Classic Remarks is a meme hosted on Pages Unbound that poses questions each Friday about classic literature and asks participants to engage in ongoing discussions surrounding not only themes in the novels but also questions about canon formation, the “timelessness” of literature, and modes of interpretation.

This Weeks Prompt:
Tell us about your favorite poem or poet.

I know it’s probably a cliche, but I like Shakespeare. I don’t read a lot of famous poets, I stick to local poetry publications usually, but I really enjoy Shakespeare’s Sonnets.

There’s something so magical about the lyrical flow of Shakespeare’s work. It’s forgiving in a way that other poetry is not. With most poems, if you don’t read them correctly (if your timing is off) it’s going to sound completely horrible, or like something written by a third grader. But with Shakespeare, you can read it any way you like and it’s going to sound beautiful anyway.

Not to mention you get the fun of picking it apart!

My favorite is Sonnet 130:

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 hath 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.

What are your favorite poems/poets?