Shakespeare's sonnets, and, A lover's complaint

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" Shakespeare's much-quoted sonnets are some of the most beautiful and moving poems in English literature. Dealing with love, beauty and the effects of time, they speak to us as directly now as they spoke to Elizabethan readers.

This handsome edition of Shakespeare's sonnets is based on the Arden Shakespeare edition, making authoritative texts available to the more general reader who wants to read for pleasure rather than study. A must for all Shakespeare and poetry lovers. Published as a small format hardback with colourful jacket, book ribbon and bookplate this is a beautiful collector's edition of some of the greatest poetry in English

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Since we will never hear tapes of Keats or Shakespeare reading, and several recordings by actors exist (e.g., John Keats: Selected Poems, Blackstone Audio, 1993; Sonnets by William Shakespeare, Recorded Bks., 1990), we must judge these tapes by the actors' performances. In John Keats: Poems, Douglas Dodge modulates his voice beautifully to capture the slightly varied emotions of many poems. This well-edited recording contains Keats's most famous works: "La Belle Dame Sans Merci," "The Eve of St. Agnes," "Ode to a Nightingale," "On a Grecian Urn," along with many lesser-known short poems such as "To Mrs. Reynolds' Cat" that exhibit the poet's more fanciful side. Reading all of Shakespeare's sonnets written between 1593 and 1601, actor Simon Callow conveys the dramatic potential not often recognizable in other recordings. With the exception of a few sonnets addressing the muse, anyone unfamiliar with Shakespeare's works could easily believe these were selected monologs from various plays. Pausing briefly between poems, Callow's tone shifts enough to create new characterizations for every sonnet. Both tapes are recommended for smaller collections and essential for larger ones.-Rochelle Ratner, formerly Poetry Editor, "Soho Weekly News," New York (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.