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Shakespeare's Sonnets (Shakespeare Project Lecture) (Patreon)

Published:
2024-11-15 21:29:31
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2026-06
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  • HLBC Sonnet Appreciation.mp3

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Content

'For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings | That then I scorn to change my state with kings.'

Our journey through the works of William Shakespeare continues, and we are now appreciating his sonnets.

We’re discussing the poem's personages (Fair Youth, Rival Poet, Dark Lady), jealous love, the structure of a Shakespearean sonnet, poetry vs playmaking, the emotional arc of the sonnets, painful subtext, close appreciation of the collection's masterpieces, and much more.

Timestamps:

0:00 the publication of the sonnets

2:00 poetry in the age of plague

3:00 the intimate subject matter

4:00 lifelong Rorschach tests

5:00 pinnacle of human achievement

6:00 ranking our top ten sonnets

8:00 on the huge range in quality

10:00 best Shakespearean vintages

12:00 more poet or playwright?

14:00 how to read the sonnets

15:00 the structure of the sonnets

16:00 the procreation sequence

18:00 the figure of the Fair Youth

20:00 ‘from fairest creatures we desire’

22:00 appreciating the first sonnet

25:00 are the sonnets offensive?

27:00 wisdom vs beauty in poetry

29:00 autobiography in Shakespeare

30:00 appreciating sonnet 20

32:00 bawdy Elizabethan puns

33:00 the figure of the Rival Poet

35:00 the figure of the Dark Lady

38:00 appreciating sonnet 127

41:00 ‘A Lover’s Complaint’

43:00 from male to female POV

45:00 analysing the sonnet form

46:00 appreciating sonnet 18

47:00 Shakespearean vs Petrarchan

48:00 the sonnet’s volta & couplet

50:00 explaining iambic pentameter

51:00 appreciating sonnet 25

53:00 the bard’s presentation of love

54:00 appreciating sonnet 116

55:00 Will’s original pronunciation

56:00 a celebration of true love

57:00 appreciating sonnet 130

1:00:00 appreciating sonnet 129

1:04:00 appreciating sonnet 121

1:08:00 appreciating sonnet 66

1:10:00 the art of ellipsis/subtext

1:11:00 love, betrayal & jealousy

1:12:00 appreciating sonnet 80

1:13:00 appreciating sonnet 86

1:14:00 appreciating sonnet 55

1:16:00 appreciating sonnet 73

1:20:00 your thoughts on the sonnets?

Recommended Resources:

  • Arden Edition: I love my Arden edition of the sonnets. It's lovingly battered and ink-stained from years of rereading and has my top ten favourites from different periods printed at the front. I have circled the number of the sonnets which mean the most to me and underlined the passages that move me the most.

  • Chronological Reading: If you're interested in reading the sonnets in a proposed chronological ordering of composition, this edition, with a great introduction by Stanley Wells, is a thought-provoking and rewarding resource to have.

  • Close Readings: The wonderful Helen Vendler, who sadly passed away earlier this year, has an excellent critical work of close-reading for the sonnets called The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets here. Vendler teaches some inspiring methods of memorisation in her preface. You may also enjoy this superb video in which Vendler discusses her teaching methods for poetry at Harvard University.

  • Rewarding Rabbit Holes: If you're interested in the mystery surrounding the personages of the sonnets, you may like to check out Oscar Wilde's short story 'The Portrait of Mr. W. H.' available in this volume. For an imaginative and speculative work of fictive biography, then Anthony Burgess' Nothing Like the Sun is a Joycean celebration of the English language and our greatest writer. For a play inspired by the mystery surrounding the sonnets, you may like George Bernard Shaw's one-act comedy 'The Dark Lady of the Sonnets.'

  • Original Pronunciation: As mentioned in the lecture, you may find it interesting to listen to some of the sonnets in the original pronunciation of the time. Father-and-son team, David and Ben Crystal, have some fantastic books and talks on the topic. Here is Ben reading sonnet 116, one of my personal favourites.

  • Ranking Exercise: In the same way I have been encouraging a ranking of Shakespeare's plays, be on the lookout for your personal favourite sonnets. Take your number one favourite and learn it by heart so you can carry it around with you everywhere you go. Once you've learnt your favourite sonnet, move on to possessing your second favourite by memory, and so on. Let us know which ones make your top list.

  • My Top Five: After much thought, my personal favourite sonnets at this moment are looking like this: No. 29 ('When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes), No. 73 ('That time of year thou mayst in me behold'), No. 121 ('Tis better to be vile than vile esteemed'), No. 116 ('Let me not to the marriage of true minds'), and No. 129 ('Th'expense of spirit in a waste of shame').

  • Our Journey Thus Far: If you want to jump into any specific play, you can check out the works we've enjoyed thus far as part of our read-through here.

Questions for You:

1) Which sonnets are your personal favourites?

2) Do you feel like we hear the real Shakespeare in the sonnets?

3) How did you find the experience of reading all the sonnets through? And what line, passage, or idea from the poems most resonated with you?

Happy reading, Bardolators!

Files

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Comments

Libby Beesley

Was sorry to hear via this that Helen Vendler has passed - her book on Emily Dickinson's poems is wonderful

Sherron Belk

Reading Your suggested “The Ode Less Traveled” Either I totally spaced out in English classes or we never had this information but makes me feel so uneducated. It explains how poetry is written and to be read. Very interesting. Reading this along as I read Shakespeare’s sonnets. Also marking the metre on my second read through.

Terri Matter
>>155698306

Yes—I loved both that book and her poetry anthology. Looking forward to reading her book on the sonnets.

Spider in your cider

Sonnet 116 has to be my favorite . “Let me not to the marriage of true minds, admit impediments . . “ The opening line invokes loves power. The nautical navigation imagery is beautiful. Love becomes “an ever fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken. It is the star to every wandering bark.”

Spider in your cider

I did sit down and read them all at once and it was delightful. Some of the sonnets seem like a skillful delivery of a convention. A lot carpe diem. Others speak straight to your soul. That seems like the moments when we hear the real Will. For some reason this got me thinking of the rapper 50cents. You could hear a lot of his popular songs and know he is talented in his art form, but when you hear “Many men” you know this is real.

Kristen Egener Chaddah

Oh my goodness! Ben, I am always learning from you. Here goes another challenge, to read all of the sonnets and come up with my top 10. Of the ones you recited, my favourite is sonnet 55. Brings tears to my eyes and I imagine this to be the influence of Shakespeare himself upon my life. As a side note, additionally to the Sonnets as a daily reading going forward, I came to a decision recently that for the rest of my life I shall always be reading Dickens no matter what else I am reading. A little over a week ago, my husband had a knee replacement surgery and I spent the entire day in the waiting room watching the screen (like watching planes landing and taking off) monitoring his progression through pre surgery, surgery, post surgery and recovery. I spent the entire time reading David Copperfield and it was such a comfort I cannot describe. To have this kind of companionship is worth everything. I owe you a great debt of gratitude for leading me back to the great books and the value they hold. Living the great books is so very true. Many thanks.

Stephen Conroy

I already had a copy of the Sonnets in the Penguin Clothbound series, but have just picked up a copy in the Arden Shakespeare for the detail commentaries (will also allow me to scribble my own annotations). Read the first couple just before bedtime and have resolved to continue working my way through the set, a couple each night. The Arden commentaries are wonderful and point out so much additional detail and references that add depth to the reading. Hoping to get through the Procreation sonnets soon, as these do not really speak to me (my wild oats were spent long ago😊).

Ralph

Cannot wait to dive in!

Imogen Thurbon

Thanks so much for this fascinating introduction to the Sonnets. I’m slowly working my way through them listening to them as I walk the dogs but have also just got Don Paterson’s commentary - looks very interesting, lively and fun to read.

Imogen Thurbon
>>156279816

I absolutely share your feelings on David Copperfield. So comforting and gripping in equal measure

Svetlana Monroe

Ben, would you recommend an audio version of the sonnets? I wish you recorded one...

Svetlana Monroe

It would be so great if with each work of literature (poetry especially but also prose) came curated exerpt (s) for memorization! We had to do it in school as kids, and as much as some of it felt like a chore back then, everyone I know who did it carried those lines through life like a treasure... I know nobody prevents me from memorizing the lines I like, but there is a difference between that and a curated versiion- that also makes you feel like you are a member of secret elite hardcore literature club... Ben?