant and full of himself.

::shrug:: That's one of the things I love about poetry... everyone can get something different out of a piece and no one can be wrong. :)

[Elektra]

I do like "my mistress' eyes" but it is a bit egotistical. So, he was right, but still...

I love that one! I always thought it would be great if someone used that poem as their wedding vows.

[Medievalist]

I adore Shakespeare's sonnets. I really urge people to read them in Stephen Booth's facing page edition, with the original spelling text on the left page, and the edited modern English version on the right.

[shakeysix]

is teaching them to high school kids. their words are intoxicating to young readers. kids get all tangled up in the sheer power of the images they create. where other poets leave them cold, and the plays are sometimes too wordy, the sonnets are just bite sized enough that the kids can swallow them in phrases. i don't teach english any more. now i teach spanish. i don't miss beowulf. i don't miss silas marner. i do miss the sonnets--s6 i think cervantes and shakespeare died on the same day. am i right?

[alanna]

::shrug:: Since no one 100% knows who Shakespeare was, I can't say... but wouldn't that be a wonderful irony?

I had to memorize "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day" in high school... and I loved it! Then, when I read the sonnets in order, it took on kind of a creepy tone. It's in the middle of all these sonnets where he's first railing that his lover is with another person, and then telling them to go have a child with said person so that a "copy" of them remains in the world. The guy was obsessed (at least in the earlier sonnets) with preserving beauty...

I'll have to check out that edition... it sounds like fun! I have Rolfe's right now... obviously I like it, but it would be neat to see the original text.