Sonnet 23, by William Shakespeare

Another installment of our Weekly Poetry Project: every week someone chooses a public domain poem (not too long) and posts it on the forum under Readers Wanted/Weekly Poetry. Everyone is encouraged to record a version of it.

This past week we chose:
Sonnet 23, by William Shakespeare

XXIII

As an unperfect actor on the stage,
Who with his fear is put beside his part,
Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage,
Whose strength’s abundance weakens his own heart;
So I, for fear of trust, forget to say
The perfect ceremony of love’s rite,
And in mine own love’s strength seem to decay,
O’ercharg’d with burthen of mine own love’s might.
O! let my looks be then the eloquence
And dumb presagers of my speaking breast,
Who plead for love, and look for recompense,
More than that tongue that more hath more express’d.
O! learn to read what silent love hath writ:
To hear with eyes belongs to love’s fine wit.

And here is the randomly-chosen weekly poetry podcast, from among the eight readers:
Gord reads: Sonnet 23.

The other seven fine versions are on our catalog page.

Check the forum for our next Weekly Poem and join the fun!