Audiobook · read by volunteers
Shakespeare's Sonnets
William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
Read by Annie Coleman Rothenberg, Tyler Breisacher, Greg, Jean-Francois, Oana, Adrian, Wilson, MikeCol, Ben Lee, Nikolle Doolin, Chris Goringe, Gord Mackenzie, wedschild, Dave Foss, Brad Bush · 17 chapters · 2 h 44
About the book
One hundred and fifty-four poems, written in a strict form and yet astonishingly varied. Shakespeare's Sonnets deal with love and beauty, with time and politics, and with the fear of mortality. Some address a young man, some a mysterious dark-haired woman, some are sly, some tender, some bitter. Their lines are among the most quoted in English: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day, When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, Let me not to the marriage of true minds. This recording takes you through them in order, mostly in groups of ten, with a remix and an outtake as extras at the end. Roughly two hours and forty minutes, and many volunteer readers. It is a rich, many-sided listen, and an excellent way to hear how a single form can carry so many moods, from playful to profoundly sad.
Introduction
Shakespeare's sonnets comprise a collection of 154 poems in sonnet form that deal with such themes as love, beauty, politics and mortality. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) wrote them over a period of years, and they were published in 1609. The identity of the people to whom they are addressed has been a source of speculation ever since, and no certainty has been reached. No listener is expected to take in all the poems at once. The sequence rewards sampling, and there is no harm in starting with the sonnets you already know.
The sequence is usually divided into two groups. The first, and larger, is addressed to a young man, and begins by urging him to marry and have children so that his beauty may live on. The second turns to a woman, often called the dark lady, and its tone is more bitter and sensual. A few late poems stand apart. Within these groups, the sonnets move between devotion and jealousy, confidence and despair. The form itself is a model of control. Each sonnet has fourteen lines, arranged in three quatrains and a closing couplet, and the English or Shakespearean pattern of rhymes has become standard. The fixed frame lets the thought turn and surprise.
This recording groups the 154 poems into fifteen chapters, mostly in sets of ten, followed by a remix of Sonnets 141 to 148 and an outtake of Sonnet 28, seventeen tracks in all. It runs for about two hours and forty minutes, and the voices change as many LibriVox volunteers take turns.
Today the sonnets remain a main route into Shakespeare's mind. They can be heard for pleasure or studied closely, and they reward both approaches.
Public domain
William Shakespeare died in 1616: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text