When I was offered the new
Vintage Classics edition of Shakespeare’s ‘Sonnets’ for review, my first
reaction was ‘Thanks, but no thanks’ – who was I to read Shakespeare’s sonnets?
Stupid, I know.
Then I realised that I genuinely
had no memory of reading any of these famous poems, and I did an English
Literature degree, so I figured it wasn’t too late to change that and gleefully
accepted the beautiful new edition.
In picking up the book and
sitting down to start it, I was kind of terrified, intimidated, worried. But,
why?
The language is tough and there
aren’t any notes.
I don’t have a teacher or
lecturer on hand to decode them.
I won’t understand them.
What's the point if I don’t
understand them?
After reading only a few sonnets I
realised that no, I don’t really understand them, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t
read them.
Just because I don’t understand
every word doesn’t mean I can't appreciate the feelings, the phrases and the lyricism.
Even the strange words, odd ideas and the fact that I’m reading Shakespeare
without being made to is part of the experience!
I’m still new to poetry and maybe
reading these ‘Sonnets’ is throwing myself in at the deep end, but I think my
lovely friend Caro put it perfectly: “If you have feelings, you’re a poetry
reader!” Can’t say fairer than that really!
How do you feel about
Shakespeare? Are you a poetry pro?
Sophie
No comments:
Post a Comment
Leave a message, I'd love to hear from you!