The Sonnets

The Sonnets explore many of Shakespeare's most common themes: jealousy, betrayal, melancholy. They ache with unfulfilled longing, and, for many, they are the most complete and moving meditations on love ever written. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition features an afterword by Peter Harness. The Sonnets of William Shakespeare, a cycle of 154 linked poems first published in 1609, are reproduced in full in this Macmillan Collector’s Library edition. Filled with ideas about love, beauty and mortality, the sonnets are written in the same beautiful and innovative language that we have come to know from Shakespeare's plays. The first 126 sonnets are addressed to a young man known as the 'Fair Youth', while others are directed at a 'Rival Poet', and a 'Dark Lady'.

The Sonnets explore many of Shakespeare's most common themes: jealousy, betrayal, melancholy. They ache with unfulfilled longing, and, for many, they are the most complete and moving meditations on love ever written. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition features an afterword by Peter Harness. The Sonnets of William Shakespeare, a cycle of 154 linked poems first published in 1609, are reproduced in full in this Macmillan Collector’s Library edition. Filled with ideas about love, beauty and mortality, the sonnets are written in the same beautiful and innovative language that we have come to know from Shakespeare's plays. The first 126 sonnets are addressed to a young man known as the 'Fair Youth', while others are directed at a 'Rival Poet', and a 'Dark Lady'.

Shakespeare's sonnets are very different from Shakespeare's plays, but they do contain dramatic elements and an overall sense of story. Each of the poems deals with a highly personal theme, and each can be taken on its own or in relation to the poems around it. The sonnets have the feel of autobiographical poems, but we don't know whether they deal with real events or not, because no one knows enough about Shakespeare's life to say whether or not they deal with real events and feelings, so we tend to refer to the voice of the sonnets as "the speaker"-as though he were a dramatic creation like Hamlet or King Lear.

Part of the Chiltern Classics range Lines such as 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?' and 'Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds' are among the best known and best loved in the English language. In his 154 sonnets, Shakespeare considers love in all its guises, introducing us to the famous Dark Lady and the Fair Youth, whose identities still provoke speculation. Chiltern are publishers of exquisitely crafted editions of the world's finest classic literature. These beautiful books are a perfect mix of tradition and the very latest in printing techniques. With wonderful original, detailed and embossed covers, sparkling gilt edges, cream art paper, ribbon markers and stitched binding they are simply the most beautiful classics ever published.

Part of the Chiltern Classics range Lines such as 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?' and 'Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds' are among the best known and best loved in the English language. In his 154 sonnets, Shakespeare considers love in all its guises, introducing us to the famous Dark Lady and the Fair Youth, whose identities still provoke speculation. Chiltern are publishers of exquisitely crafted editions of the world's finest classic literature. These beautiful books are a perfect mix of tradition and the very latest in printing techniques. With wonderful original, detailed and embossed covers, sparkling gilt edges, cream art paper, ribbon markers and stitched binding they are simply the most beautiful classics ever published.