[General] Why are Shakespears's sonnets without titles?

[thedaffodils]

Hello! Could someone please tell me why Shakespears's sonnets are without any titles if it is explainable? Many thanks!

[Anglika]

Probably because he did not see the need to title them. It is possible he saw titles as interfering with the reading of the sonnets.

This is a very comprehensive site about them: http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/titlecomm.htm

[thedaffodils]

Hello Anglika,

Thank you for your answer and recommendation.

[adolfoceli]

Shakespeare's Sonnets have been translated into Standard Croatian several times since the middle of the twentieth century. Yet another Croatian translation appeared in 2000.The recent translation of Shakespeare's Sonnets is another contribution in a series. Shakespeare’s earliest poems, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece, were probably composed when the theatres were closed because of the plague.
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adolfo
Link Building

[BobK]

Originally Posted by Anglika

Probably because he did not see the need to title them. It is possible he saw titles as interfering with the reading of the sonnets.

This is a very comprehensive site about them: The amazing web site of Shakespeare's Sonnets. Commentary. Title page.

Also, he may have felt that it would have been 'cheating', or he might have been aware that other people might think it was. Writing a sonnet is a challenge, and poets meet that challenge by keeping to the rules (metre, line-count - see Anglika's site) while at the same time conveying something worth saying. It's quite difficult - but possible - to write something that doesn't 'break the rules'; it's even more difficult to produce a poem worth reading.

Shakespeare was already breaking one rule (about rhyme scheme), but he broke it so successfully that his version became a new rule. So maybe he felt that adding to the overall effect by adding what could be seen as another line would be cheating.

b

[thedaffodils]

Hello BobK,

Thank you for your comment.

I have been flinching about reading Shakespears's works because Early Modern English in his writing beats me. So far, I've just learned one of his works -the Sonnet 18.

If you or someone else know the annotated works of his or a dictionary about the words of Early Modern English which is online accessible without restriction, please kindly let me know. I'd like to take a stab at them. Thanks in advance!

[BobK]

Isn't that site that Anglika mentioned what you need? - Maybe you need more notes. If so I'm sorry the only ones I know are printed (the Arden Shakespeare, edited by Stanley Wells [I think]); but I don't know whether that covers the sonnets. For general stuff on the sonnet form, there's Sonnet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (and especially Shakespeare's sonnets - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ), but I guess you'd found those already. There's also Shakespeare's Sonnets: Resources & Translations of Shakespeare's Sonnets ( I haven't looked very far, but it seems promising.)

b

[thedaffodils]

Anglika and BobK,

I am very sorry for my carelessness. When I clicked the URL link which Anglika recommended, and skimmed through the Sonnets, I found there're a few words of thou, thee, etc. I had thought it were the orginal works of Sharespeare's. I read them again just now, I found they are written mostly in the English language I learn. Thus, they are easier for me.

And BobK, I appreciate you took time to locate those relevant websites about Shakespeare's works for me.

I will read them all carefully this time. Thank you guys very much for all the help and efforts you have been offering to me.

Best regards,

TD