FEATURED POSTS
Sonnet for Advent 10: Sonnet 63
In trying to conquer time, the poet first imagines time’s devastating effects. ...
Sonnets for Advent 9: Sonnet 55
One of the recurring themes in Shakespeare’s Sonnets is the power of ...
Sonnet for Advent 8: Sonnet 50
In Sonnet 50, Shakespeare’s unhappiness at being separated from his friend is ...
RECENT POSTS
Sonnet for Advent 7: Sonnet 36
Today’s sonnet is about the difficulty of love, ‘a separable spite’ that steals ‘sweet hours from love’s delight’. The lovers – and the relationship between the poet and the addressee ...
Sonnet for Advent 6: Sonnet 26
Sonnet 26 is distinctive because it is addressed to the ‘Lord of my love’ to whom the poet feels subordinate. The sonnet is presented as a ‘written embassage’ and has ...
Sonnet for Advent 5: Sonnet 14
A bright particular star plays an important part in the Christmas story. It leads the Magi to Bethlehem where they find ‘the King of Jews’. Sonnet 14 seemed like a ...
Sonnets for Advent 4: Sonnet 7
‘People look East’ is a good Advent cry (from Eleanor Farjeon’s carol), and here in Sonnet 7 we have ‘Lo, in the orient’, as the sun rises in the East. ...
Sonnets for Advent 3: Sonnet 6
Sonnet 6 forms a pair with Sonnet 5. The image of a child being like a precious distillation continues into the first quatrain, and then we hit – perhaps, but ...
#DearShakespeare @ShakesUnbard
If you could ask Shakespeare one thing, what would it be? This post was written by post-graduate students on the ‘Shakespeare and Creativity’ course at The Shakespeare Institute, University of ...
Sonnets for Advent 2: Sonnet 5
The ‘lovely gaze where every eye doth dwell’ might seem like summer now, but winter is on its way, and the only way is to store up some of summer’s ...
Sonnets for Advent 1: Sonnet 3
Here begin our Sonnets for Advent: one a day for the next 24 days to help lead us up to Christmas. In Sonnet 3, the speaker addresses a male subject ...
Poetry at the Palace!
Tuesday 19 November saw an extraordinary gathering. When I arrived, there was already a long queue outside the main gates of Buckingham Palace. Police were carefully checking passports and driving ...
