Editions

  • Home
  • Shakespeare’s Sonnets, Retold
Shakespeare’s Sonnets, Retold

  • Imprint: WH Allen

  • ISBN: 9780753553138

  • Length: 336  Pages

  • Dimensions: 202mm x 32mm x 144mm

  • Weight: 400g

  • RRP: £9.99

Shakespeare’s Sonnets, Retold

  • Classic Love Poems with a Modern Twist

'James Anthony has done something I would have confidently stated to be impossible. He has "translated" Shakespeare’s sonnets and he has done so with an insolent, loveable charm … A dazzling success’ – Stephen Fry

Rediscover the greatest love poetry ever written

Shall I compare you to a summer’s day?
You’re more delightful, always shining strong;
High winds blow hard on flowering buds in May,
And summer never seems to last that long…


Shakespeare’s sonnets are some of the nation’s favourite lines of verse, but the Elizabethan language can make it difficult to really understand them. Many guides offer to clarify the meaning, but lose the magic of the words by explaining them away.

James Anthony has done something boldly different.

He has rewritten the whole series of poems as sonnets using modern language, while retaining the rhythm and rhyme patterns that gives them such power. In doing so he breathes new life into the original poems and opens them up for a modern readership, demystifying Shakespeare’s eternal poetry with provocative new translations and delightful new lines.

Presented as an attractive book with the original sonnets facing their new translations, this is a stunning collection of beautiful love poems, made new.

  • Imprint: WH Allen

  • ISBN: 9780753553138

  • Length: 336  Pages

  • Dimensions: 202mm x 32mm x 144mm

  • Weight: 400g

  • RRP: £9.99

Reviews

  • "James Anthony has done something I would have confidently stated to be impossible. He has ‘translated’ Shakespeare’s sonnets and he has done so with an insolent, loveable charm … A dazzling success"

    Stephen Fry

More from this Author

View all View all
View all View all

About the Author

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, and was baptised on 26 April 1564. His father was a glove maker and wool merchant and his mother, Mary Arden, was the daughter of a well-to-do local land owner. Shakespeare was probably educated in Stratford’s grammar school. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway, and the couple had a daughter the following year and twins in 1585. Shakespeare’s theatrical life seems to have commenced around 1590. We do know that he was part of the Lord Chamberlain’s Company, which was renamed the King’s Company in 1603 when James I succeeded to the throne. The Company acquired interests in two theatres in the Southwark area of London, near the banks of the Thames - the Globe and the Blackfriars. Shakespeare’s poetry was published before his plays, with two poems appearing in 1593 and 1594, dedicated to his patron Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton. Most of Shakespeare’s sonnets were probably written at this time as well. Records of Shakespeare’s plays begin to appear in 1594, and he produced roughly two a year until around 1611. His earliest plays include Henry VI and Titus Andronicus. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice and Richard II all date from the mid to late 1590s. Some of his most famous tragedies were written in the early 1600s; these include Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth and Antony & Cleopatra. His late plays, often known as the Romances, date from 1608 onwards and include The Tempest. Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. The first collected edition of his works was published in 1623 and is known as ‘the First Folio’.

William Shakespeare

James Anthony

William Shakespeare (Author) William Shakespeare was born in 1564, the son of a glove-maker from Stratford-upon-Avon, and spent much of his adult life in London. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language. Shakespeare’s poetry first appeared in 1593, dedicated to his patron Henry Wriothesley, the 3rd Earl of Southampton. It is unknown when he wrote each sonnet, but the collection was first published in 1609. He died in 1616, aged 52. James Anthony (Author) James Anthony was born in 1970, the son of an engineer from Peterborough, and has spent much of his adult life in London. He cut his teeth building cars for Ford Motor Company in Dagenham. This is James’s first published work of poetry. James Anthony is still seeking an aristocratic patron.

James Anthony

Related articles

/content/dam/prh/articles/adults/2019/november/Article Card3_Beautiful Books_150.jpg

Recommendations

Beautiful books that make unforgettable Christmas gifts

10 November 2019
/content/dam/prh/articles/archive/shakespeare-colouring-in-snippet-788x306.jpg

Extracts

A Midsummer Night's Dream colouring adventure
/content/dam/prh/articles/archive/8-greatest-moments-in-shakespeare-to-listen-to.jpg

Extracts

Six iconic moments of Shakespeare you should hear

We use cookies on this site and by continuing to browse it you agree to us sending you cookies.

For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here.