Les contemplations vs Poems (Lover's Complaint / Passionate Pilgrim / Phoenix and the Turtle / Rape of Lucrece / Sonnets / Venus and Adonis): Which Should You Read?

Both live on shelves: Poetry

Cover of Les contemplations

Les contemplations Victor Hugo · 1856 ★★★★☆ 4.0 457 pages · ≈ 8 h 28 m · Demanding Find on Amazon

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Cover of Poems (Lover's Complaint / Passionate Pilgrim / Phoenix and the Turtle / Rape of Lucrece / Sonnets / Venus and Adonis)

Poems (Lover's Complaint / Passionate Pilgrim / Phoenix and the Turtle / Rape of Lucrece / Sonnets / Venus and Adonis) William Shakespeare · 1771 ★★★★☆ 3.8 201 pages · ≈ 3 h 43 m · Demanding Find on Amazon

The verdict

Ratings are close: 4.0 vs 3.8 — either is a safe pick by score.
Poems (Lover's Complaint / Passionate Pilgrim / Phoenix and the Turtle / Rape of Lucrece / Sonnets / Venus and Adonis) is the quicker read — about 3 hours vs 8 for Les contemplations.

Side by side