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A Personal Anthology of Shakespeare, compiled by Martin Clifton

by William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

This personal anthology is my choice of speeches from Shakespeare that I enjoy reading (that I would like to have had by heart years ago!) and that seem to me to illustrate his unsurpassed use of language. He was a man who seemed to know everything about human nature and as Orson Welles said ‘he speaks to everyone and we all claim him’. I know that it has been said that ‘it is impossible to be a great Shakespearian actor without an idiosyncratic and extraordinary voice’ and this may be so, but that does not preclude ordinary mortals from reading, hearing and enjoying Shakespeare. (Summary by Martin Clifton)

• Wikipedia – William Shakespeare
• LibriVox’s A Personal Anthology of Shakespeare, compiled by Martin Clifton Internet Archive page
• Zip file of the entire book (16.2MB)
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Read by Martin Clifton

mp3 and ogg files

• As You Like It (Act 2, Scene 7) : All the World’s a Stage – 00:01:41
  [mp3@64kbps - 0.8MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 1.6MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 1.2MB]
• Hamlet (Act 1, Scene 3) : To Thine Own Self Be True – 00:01:36
  [mp3@64kbps - 0.7MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 1.5MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 1.2MB]
• Hamlet (Act 2, Scene 2) : What a Piece of Work Is Man – 00:01:24
  [mp3@64kbps - 0.6MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 1.3MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 1.1MB]
• Hamlet (Act 3, Scene 1) : To Be or Not To Be – 00:02:01
  [mp3@64kbps - 0.9MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 1.9MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 1.5MB]
• Hamlet (Act 3, Scene 2) : Speak the Speech – 00:02:11
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  [mp3@128kbps - 2.1MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 1.7MB]
• Julius Caesar (Act 1, Scene 2) : Bestrides the Narrow World – 00:01:47
  [mp3@64kbps - 0.8MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 1.7MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 1.4MB]
• Julius Caesar (Act 3, Scene 2) : If You Have Tears Prepare To Shed Them Now – 00:01:51
  [mp3@64kbps - 0.8MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 1.7MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 1.4MB]
• Julius Caesar (Act 3, Scene 2) : Friends, Romans, Countrymen – 00:02:01
  [mp3@64kbps - 1.0MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 1.9MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 1.5MB]
• Julius Caesar (Act 3, Scene 2) : Let Me Not Stir You Up – 00:01:22
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  [mp3@128kbps - 1.3MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 1.1MB]
• Julius Caesar (Act 5, Scene 5) : This Was the Noblest Roman of Them All – 00:00:41
  [mp3@64kbps - 0.3MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 0.6MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 0.5MB]
• King Henry V (Act 3, Scene 1) : Once More Unto the Breach – 00:01:55
  [mp3@64kbps - 0.9MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 1.8MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 1.4MB]
• King Henry V (Act 4, Scene 3) : This Day is Called the Feast of Crispian – 00:01:43
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  [mp3@128kbps - 1.6MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 1.3MB]
• King Richard III (Act 1, Scene 1) : Now is the Winter of Our Discontent – 00:02:18
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  [mp3@128kbps - 2.2MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 1.8MB]
• Macbeth (Act 1, Scene 7) : If It Were Done – 00:01:47
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  [mp3@128kbps - 1.7MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 1.4MB]
• Macbeth (Act 2, Scene 1) : Is This a Dagger – 00:02:06
  [mp3@64kbps - 1.0MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 2.0MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 1.6MB]
• The Merchant of Venice (Act 1, Scene 3) : Many a Time and Oft – 00:01:27
  [mp3@64kbps - 0.6MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 1.3MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 1.1MB]
• The Merchant of Venice (Act 3, Scene 1) : If You Prick Us Do We Not Bleed – 00:01:36
  [mp3@64kbps - 0.7MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 1.5MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 1.2MB]
• The Merchant of Venice (Act 4, Scene 1) : The Quality of Mercy – 00:01:26
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  [mp3@128kbps - 1.3MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 1.1MB]
• Romeo and Juliet (Act 2, Scene 2) : What Light Through Yonder Window Breaks – 00:01:28
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  [mp3@128kbps - 1.4MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 1.1MB]
• Romeo and Juliet (Act 2, Scene 2) : Romeo, Romeo – 00:01:10
  [mp3@64kbps - 0.5MB]
  [mp3@128kbps - 1.1MB]
  [ogg vorbis - 0.8MB]