Published 2026. Paperback, 172pp, 9x6ins, £14.95 / $23. Second edition.
ISBN 9781873780466. [Download a sample PDF from this volume here.]

Timothy Adès has translated all the 154 sonnets of the Bard’s love-life into lipograms, not using letter E. He has included headings and notes to help the reader to understand and enjoy the narrative that the original poems relate. All the original sonnets are included in parallel with Timothy Adès’ ingenious translations, making this an excellent study guide to William Shakespeare’s sonnets as well as an entertaining collection in itself. Stephen Fry has commented: “I simply do not know if I can find words to applaud your work as much as I should… Genius.”

SONNET 18 Comparing you with a day probably in July or August

I’ll put you up against a balmy day…
You win on looks. Not cold, and not too warm.
Winds cut up rough with darling buds of May;
a two-month contract can’t supply much balm.
Dog-days in August turn to burning hot,
or may contrarily grow all too dim;
and all fair fowls fall foul of you-know-what,
thrown by bad luck, or sunspots, out of trim.
But your hot days will last and last and last,
maintaining tiptop form with full control;
nor shall morticians brag of shadows cast
across your path. My words shall grow your soul.
Mankind may gasp and gawp, unstoppably:
I sign this gift, your immortality.

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