William Shakespeare (born around April 23, 1564, and died April 23, 1616) wrote poems called sonnets about many different subjects. When people talk about Shakespeare's sonnets, they usually mean the 154 sonnets that were first published together in a book called a quarto in 1609. However, Shakespeare also wrote six more sonnets that were included in some of his plays, such as Romeo and Juliet, Henry V, and Love's Labour's Lost. Additionally, a part of another sonnet appears in the play Edward III.

Context

Shakespeare's sonnets are part of a long tradition that began in 14th-century Italy with Petrarch and later reached England in the 16th century through Thomas Wyatt. Henry Howard helped shape this tradition by introducing a specific rhyming pattern and dividing the poems into groups of four lines called quatrains. Most of Shakespeare's sonnets follow the structure of the English sonnet, which includes 14 lines, a particular rhyme scheme, and a specific rhythm. However, Shakespeare's sonnets differ in their themes. Unlike earlier poets such as Petrarch, Dante, and Philip Sidney, who wrote about idealized, unattainable female love interests, Shakespeare introduces a young man and a mysterious woman known as the Dark Lady. His sonnets explore topics such as desire, same-sex attraction, dislike of women, betrayal, and anger.

The quarto of 1609

The main source of Shakespeare's sonnets is a book called Shake-speare's Sonnets, published in 1609. This book includes 154 sonnets, followed by a long poem titled A Lover's Complaint. Thirteen copies of this book have survived in good condition. A note on the title page of one copy suggests that Edward Alleyn, a famous actor, bought a copy in June 1609 for one shilling.

The sonnets explore themes such as time, love, betrayal, jealousy, beauty, and death. The first 126 sonnets are addressed to a young man, while the last 28 are about or refer to a woman. Sonnets 138 and 144 were published earlier in a book called The Passionate Pilgrim in 1599.

The title Shake-speare's Sonnets matches an entry in the Stationers' Register, a record of published books. The title appears in all capital letters on the book’s cover, followed by the phrase "Neuer before Imprinted." The title is also written on every page of the book. Unlike other sonnet collections of the time, this one includes the author’s name in a possessive form, like "Shake-speare’s." This style is similar to a book by Sir Philip Sidney titled Syr. P.S. his Astrophel and Stella, which may have influenced Shakespeare. Some scholars believe the "W.H." in Shakespeare’s dedication could be Sidney’s nephew, William Herbert. However, most scholars disagree that Shakespeare himself is the speaker of the sonnets.

The first 17 sonnets, called the "procreation sonnets," urge the young man to marry and have children to preserve his beauty. Other sonnets express love for the young man, reflect on loneliness and death, criticize the young man for favoring another poet, and describe the speaker’s complicated feelings for a woman. Some sonnets also play on Shakespeare’s name. The final two sonnets use Greek-style stories about Cupid, the god of love.

The book was published by Thomas Thorpe, who recorded it in the Stationers' Register on May 20, 1609. It is unclear whether Thorpe used an official manuscript from Shakespeare or an unauthorized copy. George Eld printed the book, and Thorpe shared the printing with two booksellers.

The sonnets include a dedication to "Mr. W.H.":

TO.THE.ONLIE.BEGETTER.OF. THESE.INSUING.SONNETS. Mr.W.H. ALL.HAPPINESSE. AND.THAT.ETERNITIE. PROMISED. BY. OUR.EVER-LIVING.POET. WISHETH. THE.WELL-WISHING. ADVENTURER.IN. SETTING. FORTH.

The all-caps letters and punctuation in the dedication may have been meant to look like an ancient Roman inscription. The initials "T.T." are believed to refer to Thorpe. Thorpe usually signed dedications only when the author was abroad or deceased, which suggests Shakespeare may not have been in London during the printing. However, Thorpe’s other work includes only a few dedications and prefaces. Some believe Thorpe published the book without Shakespeare’s permission, while others think Shakespeare was busy with work, family, and a legal case in May 1609, when the plague also forced theaters to close.

The identity of "Mr. W.H." remains unknown. Many theories exist, including that he was Shakespeare’s patron, the "young man" addressed in the sonnets, or a different person. William Herbert, the Earl of Pembroke, is a likely candidate, as he was the dedicatee of the First Folio. Another possibility is Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton, who was the dedicatee of other Shakespeare poems. Other suggestions include a printing error, a printer named William Hall, or a deliberate use of "Mr. W.H." to create mystery.

Most sonnets follow a structure of three four-line stanzas (called quatrains) and a final two-line stanza (a couplet). They use a rhythm called iambic pentameter, the same as Shakespeare’s plays. The rhyme pattern is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, a style known as Shakespearean or English sonnets. The mood often changes at the end of the third quatrain, called the "volta."

Exceptions include Sonnets 99, 126, and 145. Sonnet 99 has 15 lines, Sonnet 126 has six couplets with blank lines, and Sonnet 145 uses a different rhythm. In some sonnets, like Sonnet 29, the rhyme pattern changes slightly.

Dates

• 1597 – Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet is published. The spoken prologue to the play and the prologue to Act II are both written in sonnet form. The first meeting of the star-crossed lovers is written as a sonnet woven into the dialogue.
• 1598 – Love’s Labour’s Lost is published as a quarto. The play’s title page suggests it is a revised version of an earlier work. The comedy includes the King of Navarre and his lords, who express their love in sonnet form for the Queen of France and her ladies. This play is believed to have been performed at the Inns of Court for Queen Elizabeth I in the mid-1590s.
• 1598 – Francis Meres published his quarto Palladis Tamia, which was entered into the Stationers’ Register on 7 September that year. In this work, he mentions that sonnets by Shakespeare were being shared privately.
• 1599 – William Jaggard published an octavo volume titled The Passionate Pilgrim by W. Shakespeare. This collection includes 20 poems. Some poems in the book are falsely attributed to Shakespeare, while four sonnets are confirmed to be by him. Two of these sonnets are early versions of sonnets later published in the 1609 quarto (numbers 138 and 144). The other two were taken from Shakespeare’s play Love’s Labour’s Lost. In the play, these sonnets were written by comic characters meant to appear unskilled at writing sonnets. Jaggard’s book was popular, and a second printing was quickly ordered.
• January 1600 – An entry in the Stationers’ Register mentions a work that will include “certain other sonnets by W.S.” This may suggest Shakespeare planned to publish his own collection to correct the misleading content in Jaggard’s book, or the entry may have been a legal measure to prevent Jaggard from publishing more sonnets by Shakespeare.
• 14 August 1600 – Shakespeare’s play The Chronicle History of Henry the Fifth is entered into the Stationers’ Company Register. The spoken epilogue to the play is written in the form of a sonnet.
• 20 May 1609 – An entry in the Stationers’ Register announces the publication of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. The book includes 154 sonnets and the poem A Lover’s Complaint. This publication received little attention compared to the lively reception of Venus and Adonis.
• 1612 – Jaggard released an expanded edition of The Passionate Pilgrim. Thomas Heywood criticized this in his Apology for Actors (1612), stating Shakespeare was “much offended” with Jaggard for misusing his name. Jaggard removed Shakespeare’s name from unsold copies of the 1612 edition.
• 1640 – John Benson published an anthology of poems, some by Shakespeare and others not, all attributed to him. The book was titled Poems: Written by Wil. Shakespeare Gent. Benson used sources like The Passionate Pilgrim and Shakespeare’s Sonnets (1609), rewriting and rearranging them. He altered pronouns to make the sonnets appear to address a woman, which caused confusion for over a century.
• 1780 – Edmond Malone, in his two-volume supplement to the 1778 Johnson-Stevens edition of Shakespeare’s plays, established the 1609 quarto edition of Shakespeare’s Sonnets as the official text.
• 1986 – The New Penguin Shakespeare edition of the sonnets restored A Lover’s Complaint as an integral part of the collection.

Criticism

Shakespeare’s plays suggest he was critical of sonnets, as his references to them are often mocking. However, he later wrote one of the longest sonnet sequences of his time, which included unexpected changes from the usual style of sonnets.

He may have been motivated by a desire to create something new in literature or by events in his personal life. However, many scholars believe that focusing too much on his personal life has led to too many guesses, especially since there is not enough evidence to support these ideas. Instead, critics now focus on the sonnets themselves, analyzing their language and structure as a complex and rich form of writing.

Another way to study Shakespeare’s sonnets is by looking at the culture and other literature of the time. Gerald Hammond, in his book The Reader and the Young Man Sonnets, argues that thoughtful readers do not always need much help to understand the sonnets. He notes that readers may sometimes be confused about whether a word or passage has a clear meaning or a more abstract one. Hammond believes that this confusion is part of the experience of reading the sonnets, and that readers may not always benefit from having these challenges explained by experts.

In the 18th century, Shakespeare’s sonnets were not highly regarded in England. In 1805, a publication called The Critical Review credited John Milton with perfecting the English sonnet. By the end of the 19th century, Shakespeare and Milton were seen as equally important in sonnet writing. However, critics continued to debate this for many years, partly because of a strong focus on personal details about Shakespeare’s life.

Editions

Just like other works by Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Sonnets have been printed many times. Important editions include:

Sonnets that occur in the plays

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There are sonnets written by Shakespeare that appear in his plays, and these include some of his earliest sonnets. These sonnets are different from the 154 sonnets that were published in 1609, because they may not have the same deep thoughts, and they are written to fit the needs of a performance, story, or explanation.

In Shakespeare's early comedies, the sonnets and sonnet-writing by his characters are often shown in a humorous or mocking way. In Two Gentlemen of Verona, sonnet-writing is shown as a way to try to win someone's love. In Love's Labour's Lost, sonnets are shown as a sign that love can make men act foolishly. In Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice and Benedick each write a sonnet, which shows that they have fallen in love. In All’s Well That Ends Well, a part of a sonnet is read, and Bertram says, "He shall be whipp'd through the army with this rhyme in's forehead." In Henry V, the Dauphin suggests he will write a sonnet to his horse.

The sonnets that Shakespeare makes fun of in his plays are written in the style of Petrarch and Sidney, but the sonnets published in the 1609 book are very different. They do not have the same sad or love-sick feelings that are mocked in the plays. These sonnets seem to be going against the old style.

In the play Love's Labour's Lost, the King and his three lords promise to live like monks, to study, to give up worldly things, and to not see any women. They all break the last part of the promise by falling in love. Lord Longaville expresses his love in a sonnet ("Did not the heavenly rhetoric of thine eye…"), and Lord Berowne does, too—a sonnet that uses a special kind of meter ("If love make me forsworn, how shall I swear to love?")—a form that Sidney uses in six of the sonnets in Astrophel and Stella (Numbers 1, 6, 8, 76, and 102). These sonnets have funny mistakes, like awkward words and problems with the rhythm. After Berowne is caught breaking his promise and exposed by the sonnet he wrote, he promises to stop using fancy speech and to prefer simple language. However, when he makes this promise, he ends up using the same kind of fancy language and rhythm as a sonnet. ("O, never will I trust to speeches penned…")

The epilogue at the end of the play Henry V is written in the form of a sonnet ("Thus far with rough, and all-unable pen…"). Formal epilogues were a common tradition in theater, and they appear in 13 of Shakespeare's plays. In Henry V, the character of the Chorus, who has spoken to the audience several times during the play, gives the long epilogue/sonnet. It begins by saying that the play may not have shown the story perfectly. It mentions that the next king, Henry VI, was very young when he took over from Henry V and that he lost France and caused many problems in England, which Shakespeare's plays have shown. It also refers to the three parts of Henry VI and to Richard III, showing how the stories of the Lancastrian and Yorkist families are connected.

Three sonnets are found in Romeo and Juliet: the prologue to the play ("Two households, both alike in dignity…"), the prologue to the second act ("Now old desire doth in his death-bed lie…"), and a sonnet that is part of a dialogue between Romeo and Juliet when they meet:

Two sonnets are mentioned in Much Ado About Nothing—one written by Beatrice and one by Benedick. These sonnets are not written down, but they are in Shakespeare's mind. The first one, revealed by Claudio, is described as "A halting sonnet of his own pure brain/Fashion'd to Beatrice." The second, found by Hero, was "Writ in my cousin's hand, stolen from her pocket/Containing her affection unto Benedick."

The play Edward III has recently been accepted as part of Shakespeare's works. It was first thought to be written by someone else, but in the late 1990s, it began to be included in collections of Shakespeare's complete works as co-written by Shakespeare. Scholars who have supported this include Jonathan Bate, Edward Capell, Eliot Slater, Eric Sams, Giorgio Melchiori, Brian Vickers, and others. The play, printed in 1596, has language and themes that also appear in Shakespeare's sonnets, including the line: "Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds," which appears in Sonnet 94, and the phrase "scarlet ornaments," which appears in Sonnet 142. The scene in the play that includes these lines is a comic scene where a poet tries to write a love poem at the request of his king, Edward III. At the time Edward III was published, Shakespeare's sonnets were known by some, but they had not yet been published.

The king, Edward III, has fallen in love with the Countess of Salisbury, and he tells Lodowick, his secretary, to get ink and paper. Edward wants Lodowick's help in writing a poem that praises the countess. Lodowick has a question:

The king then expresses his feelings in very poetic language and asks Lodowick to read back what he has written. Lodowick reads:

When the countess enters, the scene is interrupted, and Lodowick has only written two lines: