Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 15. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs and whether the works attributed to him were written by others. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Sometime between 15, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith. Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. He remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. He is often called England's national poet and the ' Bard of Avon' (or simply 'the Bard'). He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. 26 April 1564 вЂ“ 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. 'Edgar in his pretence of madness sings scraps of song, Ophelia does like-wise, and it is in the scene where Hamlet confirms in the mind of Polonius the belief in his madness that Hamlet repeats, or as I think more likely, sings, a line or two of an old song.William Shakespeare ( bapt. O, stay and hear your true love's coming, Under the blossom that hangs on the bough. This is a scurvy tune too: but here's my comfort.ДЇreedom, hey-day! hey-day, freedom! freedom, Yet a tailor might scratch her where'er she did itch: She loved not the savour of tar nor of pitch, The master, the swabber, the boatswain and I, This is a very scurvy tune to sing at a man'sДЇuneral: well, here's my comfort. ( The Tempest, 2.1.334-39), Ariel to Gonzalo Let nobody blame him his scorn I approve,. Sing all a green willow must be my garland. Her salt tears fell from her, and soften'd the stones. The fresh streams ran by her, and murmur'd her moans. Her hand on her bosom, her head on her knee, The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore tree, ( Much Ado About Nothing, 5.2.22-25), Benedick (from Christopher Marlowe's The Passionate Shepherd to his Love.)ДЇalstaff (quoting a lyric from Sir Philip Sidney's Astrophel and Stella.) ( The Merry Wives of Windsor, 3.1.17-20), Evans Then nightly sings the staring owl, Tu-whit Mocks married men for thus sings he, Cuckoo. ( 2 Henry IV, 5.3.28-32), Silence to Falstaff and Shallow To contract, O, the time, for-ah, my behove, O, how the wheel becomes it! It is the false steward, You must sing 'a-down a-down, and you call him a-down-a'.

Hark, hark! the lark at heaven's gate sings, Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly: Heigh-ho! sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly: (5.1.91-7)Д®njoy the following selection of songs from Shakespeare's works. The motions of his spirit are dull as night

Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, Lorenzo summarizes the importance of music and song in The Merchant of Venice: Shakespeare's characters are a reflection of his times and they too depend on music for moments of comedy and poignancy, whether it be a drunken sing-along at a crowded table, or a gloomy rhyme borne out of love's disillusionment. London publishers were constantly producing broadside ballads, madrigals, and consort pieces, and most educated people could read music and play a tune on a recorder, lute, or viola da gamba. Music was an integral part of Elizabethan life, as it is today. Not surprisingly, Shakespeare alludes to or includes the text of well over one hundred songs in his works. Shakespeare's Songs: Music in Shakespeare's Plays

Shakespeer sayings