Shakespeare Sonnets

Shakespeare sonnets and other quotes

[lauravian]

Colin Morgan as Ariel in The Tempest | Shakespeare's Globe | 2013

[shakespeare-sonnets]

Sonnet III

𝐿𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢 𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑒𝑠𝑡

𝑁𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟,

𝑊ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑠ℎ 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑖𝑓 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑒𝑠𝑡,

𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑, 𝑢𝑛𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟.

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑏

𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑑𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑦 ℎ𝑢𝑠𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑟𝑦?

𝑂𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑏

𝑂𝑓 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓-𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒, 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦?

𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟’𝑠 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒

𝐶𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝐴𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑙 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒;

𝑆𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒,

𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑙𝑒𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑔𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒.

𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒,

𝐷𝑖𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒.

The poet urges the young man to reflect on his own image in a mirror. Just as the young man’s mother sees her own youthful self reflected in the face of her son, so someday the young man should be able to look at his son’s face and see reflected his own youth. If the young man decides to die childless, all these faces and images die with him.

[shakespeare-sonnets]

Sonnet II

𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑒𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑤

𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑔 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑦’𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑,

𝑇ℎ𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ’𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦, 𝑠𝑜 𝑔𝑎𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑛𝑜𝑤,

𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑑.

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠,

𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑦 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠,

𝑇𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝-𝑠𝑢𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠

𝑊𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑙-𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒.

𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑦’𝑠 𝑢𝑠𝑒

𝐼𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟 “𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒

𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑒,”

𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑦 𝑏𝑦 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒.

𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑙𝑑

𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑚 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙’𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑.

The poet challenges the young man to imagine two different futures, one in which he dies childless, the other in which he leaves behind a son. In the first, the young man will waste the uninvested treasure of his youthful beauty. In the other, though still himself subject to the ravages of time, his child’s beauty will witness the father’s wise investment of this treasure.

[davidtennantedits]

David Tennant as Macbeth MACBETH Donmar Warehouse Theatre (8th December 2023 - 10th February 2024)

[shakespeare-sonnets]

Sonnet I

𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒,

𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑦’𝑠 𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑒,

𝐵𝑢𝑡, 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒,

𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑦.

𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢, 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠,

𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑑’𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡’𝑠 𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓-𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙,

𝑀𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠,

𝑇ℎ𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑒, 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑡𝑜𝑜 𝑐𝑟𝑢𝑒𝑙.

𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑’𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑠ℎ 𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡

𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑢𝑑𝑦 𝑠𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔

𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑏𝑢𝑑 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡

𝐴𝑛𝑑, 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑙, 𝑚𝑎𝑘’𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑛𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔.

𝑃𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑, 𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑏𝑒—

𝑇𝑜 𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑’𝑠 𝑑𝑢𝑒, 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒.

In this first of many sonnets about the briefness of human life, the poet reminds the young man that time and death will destroy even the fairest of living things. Only if they reproduce themselves will their beauty survive. The young man’s refusal to beget a child is therefore self-destructive and wasteful.

[shakespeare-sonnets]

Richard II (1595) Act III Scene II

𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ

𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ

𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠

King Richard •