Four hundred and fifty one years ago today, William Shakespeare, arguably the greatest writer in the English language, was born. His plays and poetry are still being studied all over the world in spite of the difficulty of reading Early Modern English and the bard’s complex sentence structures and arcane language.

For those who dare, who want to learn more about Shakespeare’s work, his life, and times but feel overwhelmed by the dense language of the plays, I’ll be offering an Introduction to Shakespeare class online this summer through College of the Siskiyous–ENGL 1033 5031 beginning June 1, 2015.

We will focus on the fascinating social and cultural matrix of Renaissance and Elizabethan England to set the stage for our readings of “Much Ado About Nothing” and “The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra,” along with the sonnets and other poems. Both plays will be produced this summer by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in neighboring Ashland, Oregon.

Lest you think Shakespeare is too old school for you, here’s a poem from “Much Ado.”

Young Man Among Roses, by Nicholas Hilliard, 1588–believed to be the Earl of Essex.

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more;

Men were deceivers ever;

One foot in sea and one on shore,

To one thing constant never;

Then sigh not so,

But let them go,

And be you blithe and bonny;

Converting all your sounds of woe

Into, Hey nonny, nonny.

If you’re ready to read more,  you can check out Jeremy Hylton’s excellent site The Complete Works of William Shakespeare on the Web.

If you’re already a fan, what are your favorite poems and plays? Favorite quotations?