The Sonnets

Shakespeare's 154 sonnets are among the greatest lyric poems in English, exploring love, beauty, jealousy, time, mortality, and the immortalizing power of poetry. They were published in 1609 by Thomas Thorpe, though many circulated privately during the 1590s.

At a Glance

• Form: 14-line sonnets, three quatrains + couplet (Shakespearean sonnet form), rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
• Published: 1609
• Composed: c. 1593–1609 (with most written c. 1593–1598)
• First lines (pg100.txt): Line 87

Structure

The Fair Youth Sequence (Sonnets 1–126)

Addressed to a beautiful young man (never identified). The first 17 "procreation sonnets" urge him to marry and produce children to preserve his beauty. Later sonnets explore love, friendship, rivalry, absence, and betrayal.

Key sonnets:
- Sonnet 1 — "From fairest creatures we desire increase" (procreation theme)
- Sonnet 18 — "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" (immortality through verse)
- Sonnet 29 — "When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes" (consolation of love)
- Sonnet 55 — "Not marble, nor the gilded monuments" (poetry outlasts stone)
- Sonnet 73 — "That time of year thou mayst in me behold" (aging; mortality)
- Sonnet 116 — "Let me not to the marriage of true minds" (constancy of love)
- Sonnet 126 — Final couplet addressed to the Youth; a 12-line "envoi"

The Dark Lady Sequence (Sonnets 127–154)

Addressed to a dark-complexioned woman with whom the speaker has an intense, often tortured erotic relationship. Unlike the idealized Youth, the Dark Lady is satirized and blamed; the poet's desire for her is presented as degrading.

Key sonnets:
- Sonnet 130 — "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun" (anti-Petrarchan)
- Sonnet 138 — "When my love swears that she is made of truth" (mutual deception)
- Sonnet 147 — "My love is as a fever, longing still" (love as disease)

Major Themes

• Time and decay — time destroys beauty, but poetry preserves it
• Procreation — children as a form of immortality (Sonnets 1–17)
• Love's constancy — ideal love is unchanging (Sonnet 116)
• Jealousy and betrayal — both the Rival Poet and the Dark Lady betray the speaker
• Mortality and art — "So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee" (Sonnet 18)

The Identity Controversies

• The Fair Youth: Most often identified as Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, or William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke — both possible patrons
• The Dark Lady: Variously proposed as Mary Fitton, Emilia Lanier, and others — none proven
• The Rival Poet: Perhaps Christopher Marlowe or George Chapman
• "W.H.": The dedicatee of the 1609 Quarto remains unidentified

Notable Quotations

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? / Thou art more lovely and more temperate." *(Sonnet 18)*

"Let me not to the marriage of true minds / Admit impediments." *(Sonnet 116)*

"My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun." *(Sonnet 130)*

"The expense of spirit in a waste of shame / Is lust in action." *(Sonnet 129)*

LibriVox Recording

Shakespeare's Sonnets audiobook on LibriVox — Free public domain recording.

Cross-references

• Overview — context within Shakespeare's poetic career
• Venus and Adonis — the narrative poem that preceded the sonnets in print