Shakespeare's Sonnets are a sequence of 154 poems published in 1609. Most are addressed to a beautiful young man, whom the poet urges to marry and promises to make immortal in verse; later sonnets speak of a mysterious dark lady. They are among the most admired love poems in the English language.
The young man
The first 126 sonnets are mainly addressed to a young man of great beauty. The first seventeen urge him to marry and have children.
Later poems promise him eternal life through poetry, and speak of absence, jealousy, rivalry with another poet and the passage of time.
The dark lady
Sonnets 127 to 152 concern a woman with dark hair and eyes, whom the poet desires against his own judgement.
These poems are often bitter and witty, and turn the conventions of love poetry upside down.
The Shakespearean sonnet
Shakespeare uses three quatrains and a final couplet, rhyming ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. The couplet often brings a sharp turn or conclusion.
This form, already used by earlier English poets, is now called the Shakespearean sonnet.
Anecdotes
Mr. W. H.
The 1609 edition is dedicated by the publisher Thomas Thorpe to a Mr. W. H., the only begetter of the sonnets. His identity has been debated for centuries.
A possible piracy
It is not certain that Shakespeare authorized the publication. Some scholars think Thorpe obtained the manuscript without his consent.
Frequently asked questions
How many sonnets did Shakespeare write?
154.
When were they published?
In 1609.
Who is the dark lady?
An unidentified woman addressed in the later sonnets.