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Shakespeare & Beyond

Order It: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” So begins one of Shakespeare’s most famous poems, Sonnet 18. How well do you know it? Take this quiz to see if you can correctly order all 14 lines of the sonnet.


Visit The Folger Shakespeare to read the full text of all of Shakespeare’s sonnets, along with explanatory notes about Shakespeare’s language, the history of the sonnets, and commentary on the poems’ interpretations.

Don’t miss our two-part interview with Jane Kingsley-Smith on the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast about how Shakespeare’s sonnets were first received in the 16th and 17th centuries, and then later in the 18th century up until today.