Book description
When this volume of Shakespeare's poems first appeared in 1609, he had
already written most of the great plays that made him famous. The 154
sonnets - all but two of which are addressed to a beautiful young man or
a treacherous 'dark lady' - contain some of the most exquisite and
haunting poetry ever written, and deal with eternal subjects such as
love and infidelity, memory and mortality, and the destruction wreaked
by Time. Also included is A Lover's Complaint, originally published with
the sonnets, in which a young woman is overheard lamenting her betrayal
by a heartless seducer.
William Shakespeare is the most revered English playright. His plays
include Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Hamlet and King Lear.
John Kerrigan is a lecturer in English at Cambridge University.
