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The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
Every known work of the Bard, in one large volume.
Book Excerpt
The world will wail thee like a makeless wife,
The world will be thy widow and still weep,
That thou no form of thee hast left behind,
When every private widow well may keep,
By children's eyes, her husband's shape in mind:
Look what an unthrift in the world doth spend
Shifts but his place, for still the world enjoys it;
But beauty's waste hath in the world an end,
And kept unused the user so destroys it:
No love toward others in that bosom sits
That on himself such murd'rous shame commits.
The world will be thy widow and still weep,
That thou no form of thee hast left behind,
When every private widow well may keep,
By children's eyes, her husband's shape in mind:
Look what an unthrift in the world doth spend
Shifts but his place, for still the world enjoys it;
But beauty's waste hath in the world an end,
And kept unused the user so destroys it:
No love toward others in that bosom sits
That on himself such murd'rous shame commits.
10
For shame deny that thou bear'st love to any
Who for thy self art so unprovident.
Grant if thou wilt, thou art beloved of many,
But that thou none lov'st is most evident:
For thou art so possessed with murd'rous hate,
That 'gainst thy self thou stick'st not to conspire,
Seeking that beauteous roof to ruinate
Which to repair should be thy chief desire:
O change thy thought, that I may change my mind,
Shall hate be fairer lodged than
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There is a reason why Shakespeare mastered lots of Canon , for which he is the writer with more works in the catalog, translations , sales , productions , adaptations . For the same reason , except the Bible , no other body of work has generated many critical comments as Shakespeare ( there is more books on Hamlet than on the Origin of Species and Newton 's Principia combined ) , and this is just one of the Bard 's work. Be the importance , influence, quality or canonicity , Shakespeare is the greatest of all .
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The plays of Shakespeare along with the writing of Chaucer are often credited as the founding of the modern English language. Many of the plays seem convoluted and somewhat awkward to modern sensibilities. Historians and critics challenge the interpretation of facts by the bard and recently a strange theory has arisen proposing that Shakespeare was actually born of a northern Italian family and brought to Stratford at an early age. If so he seems to have mastered the language rather quickly.
It is not the plays them self which attract me so much as the bard's turn of phrase and wondrous insight. Rather than attempt a review of this book, an almost impossible task I would simply like to list some of the phrases oft quoted from the masters body of work. If you do not appreciate them there is no point reading this volume.
He is little, but he is feared.
To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.
And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.
The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.
Listen to many, speak to a few.
This above all; to thine own self be true.
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.
How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees?
The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
I may neither choose who I would, nor refuse who I dislike; so is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father.
God hath given you one face, and you make yourselves another.
The golden age is before us, not behind us.
Poor and content is rich, and rich enough.
My crown is called content, a crown that seldom kings enjoy.
There is no darkness but ignorance.
When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.
They do not love that do not show their love.
'Tis not enough to help the feeble up, but to support them after.
Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge.
I see that the fashion wears out more apparel than the man.
He that loves to be flattered is worthy o' the flatterer.
'Tis better to bear the ills we have than fly to others that we know not of.
A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.
Please do forgive this exceedingly long list of quotes from the bard. However if these do not please you I suggest you may choose to refrain from this work. If they do please you be assured there are hundreds more to savor.
Please note the "Complete Works of William Shakespeare" are not truly complete.
It is not the plays them self which attract me so much as the bard's turn of phrase and wondrous insight. Rather than attempt a review of this book, an almost impossible task I would simply like to list some of the phrases oft quoted from the masters body of work. If you do not appreciate them there is no point reading this volume.
He is little, but he is feared.
To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.
And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.
The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.
Listen to many, speak to a few.
This above all; to thine own self be true.
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.
How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees?
The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
I may neither choose who I would, nor refuse who I dislike; so is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father.
God hath given you one face, and you make yourselves another.
The golden age is before us, not behind us.
Poor and content is rich, and rich enough.
My crown is called content, a crown that seldom kings enjoy.
There is no darkness but ignorance.
When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.
They do not love that do not show their love.
'Tis not enough to help the feeble up, but to support them after.
Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge.
I see that the fashion wears out more apparel than the man.
He that loves to be flattered is worthy o' the flatterer.
'Tis better to bear the ills we have than fly to others that we know not of.
A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.
Please do forgive this exceedingly long list of quotes from the bard. However if these do not please you I suggest you may choose to refrain from this work. If they do please you be assured there are hundreds more to savor.
Please note the "Complete Works of William Shakespeare" are not truly complete.
04/30/2013
Very good collection
10/30/2012
I am really very happy to download this very rare collection of shakespeare
07/17/2011
Actually, they're there! Here's an index.
Sonnets 5
Alls Well That Ends Well 52
Antony and Cleopatra 105
As You Like It 182
The Comedy of Errors 230
Coriolanus 269
Cymbeline 344
Hamlet 418
Henry IV, Part 1 497
Henry IV, Part 2 553
Henry V 612
Henry VI, Part 1 672
Henry VI, Part 2 735
Henry VI, Part 3 799
Henry VIII 864
King John 934
Julius Caesar 990
King Lear 1045
Love's Labour's Lost 1127
Macbeth 1179
Measure for Measure 1231
The Merchant of Venice 1284
The Merry Wives of Windosor 1336
A Midsummer Night's Dream 1385
Much Ado About Nothing 1429
Othello 1471
Richard II 1540
Richard III 1600
Romeo and Juliet 1684
The Taming of the Shrew 1750
The Tempest 1804
Timon of Athens 1852
Titus Andronicus 1902
Troilus and Cressida 1957
Twelth Night 2027
The Two Gentlemen of Verona 1072
The Winter's Tale 2116
A Lover's Complaint 2179
ONLY MISSING:
"Pericles, Prince of Tyre" and "The Two Noble Kinsmen," which weren't included in the first folio, according to wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare's_plays#Canonical_plays
Sonnets 5
Alls Well That Ends Well 52
Antony and Cleopatra 105
As You Like It 182
The Comedy of Errors 230
Coriolanus 269
Cymbeline 344
Hamlet 418
Henry IV, Part 1 497
Henry IV, Part 2 553
Henry V 612
Henry VI, Part 1 672
Henry VI, Part 2 735
Henry VI, Part 3 799
Henry VIII 864
King John 934
Julius Caesar 990
King Lear 1045
Love's Labour's Lost 1127
Macbeth 1179
Measure for Measure 1231
The Merchant of Venice 1284
The Merry Wives of Windosor 1336
A Midsummer Night's Dream 1385
Much Ado About Nothing 1429
Othello 1471
Richard II 1540
Richard III 1600
Romeo and Juliet 1684
The Taming of the Shrew 1750
The Tempest 1804
Timon of Athens 1852
Titus Andronicus 1902
Troilus and Cressida 1957
Twelth Night 2027
The Two Gentlemen of Verona 1072
The Winter's Tale 2116
A Lover's Complaint 2179
ONLY MISSING:
"Pericles, Prince of Tyre" and "The Two Noble Kinsmen," which weren't included in the first folio, according to wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare's_plays#Canonical_plays
07/14/2011
SInce this work isn't complete, nor index, glossaried, et al. Might I suggest this site. Each item is separate, listed in sections and readable, printable or downloadable as an ePub file. http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/s/shakespeare/william/
12/29/2010
"Complete" is used loosely. No Macbeth, No Richard III, No Prince John, No Much Ado About Nothing, No Twelfth Night... No Cesar, No Romeo and Juliet, No Troilus and Cressida. I'd really rethink this edition, guys.
Add a table of contents, make it so you can cut to the beginnings of individual works.
Add a table of contents, make it so you can cut to the beginnings of individual works.
12/26/2010
It's a very good project.
09/03/2010
Great works. Only problem is it does not have a Glossary, so you do not really know where the stories begin or end. Still, a brief scan over of the book and a few notes can easily correct this.
08/21/2007