The best sonnets. William Shakespeare's sonnets about female beauty

The name of William Shakespeare is well known to all schoolchildren thanks to the plays "Romeo and Juliet", "Othello" and "Hamlet". However, not all students know about Shakespeare's sonnets.

A sonnet is not a simple verse, but a poetic work of a certain form, consisting of 14 lines. In Shakespeare's sonnets, the following rhyme is adopted: abab cdcd efef gg, that is, three quatrains for cross rhymes and one couplet.

In total, Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, and most of them were created in the years 1592-1599. The entire cycle of sonnets is divided into separate thematic groups:

• Sonnets dedicated to a friend;
• Sonnets dedicated to a swarthy lover;
  Joy and beauty of love.

Let's look at Shakespeare's popular sonnets in English and their translation.

Sonnet 57 (Sonnet 57)

Watch the recitation of Sonnet 57 by BBC actors.

Sonnet 66 (Sonnet 66)

You can listen to the recitation of sonnet 66 by William Shakespeare below:

Sonnet 71 (Sonnet 71)

And here is the rendition of Sonnet 71:

Sonnet 90 (Sonnet 90)

Recitation of sonnet 90 in English in the video below:

Sonnet 102 (Sonnet 102)

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The sonnet is a special form of poem that originated in the 13th century in the poetry of the Provencal troubadours. From Provence, sonnet poetry passed to Italy, where it reached perfection in the works of Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarca, Giovanni Boccaccio.

The classic Italian sonnet consists of fourteen lines and is divided into two parts - an octave (octave), which includes two quatrains (quatrains), and a sextet (six lines), which breaks up into two tercetes (three lines). From Italian poets, the Spanish, French and English adopted the sonnet form in the 17th century. Sonnet poetry reached its peak in England at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries.
The sonnet form was used by Thomas Wyeth, Henry Howard, Earl Surry, Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser. In the last decade of the 16th century, Shakespeare also wrote his Sonnets. At that time, another form of the sonnet was developed, which was called the English, or Shakespearean. Shakespeare's sonnet also has fourteen lines, but it consists of three quatrains and a final couplet (couplet).

From the very beginning of sonnet poetry, poems were dedicated to one person. This is how the cycles of sonnets, connected by internal unity, arose.

Dedications also unite Shakespeare's "Sonnets". In the original, 126 sonnets are addressed to a friend, the rest - to a beloved. However, in Russian translations, some sonnets dedicated to a friend are addressed to a woman. In some cases, this is due to the absence of the grammatical category of gender in the English language, which often makes it difficult to unambiguously determine the addressee of the sonnet.

The sonnet form of a poem is still relevant and is used by modern poets as a classical form of creating a poetic work. Poems in the form of sonnets are popular in teaching versification, as writing a sonnet requires a certain level of poetic skill.

1.2. William Shakespeare - master of the sonnet

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet and Renaissance actor. He was born in the small town of Stratford-upon-Avon on April 23, 1564 and died there on April 23, 1616. In world history, he is undoubtedly the most famous and significant playwright who had a huge impact on the development of all theatrical art. The stage works of Shakespeare still do not leave the theater stage all over the world today.
Continues to remain a mystery to this day, despite countless studies, the most famous part of Shakespeare's poetic legacy is his sonnets. There are 154 of them in total and most of them were written in 1592-1599. They were first printed in 1609 without the knowledge of the author.

The entire cycle of sonnets is divided into separate thematic groups:

Sonnets dedicated to a friend: 1-126
Chanting a friend: 1-26
Friendship Trials: 27-99
Bitterness of separation: 27-32
First disappointment in a friend: 33-42
Anguish and fear: 43-55
Growing alienation and melancholy: 56-75
Rivalry and jealousy towards other poets: 76-96
"Winter" of separation: 97-99
A celebration of renewed friendship: 100-126
Sonnets dedicated to the swarthy beloved: 127-152
Conclusion - the joy and beauty of love: 153-154
Shakespeare is one of the creators of the so-called English form of the sonnet, often even called Shakespearean.

The English sonnet consists of three quatrains (12 lines) and a final couplet, usually summing up what has been said or, on the contrary, containing a thought that contrasts with the main part of the sonnet. Shakespeare's sonnets are usually written in iambic pentameter with a predominantly masculine rhyme. However, Shakespeare handles the meter quite freely and in many cases one can detect metric fluctuations.

W. Shakespeare's sonnets represent one of the pinnacles of world poetry.

1.3. History of translations of W. Shakespeare's sonnets in Russia

Shakespeare's sonnets did not immediately become known to the general public. For almost a century, the Russian public got acquainted with translations and reworkings of Shakespeare's tragedies, knowing nothing about sonnets, and for almost a century, until the appearance of Marshak's translations, considering them at best a source of information about the life of the great playwright, and at worst - an elegant but empty fun genius.

One of the first mentions of Shakespeare as the author of sonnets belongs to Pushkin. In his famous "Sonnet" he, following the example of Wordsworth and Sainte-Beuve, whose poems served as his source, names Shakespeare among the classics of the genre, although he does not give his poetry a laconic, but clear characterization, similar to that which he gives to Petrarch's sonnet work. , Camoens, Miscavige and Wordsworth himself. In 1841, Belinsky, in his article "The division of poetry into genera and types," included Shakespeare's sonnets and poems among the works that make up "the richest treasury of lyric poetry."

The beginning of the 40s of the XIX century was the time of the greatest popularity of Shakespeare in Russia, a genuine Shakespearean cult. In an effort to present Shakespeare's work as fully as possible, Russian journals also turn to his lyrics. “Apparently, everything happened as it is written,” summed up the author of “Son of the Fatherland”. In 1841, a note translated from French appeared in the Literary Gazette. Its author, referring to the minor English writer Rogers, argued that “he sins against the name of Shakespeare who reveres him as the author of sonnets. In all Shakespearean dramas there are many places that bear an irrefutable sign of his spirit ... sonnets, on the contrary, do not contain a single line that any other poet could not write.

The following year, in 1842, an article by V.P. Botkin "Shakespeare as a man and a lyricist" - the first analysis of Shakespeare's sonnets in Russian criticism. According to Botkin, they "complete what, regarding Shakespeare's inner mood, cannot be learned from his dramas."

In 1865-1868, N. Gerbel prepared the first complete collection of Shakespeare's dramatic works in Russia. His appeal to the translation of sonnets is explained by the desire to present in his new edition all the works of Shakespeare. It was N.V. Gerbel who really introduced the Russian reader to the sonnets, although, despite some successes, these translations were aesthetically unequal, and some were simply weak.

N. Gerbel's translations were negatively received by Russian critics. “It is ridiculous and pitiful to look at this unequal struggle of a dwarf with a giant, a frog with an ox,” N.I. wrote in a review of this translation. Storozhenko and advised Gerbel to atone for his guilt before the readers by translating the sonnets once again into prose.

In 1914, Modest Tchaikovsky first translated almost all sonnets in iambic pentameter. In addition, it is worth noting that the edition carried out by Tchaikovsky was bilingual - the translator invited the reader to compare his work with the original. However, this desire for maximum accuracy, not supported by a sufficiently high level of poetic technique, often made Tchaikovsky's translations heavy and clumsy. And although Tchaikovsky had his luck, his work could not replace the Hungarian edition in the mind of the Russian reader.

The main event in the history of the perception of Shakespeare's sonnets on Russian soil, of course, were the translations of S. Marshak. The first of them (sonnet 32) appeared in 1943 in the Znamya magazine. The poet here was still trying on Shakespeare - the rhyming system, style, basic lexical means had already been found, but individual inaccurate expressions, intonation interruptions, and most importantly, an awkward combination of five-foot and six-foot verse gave the sound of the sonnet some kind of fuzziness, especially noticeable against the background of printed in the same issue of the journal of mature translations by S. Marshak from Wordsworth and Burns. Shakespeare's lyrics had already been seen and comprehended by him, it remained to bring the focus, as it were. And in Marshak's translations, which began to be published in 1945, there is no trace of this vagueness - they are strict and polished. Success was determined immediately.

In 1948, S. Marshak was awarded the State Prize for his translations of sonnets.

At the end of 1969, several sonnets were published in the Alma-Ata magazine "Prostor", and in 1977 in the collection "Shakespeare's Readings" - all Shakespeare's sonnets translated by the Kharkov linguist A.M. Finkel, never published during the life of the author. In the preface to the latest publication, A. Anikst noted that Finkel's translations are more difficult to read than Marshakov's, but this "difficulty in reading is not a consequence of inability, but the inevitable result of Finkel's desire to convey as fully as possible the full complexity of Shakespeare's lyrics" . A. Finkel is characterized by the desire to get as close as possible to the original. And often he manages to quite accurately reproduce the intricate contours of Shakespeare's images, but sometimes the price of this approximation is some kind of academic dryness of intonation.

This year marks 402 years since the publication of the sonnets. For the last century and a half they have been known in Russia.

N.V. Gerbel introduced sonnets into the circle of Shakespearean works, subject to translation and comprehension. S.Ya.Marshak turned them into an outstanding phenomenon of national culture.

Interfere with the union of two hearts
I don't intend to. Can treason
Love boundless put an end to?
Love knows no loss and decay.

Love is a beacon raised above the storm,
Not fading in darkness and fog.
Love is the star that sailor
Defines a place in the ocean.

Love is not a pathetic doll in your hands
By the time that erases the roses
On fiery lips and cheeks,
And she is not afraid of time threats.

And if I'm wrong and my verse lies,
Then there is no love - and there are no my poems!

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:

Oh no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth "s unknown, although his height be taken.

Love "s not Time" s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be an error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Sonnet 130
Her eyes don't look like stars
You can’t call the mouth corals,
Not snow-white shoulders open skin,
And a strand twists like a black wire.

With a damask rose, scarlet or white,
You can not compare the shade of these cheeks.
And the body smells like the body smells,
Not like a violet delicate petal.

You won't find perfect lines in it
Special light on the forehead.
I don't know how goddesses walk
But the darling walks the earth.

And yet she will hardly yield to those
Who was slandered in lush comparisons.

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 has 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.

Sonnet 27
Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,
The dear repose for limbs with travel tired;
But then begins a journey in my head,
To work my mind, when body "s work" s expired:

For then my thoughts, from far where I abide,
Intend a zealous pilgrimage to thee,
And keep my drooping eyelids open wide,
Looking on darkness which the blind do see

Save that my soul's imaginary sight
Presents thy shadow to my sightless view,
Which, like a jewel hung in ghostly night,
Makes black night beauteous and her old face new.

Lo! thus, by day my limbs, by night my mind,
For thee and for myself no quiet find.

Work exhausted, I want to sleep,
Blissful rest to find in bed.
But as soon as I lie down, I start on my way again -
In their dreams - to the same goal.

My dreams and feelings for the hundredth time
They come to you by the way of the pilgrim,
And without closing tired eyes,
I see the darkness that even the blind can see.

With the diligent gaze of the heart and mind
In the darkness I'm looking for you, devoid of sight.
And the darkness seems glorious
When you enter it as a light shadow.

I can't find peace from love.
Day and night, I'm always on the go.

Sonnet 29
When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deal heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate,

Wishing me like to one more rich in hope
Featured like him, like him with friends possess "d,
Desiring this man "s art and that man" s scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;

Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven "s gate;

For your sweet love remember "d such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

When in discord with the world and fate,
Remembering the years full of adversity,
I worry with a fruitless plea
Deaf and indifferent sky

And, complaining about the woeful lot,
Ready to change your lot
With those who are more successful in art,
Rich in hope and loved by people, -

Then, suddenly remembering you,
I swear a pitiful cowardice,
And a lark, contrary to fate,
My soul is on the rise.

With your love, with the memory of her
I am stronger than all the kings in the world.

To the question Shakespeare's easiest sonnet. Tell me, what do you think is the easiest Shakespeare's sonnet. It needs to be learned urgently. given by the author Anna kissil the best answer is Her eyes don't look like stars
You can’t call the mouth corals,
Not snow-white shoulders open skin,
And a strand twists like a black wire.
With damask rose scarlet or white
You can not compare the shade of these cheeks,
And the body smells like the body smells,
And not violets delicate petal.
You won't find perfect lines in it
Special light on the forehead.
I don't know how goddesses walk
But the darling walks the earth.
And yet she will give in to those hardly,
Who was slandered in lush comparisons.

Answer from Neurologist[guru]
I call death. I can't bear to see
Dignity that begs for alms
Over simplicity mocking lie,
Nothingness in luxurious attire,
And perfection is a false sentence,
And virginity, rudely desecrated,
And inappropriate honor shame
And power is a prisoner of toothless weakness,
And directness, which is reputed to be stupid,
And stupidity in the mask of a sage, a prophet,
And inspiration clamped mouth
And righteousness in the service of vice.
Everything is disgusting that I see around...
But how can you leave my dear friend!

Answer from Doubt..[guru]
I don't know about lightness, just one of my favorites
sonnet 54. I like Marshak's translation.

Answer from way[guru]
I like this:
Sonnet 45 (The other two foundations of the universe) Trans. S. Marshak
The other two foundations of the universe -
Fire and air are lighter.
The breath of thought and the fire of desire
I send to you, despite the space.
When they are two free elements -
Love will fly to you as an embassy,
The rest stay with me
And burden my soul with weight.
I yearn, out of balance,
While the elements of spirit and fire
They won't rush back to me with the news,
That a friend is healthy and remembers me.
How happy I am! . But again in a moment
Fly to you and thoughts and aspirations.
Although, I think you should choose the sonnet that warms the soul and matches exactly your mood, then it will be easy to remember ...

Answer from petitioner[guru]
If you fall out of love - so now,
Now that the whole world is at odds with me.
Be the bitterest of my losses
But not the last straw of grief!
And if I can overcome grief,
Don't ambush.
Let the stormy night not be resolved
Rainy morning, morning without consolation...
Leave me, but not at the last moment
When from small troubles I will weaken.
Leave me to understand again
That this grief is more painful than all adversity.
That there are no adversities, but there is one trouble -
Lose your love forever!
Sonnet 90. Translation by S. Ya. Marshak.

Answer from Galina Kitcha[guru]
Sneak time with fine craftsmanship
A magical holiday poses for the eyes.
And the same time in a circular run
It takes away everything that makes us happy.
Hours and days unrestrained flow
Leads the summer into the twilight of winter days,
Where there is no foliage, the juice froze in the trees,
The earth is dead and a white cloak is on it.
And only the aroma of blooming roses -
Flying prisoner, locked in glass -
Reminds me of cold and frost
That summer was on earth.
The flowers have lost their former brilliance,
But they kept the soul of beauty.

Answer from Alyona[guru]
if you fall out of love, so now

Answer from well now[active]
Her eyes are not stars, I will not hide
And the redness of the lips with coral cannot be compared,
And the chest is not as white as snow in winter,
And hair is like a wire thread.
I met many roses at the time of flowering,
But there are none like her on her cheeks;
From the smells of others I am in admiration,
Than those that left their mark on her.
I love her conversation, but I know
That music is more pleasant to listen to;
Slender goddesses gait - I admit:
It is not given to her, as they do, it is easy to step.
And yet, oh heaven, there is no comparison:
My love, you are rare!

Answer from Lyosha Donetsk[newbie]
The heart with the eye has a secret pact:
They relieve each other's pain
When your gaze searches in vain
And the heart suffocates in separation.
Your image of a keen eye
Gives and heart to admire plenty.
And the heart to the eye at its appointed hour
Dreams of love give way to share.
So in my thoughts or in the flesh
You are in front of me at any moment.
You can go no farther than a thought.
I am inseparable from her, she is with you.
My gaze draws you in a dream
And wakes up the heart sleeping in me.