A Choice of Shakespeare's Verse

by Ted Hughes

For this new edition, first published in 1971, Ted Hughes augmented his original selection of Shakespeare's poems and dramatic speeches and completely rewrote his accompanying essay, intending to restore to the common reader much of what, in Shakespeare, was instinctively available to the audience of his day, and to show how Shakespeare's language unites in its sinews and substance the full range of Elizabethan preoccupations, philosophical and social.

Genres: Poetry

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Edward James Hughes was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He was appointed Poet Laureate in 1984 and held the office until his death. In 2008, The Times ranked Hughes fourth on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
He married fellow poet Sylvia Plath in 1956, and they lived together in the United States and then in England, in a tumultuous relationship. They had two children before separating in 1962 and Plath ended her own life in 1963.

Reviews

[Muneeb Salman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Selection! The passages are, as Hughes say, "long enough and self-contained enough to strike up a life on their own" but yet "It remains a fragment, its elements are not balanced within itself, and so it gives a sense of unease". And so i read only first 10 passages and left the rest for reading later, after atleast reading some, if not all, plays of Shakespeare.