Guest columnist Beth Ann Fennelly analyzes Shakespeare's Sonnet 29 for its enduring relevance. The sonnet describes a speaker's journey from self-pity and envy to finding joy through love. Shakespeare ...

Sonnets are a form of poem that was much loved by William Shakespeare. This one might be his most famous: Sonnet 18. 'Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?' asks Shakespeare. A sonnet is usually ...

With its message of entreaty to a young man to marry and become a father, this sonnet could be read as a covert love letter or the writer merely playing a role Sonnet XIII O! that you were your self; ...

This week's poem comes from a collection of sonnets, songs, pastorals, elegies and epigrams by the newly-rediscovered Elizabethan poet, Robert Sidney. It's untitled, but numbered "Sonnet 30", and ...

Commonly, auditions require contrasting one-minute classical and contemporary monologues. Shakespeare’s well-known speeches remain stalwarts of dramatic literature, and for good reason. However, how ...

Shakespeare’s sonnets are considered some of the literary genius' most popular works, with some - such as Sonnet 18’s “Shall I compare thee to a summer's day” - becoming the best-known works in ...

Our critic A.O. Scott marvels at the power and paradox of a sonnet by Gwendolyn Brooks. Isabella Cotier By A.O. Scott Here’s a poem about patience, about self-control, about the need to conserve your ...

Batter my heart, three person’d God, for you As yet but knock breathe, shine, and seek to mend; That I may rise and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.