Shakespeare's Sonnets & Poems (Folger Shakespeare Library)

I bought this so I could delve into Shakespeare without having to study an entire play. I can pick it up & put it down whenever I have some time. I like the commentary that gives you some context without overwhelming you before you start. I looked at other editions but looked at this one after I saw Sir Patrick Stewart holding it in an interview. Well, if it’s good enough for a starship captain, lol, it’s good enough for me!

Can you go wrong with the edition of Shakespeare's poetry that Patrick Stewart uses? I think not! The leading center for Shakespearian studies has produced a version that is both elegantly designed and contains a wealth of supporting information to enhance the reader's understanding.So far I've mostly been using it for the sonnets, reading it along with Sir Patrick's online renditions of the poems. Each sonnet has a page to itself with plenty of margin room for notes, with a facing page that provides a brief explanation of the sonnet followed by a section that clarifies the obscure or obsolete words that Shakespeare uses. It's been very helpful.

This is a nice sized collection of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. It is a bit larger than other Folger Shakespeare texts I have, which is nice. I find the notes helpful.

Good quality paperback with word definitions from the poems.

It is great to have a largish-type, clearly readable texts of the sonnets, Venus and Adonis, Lucrece, and [The Phoenix and the Turtle(dove)] in one place. Some essays on each individual work are included, as well as essays that pull the works all together. The facing-page definition of possibly unfamiliar terms was handy, and the small woodcuts a nice (and sometimes) amusing light touch. This volume from the prestigeous Folger Shakespeare Library will certainly be my first reference in the future, when I have questions about any of these works. The intended audience seems to be high school / undergraduate college, although no compromises or "dumbing down" have been made to accommodate budding Shakespeare scholars. It would have been interesting if the book also included some of the recently discovered, pseudo-epigraphs for curiosity's sake but I can understand their omission in defense of the Folger Library's reputation for absolute integrity.

Absolutely surprised at how awesome this book is as a resource! Perfect companion for a text or classroom. My students used and online resource for the sonnets, but I like to have them printed , so this is an affordable option!

His sonnets are boring. His plays are (mostly) brilliant. I'll read Hamlet for the 25th time before I read a sonnet a second time. With that said, the Folger edition almost makes up for the dull sonnets. I still haven't read the poems. I hope they're better than the sonnets.

Unless you are super into the poems, you really don't need the poems and could get the smaller and cheaper book of Shakespeare's sonnets, but this is a lovely edition that makes reading the sonnets a pleasure. If I was to buy again, I'd go with the sonnets only and that's just because this is a big book and hard to carry around. Still, 5 stars.

Shakespeare's Sonnets and Poems is beautiful and wonderful; the way the book has been published makes Shakespeare's sonnets easy to read and understand; Shakespeare's Sonnets and Poems has made it's way to being a in my permanent bedside library.

Reading for reference

Brilliant addition to my Collection And amazing Sonnets and Poems by the great Man himself to sooth away your days.Highly recommended

Eine wunderbare Ausgabe von Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Schlägt man das Buch auf, befindet sich das Sonett auf der rechten Seite. Auf der linken Seite finden sich kurze Hinweise zum besseren Verständnis sowie Verweise auf längere Erläuterungen in einem eigenen Kapitel. Alles bleibt übersichtlich, ohne dass interessante Informationen verloren gehen.

Ottima versione con molte note per cui risulta leggibile anche a un non madre lingua inglese. Con queste edizioni ho avuto il piacere di leggere Shakespeare in originale