In partnerships with the website sonnetsofshakespeare.com, which contains video recordings of the author reciting each sonnet, The Wit and Wisdom of Shakespeare thoroughly demystifies 32 of Shakespeare's sonnets. Each is presented and illuminated by a short Essence Statement, clarified in a Diagram for Greater Understanding, and described in a unique and entertaining narrative description. Embedded within the descriptions are tidbits of interesting information about Shakespeare, his associates, and cultural circumstances of the time-along with writing techniques and word play in which Shakespeare indulged, and observations from Shakespeare scholars.
Foreword Preface Acknowledgments Chapter One: The Sonnets of William Shakespeare Background and Perspective The Sonnet Format The Organization of This Book Suggestions for Using This Book Chapter Two: Living Life's Span Sonnet 2 Your youthful beauty will fade, but you can duplicate it by having a child Sonnet 50 Journeys oppress me with the miles they put between us Sonnet 66 Human frailties irk me; your love is my only consolation Sonnet 30 Your presence, dear friend, salves my many mid-life regrets Sonnet 60 Time passes cruelly for all, but I leave to posterity high praise for you Sonnet 73 My advanced age shortens our time left together, making your love for me more strong Sonnet 74 After my body is gone, the best of me will remain with you in my verse Chapter Three: Seeing the Unseen Sonnet 47 My eye and heart work together to keep you present even when you are away Sonnet 27 When I travel I recall your image to beautify the darkness of night Sonnet 61 When you travel, I recall your image and worry about who you are with Sonnet 113 When you and I are apart, I superimpose your image on everything Sonnet 43 I see best while asleep, as that is when my dreams show you to me Sonnet 24 I carry your image in my heart, but I need you to reveal your inner self Chapter Four: Declaring Devotion Sonnet 76 My writing lacks variety only because you are my sole subject Sonnet 91 What others covet means nothing to me: you are everything Sonnet 143 I will support your surging ambitions, and in return ask only for love and kindness Sonnet 29 Though I am lowly, your love is so rich that I rejoice in being me and having you Sonnet 37 Fortune has failed to smile on me, so I live life vicariously through you Sonnet 116 With apologies to those who already know, I preach of the unwavering nature of true love Chapter Five: Managing Relationships Sonnet 128 I am infatuated with you, and long for your touch Sonnet 80 I pursue you in desperate hope of overcoming the competition Sonnet 109 My absence has damaged our relationship, but you need to know that you mean everything to me Sonnet 20 Your fineness suggests that Mother Nature intended you for a woman, but changed her mind Sonnet 115 When I first wrote of my love for you I was naive about how much it would continue to grow Sonnet 90 If you will hate me and leave me, do it now rather than add to later woes Sonnet 147 I am enslaved by a sick, destructive love that has chased away all reason Chapter Six: Keeping Beauty Alive Sonnet 15 I restore to you through my verse what Time takes from you through decay Sonnet 55 Through my verse you will outlive grand structures and inspire posterity's lovers Sonnet 54 When your outer beauty fades, my verse will testify to your inner substance Sonnet 17 My verse lauding your beauty will be lent credibility by your having a child Sonnet 65 If time batters all things, how can fragile beauty survive? Through my verse Sonnet 18 Other beauty fades, but my verse will keep yours alive forever References Index
