2007-01-18 15:23:19 · 7 answers · asked by jbblackdog11 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Theater & Acting
# 29
When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
2007-01-18 18:05:55 · answer #1 · answered by ajtheactress 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Wow, now HERE'S an interesting question.
At any given time, I have about 12-20 of these things committed to memory. For any actor considering the occasional foray into classical theatre, these are GREAT tools for sharpening one's verse-speaking skills. Very regular meter, four distinct "beats"...good stuff.
Among my faves:
#129: The expense of spirit in a waste of shame...
#34: Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day...
#138: When my love swears that she is made of truth...
#90: Then hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now...
It goes on and on and on...they're just gorgeous poems.
And the ironic thing is this: if you ask people about Shakespearean sonnets, they'll probably come up with "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day" or "Let me not to the marriage of true minds"...but the fact of the matter is that the sonnet sequence is NOT all about the warm fuzziness of contented love; rather it's a clear-eyed examination of Love in all of its manifestations: cruelty, betrayal, jealousy, pettiness, lust...
Good stuff.
2007-01-19 04:04:27 · answer #2 · answered by shkspr 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Probably Sonnet 30
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought...
It was written to pay tribute to a dear friend of his, and is quite charming.
I also like:
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun...
(Don't know what number it is)
My favorite sonnet of all, is Milton's "On His Blindness". Though he was not known especially for his sonnets, I think that one is the finest sonnet ever written.
2007-01-18 15:35:08 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Idol of fool worshippers!" must be between the perfect insults of all time. yet another humorous one comes from The Taming of the Shrew: "Thou 3-inch fool!" whilst it includes severe fees, i could ought to declare this one by using Prospero interior the Tempest: "You do seem, my son, in a mov'd variety, as in case you have been dismay'd; be pleased, sir. Our revels now are ended. those our actors, as I foretold you, have been all spirits, and are melted into air, into skinny air; and, like the baseless fabric of this imaginative and prescient, the cloud-capp'd towers, the wonderful palaces, the solemn temples, the large globe itself, yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, and, like this insubstantial pageant diminished, bypass away not a rack in the back of. we are such stuff as targets are made on; and our little life Is rounded with a snooze."
2016-10-31 12:06:54 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sonnet 116 - "Let me not to the marriage of true minds..."
2007-01-18 15:27:25 · answer #5 · answered by BasBleu 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
116 Love is not love, which alters when it alteration finds or bends with the removant to remove. Oh no, it is an every fixed mark, which looks on tempests and is never shaken
2007-01-18 15:30:25 · answer #6 · answered by Danielle F 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
How do I love thee, let me count the ways"
2007-01-18 15:49:33 · answer #7 · answered by Alfie333 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋