Shakespeare's Sonnets

by Paul Edmondson, Stanley Wells

The sonnets are among the most accomplished and fascinating poems in the English language. They are central to an understanding of Shakespeare's work as a poet and poetic dramatist, and while their autobiographical relevance is uncertain, no account of Shakespeare's life can afford to ignore
them. So many myths and superstitions have arisen around these poems, relating for example to their possible addressees, to their coherence as a sequence, to their dates of composition, to their relation to other poetry of the period and to Shakespeare's plays, that even the most naïve reader will
find it difficult to read them with an innocent mind. Shakespeare's Sonnets dispels the myths and focuses on the poems. Considering different possible ways of reading the Sonnets, Wells and Edmondson place them in a variety of literary and dramatic contexts--in relation to other poetry of the
period, to Shakespeare's plays, as poems for performance, and in relation to their reception and reputation. Selected sonnets are discussed in depth, but the book avoids the jargon of theoretical criticism. Shakespeare's Sonnets is an exciting contribution to the Oxford Shakespeare Topics, ideal for
students and the general reader interested in these intriguing poems.

Genres: Poetry, Shakespeare, Classics, Nonfiction, Historical

208 pages, Hardcover

First published December 9, 2004

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name
For other authors of this name, see:

Paul Edmondson - Historical Fiction, Fiction, History

Rev. Dr. Paul Edmondson is Head of Research and Knowledge and Director of the Stratford-upon-Avon Poetry Festival for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. He is the author, co-author, and co-editor of many books and articles about Shakespeare, including Shakespeare: Ideas in Profile (an overview of Shakespeare for the general reader), Twelfth Night: a guide to the text and its Theatrical Life, The Shakespeare Circle: An Alternative Biography and Shakespeare Beyond Doubt: Evidence, Argument, Controversy (both with Stanley Wells for Cambridge University Press), Shakespeare’s Creative Legacies (with Peter Holbrook for The Arden Shakespeare); and Finding Shakespeare’s New Place: an archaeological biography (with archaeologists Kevin Colls and William Mitchell for Manchester University Press). New Places: Shakespeare and Civic Creativity (co-edited with Ewan Fernie is forthcoming with The Arden Shakespeare). His collection of Shakespeare-related poetry, Destination Shakespeare has recently appeared (www.misfitpress.co : the publishers donate a pair of prescription spectacles to a child in India for each copy sold). In the summer of 2014 he made a special tour of the States and North America in search of Shakespeare across 10,000 miles and 14 Shakespeare Festivals in partnership with University of Warwick. He is Chair of the Hosking Houses Trust for women writers, a Trustee of the British Shakespeare Association, and a priest in the Church of England. He has lived and worked in Stratford-upon-Avon since 1995.

Reviews

[Jack Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly useful insight to Shakespeare's Sonnets, covering the critical history and cultural impact of this important poetry. This study was said to be essential reading by one of my university lecturers and, 7,500+ words of notes later, I certainly understand why. I do, however, need a nap.

[Zee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen, Shakespeare writes a good sonnet.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very useful book for anyone embarking on study or re-reading of Shakespeare's great sonnet sequence collection— a rephrasing for which I have Edmondson and Wells to thank! Their book is comprehensive and very well-organized, taking the reader from the early publication of the sonnets and the emergence of the sonnet as a literary form, through an examination of the poems themselves (their relationship to Shakespeare's life, their concerns, and their artistry: this last being the most challenging section), and eventually to an account of their later publication, with critical and artistic responses to them. As such, Shakespeare's Sonnets is a book to be read through rather than dipped into for detailed analysis of individual poems, but it also provides pointers for where to go to find such analyses. The tone is measured but engaging: Edmondson and Wells do not hesitate to include their own judgments, both on Shakespeare's work and on that of his critics and editors, with the result that their own book ends up feeling both authoritative and accessible.

[Yahya Al-Khafaji · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful poem crafted by Shakespeare, his words were romantic and inspiring!!

“For through the painter must you see his skill,
To find where your true image picture’d lies”

“Applying fears to hope, hope to fears
Still losing when I saw myself to win.”

“O, no! Thy love, though much, is not so great:
It is my love that keeps mine eye awake”

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to the sonnets and most of the issues surrounding them. Not unlike the introductions that accompany some of the scholarly editions of the sonnets, but a little more extensive.