Sonnet I
FROM fairest creatures we
desire increase,
That thereby beauty's rose might never die,
But as the riper should by time decease,
His tender heir might bear his memory:
But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes,
Feed'st thy light'st flame with self-substantial fuel,
Making a famine where abundance lies,
Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.
Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament
And only herald to the gaudy spring,
Within thine own bud buriest thy content
And, tender churl, makest waste in niggarding.
Pity the world, or else this glutton be,
To eat the world's due, by the grave and thee.
Sonnet 100
Where art thou, Muse, that thou
forget'st so long
To speak of that which gives thee all thy might?
Spend'st thou thy fury on some worthless song,
Darkening thy power to lend base subjects light?
Return, forgetful Muse, and straight redeem
In gentle numbers time so idly spent;
Sing to the ear that doth thy lays esteem
And gives thy pen both skill and argument.
Rise, resty Muse, my love's sweet face survey,
If Time have any wrinkle graven there;
If any, be a satire to decay,
And make Time's spoils despised every where.
Give my love fame faster than Time wastes life;
So thou prevent'st his scythe and crooked knife.
Sonnet 130
My mistress' eyes are nothing like
the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare. |
|
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was born on April
23, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England; . Shakespeare began his
education at
the age of seven where he studied Latin, rhetoric, logic, and literature
In November 1582, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway. Nothing known about
Shakespeare's departure from Strathford to London, or about the beginning
of his theatrical career a blank spot spanning 1585 to 1592. His first
recognition came in 1952, due to the ill-tempered manner of Robert Green
who had written a letter criticizing actors and writers. This first
reference suggests that Shakespeare had become both an actor and
playwright. By 1594 Shakespeare had written at least six plays; the first
being "The Comedy of Errors", and published two poems, "Venus and Adonis"
and " The Rape of Lucrece". From 1594 to 1608, Shakespeare was fully
involved in the London theatre world. In addition to his duties as a
shareholder and actor in the Lord Chamberlain's Men, he wrote an average
of two plays a year for his company. Shakespeare was one of the few
Elizabethan writes who concentrated almost solely on the theatre as a
career. By the late 1590's Shakespeare had not only become an established
writer, but he had also become prosperous. In 1599, Shakespeare and six
other associates became owners of the
Globe, a new outdoor theatre. This became the home of Shakespeare's acting
company - The King's Men. Before his death on April 23 1616, William
Shakespeare had written Thirty-seven plays. He is generally considered the
greatest playwright the world has ever known and has always been the
world's most popular author.
|
