The Sonnets cover art

The Sonnets

 Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Sonnets

By: William Shakespeare
Narrated by: Alex Jennings
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £11.99

Buy Now for £11.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Everyone knows something of Shakespeare's sonnets, even if only in memorable fragments like "the darling buds of May," or "remembrance of things past," or "the marriage of true minds." For centuries these wonderfully crafted, intense lyrics have stood for something valued about youth, love, and the emotional complexities belonging to that time of life. This new recording presents all 154 of Shakespeare's sonnets, using the New Cambridge Shakespeare texts.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©1997 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd. (P)1997 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd. European Literary History & Criticism Poetry Shakespeare
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

 All the Sonnets of Shakespeare cover art
The Two Noble Kinsmen cover art
Henry VIII cover art
Shakespeare: The Complete Works cover art
Timon of Athens cover art
The Tempest cover art
Hamlet cover art
The Merchant of Venice cover art
Cymbeline (BBC Radio 3: Drama on 3) cover art
King Lear cover art
Romeo and Juliet cover art
Measure for Measure: The Arkangel Shakespeare cover art
Troilus and Cressida cover art
The Winter's Tale cover art
Henry V cover art
BBC Radio Shakespeare: A Collection of Four History Plays cover art

Editor reviews

William Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets on subjects ranging from love and beauty to time and mortality, and this audiobook presents them all, narrated with empathy and brio by Royal Shakespeare Company actor Alex Jennings. Groundbreaking and unusual at the time they were published, Shakespeare's sonnets are still thought-provoking today, with many lines that are oft-referenced in modern literature and popular culture, from "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day" in Sonnet 18, to "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun" in Sonnet 130. With their rolling cadence and dramatic subjects, these poems are at their best when performed live, as this compelling recording more than proves.

Critic reviews

"Jennings would get the Oscar for this extraordinary reading of my all time favourite collection. Intelligent, passionate, restrained, it's all of these and more. A 5-Star performance."( The Guardian)

What listeners say about The Sonnets

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    15
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    15
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.co.uk reviews

Amazon reviews
Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Recent customer

This is the best audio book I've ever bought

brilliantly narrated, all emotions sensitively handled and quite literally a life saver during the pandemic. highly recommended.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for B

20 May 1609 - 2009

Alex Jennings is one of the best of the few in his generation who can do this very particular performance superbly

We should all be listening to them from this week onwards - it was 20 May 1609 that WS took them in to be published !

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful