Skip to main content
The Collation

Pop Shakespeare's typography

If you’ve been spending any time on social media recently, you’re likely to have come across Pop Sonnets, a new Tumblr that provides, in their words, “Old twists on new tunes, every Thursday.” Here, for instance, is their deft rewriting of Gloria Gaynor’s 1978 hit, “I Will Survive“:

Pop Sonnets' adaptation of Gloria Gaynor

Pop Sonnets’ adaptation of Gloria Gaynor

 

If you know Gaynor’s song, you’ll appreciate the adaptation of the song’s chorus and verse structure to the sonnet’s characteristic use of the final turn. If you know your Shakespeare, you’ll also appreciate the echoes of Pop Sonnet’s couplet with that of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18:

Comments

Thanks for mentioning the Roman numerals for the Sonnets. It’s thanks to having had the privilege of reading the Folger’s 1609 Quarto that I have a vivid image of the Arabic numerals of that first edition. So there’s always something faux about the self-defeating attempt to look authentic in the many modern editions that substitute Roman numerals.

Richard M. Waugaman — August 27, 2014

Reply

[…] if you really want to have an awesomely nerdy moment, this blog post insightfully points out how the distinctive typography of Pop Sonnets helps achieve […]

Pop Sonnets: Shakespeare and Contemporary Music | Folger SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY — September 4, 2014

Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *