Editions

Sonnets

Sonnets

‘Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom’

Sonnets are for romantics, starry-eyed lovers and ardent hearts. And Shakespeare’s sonnets are the best ever written.

But this is why they are also for cynics, for star-crossed lovers and for those who know the anguish of unrequited love.

Some of them are written to a young man, some of them to a woman. And although the poems are full of mystery – why did Shakespeare write them, what was his sexuality? – each one speaks to us from across the centuries of love, hate and the intensity of being alive.

Includes exclusive content: In the 'Backstory' you can find a short, handy, funny guide to everything you might want to know about Shakespeare and his sonnets.

‘This is a crazy, all-consuming, feverish and sweaty love; love, in all its uncut, full-strength intensity; an adolescent love’ Don Paterson, Guardian

Reviews

  • "The great master who knew everything...an unspeakable source of delight"

    Charles Dickens

  • "Every age has reinvented the Bard in its own image. Renaissance Man or post-modern angst... Shakespeare haunts our language"

    Independent

  • "Shakespeare was the most consummate genius of all time"

    Peter Ackroyd

  • "Dante and Shakespeare divide the modern world between them, there is no third"

    T.S. Eliot

  • "Every single character in Shakespeare is as much an Individual as those in Life itself"

    Alexander Pope

More from this Author

View all View all
View all View all

About the Author

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), many of which are regarded as the most exceptional works of drama ever produced, including Romeo and Juliet (1595), Henry V (1599), Hamlet (1601), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606) and Macbeth (1606), as well as a collection of 154 sonnets, which number among the most profound and influential love poetry in English. Shakespeare died in Stratford in 1616.

William Shakespeare

Related articles

/content/dam/prh/articles/adults/2018/november/macbeth-article-card.jpg

Features

The curse of Macbeth: is it more than superstition?

Has the witchcraft of Shakespeare’s tragedy – renowned for its violence and murder – transcended the production, or is it simply unlucky?
/content/dam/prh/articles/archive/shakespeare-colouring-in-snippet-788x306.jpg

Extracts

A Midsummer Night's Dream colouring adventure

Get your pens and pencils ready to bring colour to Oberon’s magical forest from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
/content/dam/prh/articles/archive/8-greatest-moments-in-shakespeare-to-listen-to.jpg

Extracts

Six iconic moments of Shakespeare you should hear

Listen to iconic moments from some of our favourite Shakespeare plays hand-picked from the Classic BBC Radio Shakespeare series, featuring performers such as Ian McKellen

Our Use of Cookies

We use cookies on this site to enable certain parts of the site to function and to collect information about your use of the site so that we can improve our visitors’ experience.

For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here

Strictly Necessary

Strictly Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions. See More.

Analytics

Analytics cookies help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. These cookies may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we have added to our pages. See More.

Preferences & Features

Preference and Feature cookies allow our website to remember choices you make, such as your language preferences and any customisations you make to pages on our website during your visit. See More.

Targeting / Advertising

Targeting cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you and your interests. They perform functions like preventing the same content from reappearing, ensuring ads are displayed and, in some cases, selecting content based on your interests. See More.