Shakespeare's Sonnets translated into modern English, line by line
The most-read sonnets with the original poem and a plain modern English version side by side — free and printable, with what each famous line actually means.
Confused by a different line? Paste any Shakespeare — any play, any edition — and get it in modern English.
Sonnets
- Sonnet 18Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
- Sonnet 29When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes
- Sonnet 30When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
- Sonnet 55Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
- Sonnet 60Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
- Sonnet 73That time of year thou mayst in me behold
- Sonnet 116Let me not to the marriage of true minds
- Sonnet 130My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
- Sonnet 27Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,
- Sonnet 71No longer mourn for me when I am dead
Famous lines
- “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” — Sonnet 18
- “So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” — Sonnet 18
- “When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes” — Sonnet 29
- “Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate;” — Sonnet 29
- “When to the sessions of sweet silent thought I summon up remembrance of things past,” — Sonnet 30
- “But if the while I think on thee, dear friend, All losses are restor’d and sorrows end.” — Sonnet 30
- “Not marble, nor the gilded monuments Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme;” — Sonnet 55
- “Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, So do our minutes hasten to their end;” — Sonnet 60
- “That time of year thou mayst in me behold” — Sonnet 73
- “Bare ruin’d choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.” — Sonnet 73
Want to read Shakespeare unassisted? The Shakespearean English course teaches the grammar and vocabulary behind these lines — or paste anything into the Shakespearean English translator.