Poems vs Sonnets from the Portuguese: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: English Sonnets, English Poets, Correspondence, English poetry, Poetry
Sonnets from the Portuguese
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"I love your verse with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett...and I love you too," Robert Browning wrote in January of 1845, thus initiating the most celebrated literary correspondence of the nineteenth century. For the…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Sonnets from the Portuguese is the quickest read — about 1 hours vs 9 for Poems.
- Poems has the widest readership — 748 ratings behind its score.
- Poems runs the darker storyline; Sonnets from the Portuguese stays the lighter read.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| Poems | Sonnets from the Portuguese | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.1 (748) | — |
| Hardcover | 4.0 (6) | 3.3 (7) |
| Google Books | — | 5.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | — | 4.5 (26) |
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Reception
| Poems | Sonnets from the Portuguese | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 748 | 26 |
| Editions | 95 | 55 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 852 | — |
| Reading it now | 19 | — |
| Written reviews | 31 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 19870 | 1693 |
| Pages | 526 | 49 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Poems or Sonnets from the Portuguese?
Sonnets from the Portuguese has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Sonnets from the Portuguese 4.1/5, Poems 4.1/5).
Which is shorter to read: Poems or Sonnets from the Portuguese?
Sonnets from the Portuguese is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Sonnets from the Portuguese (49 pages, ≈ 54 min); Poems (526 pages, ≈ 9 h 44 m).
Which is harder to read: Poems or Sonnets from the Portuguese?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Poems: Demanding; Sonnets from the Portuguese: Demanding.