‘Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom’
Sonnets are for romantics, starry-eyed lovers and ardent hearts. And Shakespeare’s sonnets are the best ever written.
But this is why they are also for cynics, for star-crossed lovers and for those who know the anguish of unrequited love.
Some of them are written to a young man, some of them to a woman. And although the poems are full of mystery – why did Shakespeare write them, what was his sexuality? – each one speaks to us from across the centuries of love, hate and the intensity of being alive.
Includes exclusive content: In the ‘Backstory’ you can find a short, handy, funny guide to everything you might want to know about Shakespeare and his sonnets.
‘This is a crazy, all-consuming, feverish and sweaty love; love, in all its uncut, full-strength intensity; an adolescent love’ Don Paterson, Guardian
