Shakespearean Sonnet Celebration

A collection of 21 sonnets by William Shakespeare.

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Or click on any single sonnet to download now:

146 Poor Soul! The Centre
138 When My Love Swears
129 The Expense of Spirit
154 The Little Love God
73 That Time of Year
91 Some Glory In Their Birth
21 So Is It Not With Me
65 Since Brass Nor Stone
148 O Me, What Eyes Hath Love
123 No, Time, Thou Shalt Not Boast
71 No Longer Mourn For Me
33 Full Many a Glorious Morning
153 Cupid Laid By His Brand
103 Alack! What Poverty
63 Against My Love Shall Be
27 Weary With Toil
02 When Forty Winters
12 When I Do Count the Clock
15 When I Consider Everything
75 So Are You To My Thoughts
76 Why Is My Verse

These were recorded in April 2011 as part of a personal project in observance of U.S. Poetry Month. I memorized one poem per day, including all of these sonnets. I have been recording texts for LibriVox since May 2011 and when going back to these recordings I made as I studied and memorized these sonnets, I find that these have more vigor and polish than most of the poetry recordings (and other recordings) I made for LibriVox. I believe this is because I studied each of these sonnet intensively across an entire waking in order to perform them from memory in the evening. Consequently, I believe they are more "mine" than all of the LibriVox recordings I have made because, since the end goal is simply to record from a script, I do not "internalize" the texts to the degree I did when the end goal was performing from memory. This brings out an important consideration. Should I prepare all pieces as if I was going to perform them live from memory? Of course, many pieces would never come to be if they had to be performed this way - entire novels and anything of any significant length. Even shorter texts require exponentially more time to memorize than to read from a script. Is it possible to have the same vigor and passion in readings as from live performances from memory? I think the danger inherent in the live memorized piece can bring out the energy and vitality mostly absent from a piece read from a script. How could that danger be - or some equally effective equivalent - be introduced into readings?

In any case, I hope you enjoy listening to these as much as I enjoyed and benefited from them.