Love Sonnets is a poetry reading scheduled as part of National Poetry Month for Saturday April 1, 2023. A selection of 34 sonnets, primarily drawn from Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese, will be read by Paul A. Clayton.
(This activity is not sponsored by, associated with, or endorsed by Montgomery County Public Schools or Montgomery County Government, being merely an offering to the public by the reader.)
Attendance is free. There will be light refreshments, and each attendee (up to twenty) will receive a small gift bag that includes chocolates and a Dover Thrift Edition with poetry from Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Motivation
This is a second public reading of this selection, the first being held at the Silver Spring Library in April of 2017. Promotion of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese remains a significant motivation as does increasing others' appreciation for poetry, romantic love, and the library at which I work.
Additional motivation includes my enjoyment of doing such dramatic readings and the pleasure of gift-giving. I also took significant pride in the accomplishment of the 2017 program, and I hope that the reprising will also be done well and be well-received.
The 34 Sonnets
The following works will be read:
- From Amoretti by Edmund Spenser (1552 - 1599): Sonnets 15, 75, and 79
- from William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616): Sonnets 18, 87, 97, 116, and 130
- from John Milton (1608 - 1674), "On His Deceased Wife"
- from Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861): Sonnets 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 20, 21, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 35, 37, 38, 39, and 43
- from Emma Lazarus (1849 - 1887), "Assurance"
- from Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "To L.R.E."
- from Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), "Love Is Not All"
- and from Paul A. Clayton (1965 -), "Reading Sonnets after Loss".
The complete text (along with some comments) is also available.
Refreshments
Food will include croissants, mini-scones, cheeses, crackers, chocolates, cookies, and other snackables. Drinks will include tea, hot chocolate (packets), pink lemonade, and water. (Those wishing to enjoy a good cup of coffee are encouraged to patronize Kefa Cafe in the same building as the library.)