Shakespeare’s Sonnets

Shakespeare’s Sonnets

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Shakespeare’s Sonnets episodes

  • Sonnet 134: So now I have confessed that he is thine
    So now I have confessed that he is thine,
    And I myself am mortgaged to thy will,
    Myself I’ll forfeit, so that other mine
    Thou wilt restore to be my comfort still:
    But thou wilt not, nor he will not be free,
    For thou art covetous, and he is kind;
    He learned but surety-like to write for me
    Under that bond that him as fast doth bind.
    The statute of thy beauty thou wilt take,
    Thou usurer that put’st forth all to use,
    And sue a friend came debtor for my sake,
    So him I lose through my unkind abuse.
    Him have I lost, thou hast both him and me;
    He pays the whole, and yet I am not free.

    William Shakespeare

    Presenters

    Mark Chatterley
    Thierry Heles
    28 min
  • Sonnet 133: Beshrew that heart that makes my heart to groan
    Beshrew that heart that makes my heart to groan
    For that deep wound it gives my friend and me;
    Is’t not enough to torture me alone,
    But slave to slavery my sweet’st friend must be?
    Me from my self thy cruel eye hath taken,
    And my next self thou harder hast engrossed;
    Of him, my self, and thee I am forsaken,
    A torment thrice threefold thus to be crossed.
    Prison my heart in thy steel bosom’s ward,
    But then my friend’s heart let my poor heart bail;
    Whoe’er keeps me, let my heart be his guard;
    Thou canst not then use rigour in my jail.
    And yet thou wilt, for I being pent in thee,
    Perforce am thine, and all that is in me.

    William Shakespeare

    Presenters

    Mark Chatterley
    Thierry Heles
    27 min
  • Sonnet 132: Thine eyes I love, and they, as pitying me
    Thine eyes I love, and they, as pitying me,
    Knowing thy heart torment me with disdain,
    Have put on black, and loving mourners be,
    Looking with pretty ruth upon my pain.
    And truly not the morning sun of heaven
    Better becomes the grey cheeks of the east,
    Nor that full star that ushers in the even
    Doth half that glory to the sober west
    As those two mourning eyes become thy face.
    O let it then as well beseem thy heart
    To mourn for me, since mourning doth thee grace,
    And suit thy pity like in every part.
    Then will I swear beauty herself is black,
    And all they foul that thy complexion lack.
    William Shakespeare

    Presenters

    Mark Chatterley
    Thierry Heles
    25 min
  • Sonnet 131: Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art
    Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art,
    As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel;
    For well thou knowst, to my dear doting heart
    Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel.
    Yet in good faith some say, that thee behold,
    Thy face hath not the power to make love groan;
    To say they err, I dare not be so bold,
    Although I swear it to myself alone;
    And to be sure that is not false, I swear
    A thousand groans but thinking on thy face;
    One on another’s neck do witness bear
    Thy black is fairest in my judgment’s place.
    In nothing art thou black save in thy deeds,
    And thence this slander, as I think, proceeds.
    William Shakespeare

    Presenters

    Mark Chatterley
    Thierry Heles
    26 min
  • Sonnet 130: My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun
    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

    Presenters

    Mark Chatterley
    Thierry Heles
    22 min
  • Sonnet 129: The expense of spirit in a waste of shame
    The expense of spirit in a waste of shame
    Is lust in action: and till action, lust
    Is perjur’d, murderous, bloody, full of blame,
    Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust;
    Enjoy’d no sooner but despised straight;
    Past reason hunted; and no sooner had,
    Past reason hated, as a swallow’d bait,
    On purpose laid to make the taker mad:
    Mad in pursuit and in possession so;
    Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;
    A bliss in proof,— and prov’d, a very woe;
    Before, a joy propos’d; behind a dream.
    All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
    To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.

    William Shakespeare

    Presenters

    Mark Chatterley
    Thierry Heles
    20 min
  • Sonnet 128: How oft when thou, my music, music play’st
    How oft when thou, my music, music play’st,
    Upon that blessed wood whose motion sounds
    With thy sweet fingers when thou gently sway’st
    The wiry concord that mine ear confounds,
    Do I envy those jacks that nimble leap,
    To kiss the tender inward of thy hand,
    Whilst my poor lips which should that harvest reap,
    At the wood’s boldness by thee blushing stand!
    To be so tickled, they would change their state
    And situation with those dancing chips,
    O’er whom thy fingers walk with gentle gait,
    Making dead wood more bless’d than living lips.
    Since saucy jacks so happy are in this,
    Give them thy fingers, me thy lips to kiss.

    William Shakespeare

    Presenters

    Mark Chatterley
    Thierry Heles
    22 min
  • Sonnet 127: In the old age black was not counted fair
    In the old age black was not counted fair,
    Or if it were, it bore not beauty’s name;
    But now is black beauty’s successive heir,
    And beauty slandered with a bastard shame:
    For since each hand hath put on Nature’s power,
    Fairing the foul with art’s false borrowed face,
    Sweet beauty hath no name, no holy bower,
    But is profaned, if not lives in disgrace.
    Therefore my mistress’ eyes are raven black,
    Her eyes so suited, and they mourners seem
    At such who, not born fair, no beauty lack,
    Sland’ring creation with a false esteem:
    Yet so they mourn, becoming of their woe,
    That every tongue says beauty should look so.

    William Shakespeare

    Presenters

    Mark Chatterley
    Thierry Heles
    31 min
  • Sonnet 126: O thou, my lovely boy, who in thy power
    O thou, my lovely boy, who in thy power
    Dost hold Time’s fickle glass, his sickle, hour;
    Who hast by waning grown, and therein show’st
    Thy lovers withering, as thy sweet self grow’st.
    If Nature, sovereign mistress over wrack,
    As thou goest onwards, still will pluck thee back,
    She keeps thee to this purpose, that her skill
    May time disgrace and wretched minutes kill.
    Yet fear her, O thou minion of her pleasure!
    She may detain, but not still keep, her treasure:
    Her audit (though delayed) answered must be,
    And her quietus is to render thee.
    (        )
    (        )

    William Shakespeare

    Presenters

    Mark Chatterley
    Thierry Heles
    27 min
  • Sonnet 125: Were’t aught to me I bore the canopy
    Were’t aught to me I bore the canopy,
    With my extern the outward honouring,
    Or laid great bases for eternity,
    Which proves more short than waste or ruining?
    Have I not seen dwellers on form and favour
    Lose all and more by paying too much rent
    For compound sweet; forgoing simple savour,
    Pitiful thrivers, in their gazing spent?
    No; let me be obsequious in thy heart,
    And take thou my oblation, poor but free,
    Which is not mix’d with seconds, knows no art,
    But mutual render, only me for thee.
    Hence, thou suborned informer! a true soul
    When most impeach’d, stands least in thy control.

    William Shakespeare

    Presenters

    Mark Chatterley
    Thierry Heles
    30 min

About Shakespeare’s Sonnets

From the publisher's feed

The 154 sonnets that Shakespeare penned are some of the most famous in the world. But have you ever heard them all? This podcast series will take you through them one by one in easy 15 minute…