Starlight and Moonshine: Poetry of the Supernatural

by William Shakespeare, Jane Breskin Zalben (Illustrator)

A selection of memorable passages from Shakespeare's plays--including Ariel's Song from "The Tempest" and the witches' incantation from "Macbeth"--that deal with elves, fairies, ghosts, witches, and other supernatural creatures

Genres: Classics, Poetry, Plays, Literature, Collections

48 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI and I of Scotland to the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623, John Heminge and Henry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that includes 36 of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".

Reviews

[Dunja Tomić · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep."

[Zayden Blaze · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have searched for this book for two years, based solely on its title and the fact that it is a book of Shakespeare's poetry. Amazon had a used edition for fifty thousand, the internet archive would not let me access its version, and no library nearby or shadow-library afar had any copies. I had somewhat made peace with not being able to read it for a very long time.

Then a few days ago, on a whim, I searched for it again. And I found it. It was a thrilling thing.

The book itself is a little thing, fourty eight pages, about half of which are very nicely made illustrations. The poems- excerpts from Shakespeare's plays- include well-known ones such as "Of his bones are corals made", and "Double, double toil and trouble", and several lovely others, but also one or two which I wouldn't have minded not being there. But on the whole, this was a nice collection. I hope I will enjoy it even more when I reread it in the future.

[asmaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

beauty

[Cassy · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful beautiful illustrations