Welcome to the
home of the original William Shakespeare Sonnet-a-Day mailing list.
We've been publishing this list for over 5 years now and it
is currently received by over 120,000 subscribers. This
list is published in conjunction with The Literature
Network which spawned this list in the first place. For
more on Shakespeare you can visit the William Shakespeare
page.
We've found that people are
generally more comfortable with a less than daily mailing,
so the list is only mailed out 3 times a week, and this page
is actually only updated 3 times a week. Currently the RSS
feed mirrors this, however we plan to offer a second RSS feed
for people who would like a more accelerated pace.
Sonnet #54
LIV.
O, how much more doth beauty beauteous seem By that sweet ornament which truth doth give! The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem For that sweet odour which doth in it live. The canker-blooms have full as deep a dye As the perfumed tincture of the roses, Hang on such thorns and play as wantonly When summer's breath their masked buds discloses: But, for their virtue only is their show, They live unwoo'd and unrespected fade, Die to themselves. Sweet roses do not so; Of their sweet deaths are sweetest odours made: And so of you, beauteous and lovely youth, When that shall fade, my verse distills your truth.
Today's Sonnet
Sponsored By:
Want to discuss literature with other enthusiasts? Check out the Literature Network Forums and converse with nearly 10,000 other like minded individuals.