2 h 2 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What can love hold onto when time threatens every beautiful thing?
In Shakespeare's Sonnets, William Shakespeare brings love close enough to hear its doubts. Across 154 poems, a first-person speaker praises a beautiful young man, desires a dark-haired woman, and faces jealousy, shame, and the fear of loss. The question keeps returning: can words preserve what a body cannot?
From the opening poems urging the young man to have children to the familiar question, “Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?”, beauty meets the pressure of time. A rival poet unsettles friendship, while the dark lady brings desire without comfort. Each short poem builds an argument, turns it, and finds its close in a couplet.
What you’ll discover
- Beauty under pressure Discover how praise becomes a plea against the changes that time brings.
- Friendship touched by jealousy Meet a speaker whose affection wavers as another poet wins the young man's favour.
- Desire without comfort Enter the dark lady poems, where longing offers no simple promise of purity.
- An argument in miniature Follow each poem's thought as it bends toward the force of its closing couplet.
- Words against time Explore the hope that verse can keep love alive beyond the body's limits.
Who will love it
For readers who love reading love poetry aloud, a few poems at a time, and exploring how English verse works. These poems invite anyone drawn to beauty, jealousy, forgiveness and the hope that art can outlast a life.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A sequence printed in 1609, still puzzling
- The young man is urged to have children
- Betrayal and a rival poet shake the friendship
- The dark lady brings desire without comfort
- Form, images and sound carry the meaning
- Read slowly and aloud to find the themes
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 2 h 2 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Sonetos de Shakespeare in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Sonetos de Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare · 1609
A speaker praises a young man and desires a dark-haired woman as time threatens everything he loves.
Medium level2–5 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A sequence printed in 1609, still puzzling
The Sonnets first appeared in a small book published by Thomas Thorpe in 1609. Whether Shakespeare oversaw the printing is still debated. The book carries a short dedication to a person named only as Mr. W.H., called the only begetter of the poems. Nobody has settled who that was, and guesses have filled many books.
The book holds 154 poems in a set order. The first 126 speak mostly to a young man. Poems 127 to 152 turn to a woman often called the dark lady, because her hair and eyes are described as black. The last two poems are light, playful pieces about the god Cupid and a spring that his torch heated.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Sonetos de Shakespeare
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What are Shakespeare's Sonnets about?
They are about love, beauty, desire and the passing of time. A speaker praises a young man, struggles with desire for a dark-haired woman, and keeps claiming that his poems can outlast death and decay.
Who is the dark lady in Shakespeare's Sonnets?
She is the woman addressed in poems 127 to 152, called dark for her black hair and eyes. Her identity is unknown, and scholars still disagree whether she was a real person.
Who is Mr. W.H. in the dedication?
The 1609 edition is dedicated to Mr. W.H., called the only begetter of the poems. No one knows who he was. Guesses include a patron, a friend and a printer's error, but none is proven.
The author
William Shakespeare
1564–1616 · English playwright and poet
William Shakespeare was an English playwright and poet, born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. He worked in London as an actor and playwright. He wrote plays, including Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth, and published sonnets in 1609. He died in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1616.
More by William Shakespeare
All 17 books
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
More like this
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
FreeOur mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Popular in poetry and plays
See all
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
