Shakespeare produced just over 150 sonnets (for those unfamiliar, this link describes a Shakespeare sonnet in good detail), largely centering on the theme of love. Of his sonnets, I sampled 16 (recommended in turn by a friend, an Internet search, and random selection): Sonnets 1, 18, 22, 23, 29, 35, 47, 57, 73, 87, 102, 104, 116, 130, 131, 141. In some cases, his sonnets have been referenced in recent movies and TV (Star Trek alluded to 57, among others); 141 (and an updated version of it) was featured in 10 Things I Hate About You (starring Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles).
All were good, but my 3 favorites were 29, 116, and 141, each being summarized as follows:
29: your love is preferable to riches/stature
116: love is eternal
141: I love you but I don't know why
Like his plays, I got the gist, and no doubt missed some/most of the nuance and genius inherent in each work (this website has some good background/analysis on his sonnets, if you're so interested). They fulfilled what, to me, are the most important characteristics of poetry: they rhymed, were eloquent, and brilliantly constructed.
Rating: A
No comments:
Post a Comment