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Introduction to the Shakespeare Sonnets as presented on this website.
Access
The Sonnets are accessible either by selection from a list, with links to an individual page for each Sonnet, or they can all be seen on one long page, which is a combination of all the individual pages into one file. (The "long page" presentation does not include the Title and Dedication pages.) The long, all-on-one-page presentation should load quickly, since it uses only text, basic HTML, and very simple background image patterns. The only difficulty you might encounter in the "long page" presentation is just the sheer length of the file.
Authenticity.
I have honored the actual wordings of the Shakespeare Sonnets, as found in the original 1609 publication, to the greatest degree possible. The reader may be surprised upon being informed that most modern reprints of the Sonnets are untrustworthy, and essentially worthless, since they are not authentic - they do not have the actual words Shakespeare wrote for some of the Sonnets. Instead, most modern reprints have editorial changes in wording, but they include no notes about where the changes were made. So, with most modern reprints, the reader (who has every right to expect real Shakespeare) will instead get some of the Sonnets as they were rewritten by an editor he never heard of, just because that editor happened to think a Sonnet didn't "look right." Again, a reader may be surprised anybody would do that: change the words of a Sonnet, but then still offer it as if it's "real Shakespeare," when in fact it is not - but that has happened, and it continues to happen, even today, among editors who ignore basic standards of authenticity in presenting Shakespeare.
Unlike what's on most websites, and in most books, you will find honest Shakespeare here, the real thing, that does show what Shakespeare really wrote, every word, as best anybody can know it. This is a presentation of the Sonnets that you can trust.
The 1609 publication does appear to contain a few misprints, and I do identify and correct those as best I can. However, I always show the original wording, so that the reader can see it, and judge for himself.
Spelling.
I have modernized the spelling in the Sonnets, but I've left some original spellings, usually with a note about why. Occasionally the original, exact spelling of a word has significance for meaning. I use U.S. spellings, for a readership I expect to be mostly in the U.S., although, admittedly, British spellings could be considered more appropriate for the subject, since Shakespeare was very much an Englishman. This comment applies to modernization of the spellings, for example, changing the original "culler" in line 14 of Sonnet 99: I make it "color" (instead of British "colour.") However, where the original spelling is still British standard, such as "honour" in line 10 of Sonnet 13, I leave it, since there is no reason to change spellings that comply with a modern standard. This does produce a small inconsistency in spelling, between U.S. and British, but I don't think any reader should be bothered by that, after knowing why the inconsistency occurs.
Punctuation.
I have honored the original punctuation as much as possible. Colons, in particular, are no longer used as they were in the days of Shakespeare, so I've changed most of the original colons, to either semicolons or commas. I've avoided adding exclamation points, since exclamation points, in modern usage, tend to impose excessive stress, and thereby impose excessive editorial judgment.
I usually leave apostrophes as they were used in the original. For example, the original of Sonnet 66 begins with the word "Tyr'd." I change it to "Tir'd" (rather than "Tired") to show the reader that the original did use the apostrophe. Some words in the original publication have an apostrophized 'e' but without the apostrophe actually being used. An example is the word "trimd" in line 3 of Sonnet 66. I update it to "trimmed," not using an apostrophe, since the original did not. I do modernize possessives by inserting apostrophes.
About the terms Poet and Addressee.
In commenting on a Sonnet, I use the term "Poet" (capitalized) for the writer of the Sonnet, which is usually William Shakespeare, of course, although as it turns out, not always him. Almost all of the Sonnets concern another person, whom I call the "addressee," even if the Sonnet is not written in a way that directly addresses that other person. So, my use of the term "addressee" is not strict. Also, I occasionally call Shakespeare "Playwright" (capitalized) when his play writing in particular is the point of the comment.
Interpretive Approach
I take the point of view, in presenting the Sonnets, that some of them are the result of a close friendship that existed between William Shakespeare and Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. A full explanation, of why I adopt that position, goes far beyond these brief remarks. But the basic reason I adopt that position is that it works, to explain certain things that are otherwise inexplicable. (I will mention in passing that the so-called "Oxfordian" position, that Vere wrote all the Sonnets, is untenable, according to what the Sonnets actually say.)
How to Write a Sonnet
And now, for something completely different, I offer a page about How to Write a Sonnet. It's a short explanation, intended for the beginner, who has never written a sonnet, and who may not even know how to begin. It sketches a "building block" approach to sonnet construction. Students in an English composition class might find it helpful, if they're assigned to write a sonnet, and perhaps others may find the approach helpful, as well.
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The original 1609 publication of the Shakespeare Sonnets does not have them in the order in which they were written. There are numerous ways to show that, some of which I mention in the Notes for individual Sonnets. Thomas Thorpe, the publisher, probably obtained the Sonnets from the Herbert family, the family of William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, and of his mother, Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (often referred to simply as Mary Sidney.) Mary Sidney probably had the Sonnets number 1 through 17 at the top of her collection, because they were Sonnets that Shakespeare wrote, under patronage, for William Herbert's 17th birthday, ("patronage" meaning the Herbert family paid Shakespeare to write them.) Then, Mary Sidney probably had the rest of the Sonnets as she collected and paid for them, sorted as she pleased. The 1609 publication was probably done from her collection, perhaps motivated in connection with her move to Crosby Hall, which is said to have happened about 1609, or somewhat earlier.
Although some writers have speculated that the 1609 publication of the Sonnets was pirated (an unauthorized publication, from purloined manuscripts,) there is no good reason to suppose so. William Shakespeare was a professional writer, that is, he wrote things to sell. So, he had probably sold the Sonnets, likely to Mary Sidney, as mentioned. Then, when she had them published, she would have had every right to do so, since she owned them.
While Shakespeare may not have been directly involved in the publication of the Sonnets, he apparently expected it would happen at some point, judging from the way some of the Sonnets are phrased. Perhaps Mary Sidney had told him she wanted to publish them someday, when she had enough to fill a book. Shakespeare's expectation, they would be published at some point, probably explains the vagueness found in them, as to the identity of the addressee. Whoever, specifically, motivated a Sonnet, he phrased it in a way to suit a general audience, and not be only about one person. His ability to do that speaks to his great talent. It's doubtful he was trying to be as mysterious as it may look to us now, but rather, he was trying to suit the needs of the general reader (a goal he accomplished remarkably well.)
The traditional, conventional view of the Sonnets was that the first 126 supposedly all concern the "fair youth," of the first 17. However, that view was never sensible, and has long been obsolete. It was a view adopted merely for lack of anything better. In reality, the Sonnets vary, with respect to the addressee, as one would expect.
For some of the Sonnets, the addressee can be identified with a reasonable degree of confidence, and those Sonnets can be grouped as follows.
- Hamnet Sonnets
(written by William Shakespeare about his son)
Numbers 33, 34, 35, 55, 65,
Mrs. Shakespeare Sonnets
(written by William Shakespeare to, or about, his wife)
Numbers 23, 27, 28, 43, 48, 61,
William Herbert Sonnets
(commissioned from William Shakespeare by the Herbert family)
Numbers 1 to 17, 19(?), 41, 54,
Boy Actor Sonnets
(written by William Shakespeare about the boy who played the young, beautiful female roles for the Lord Chamberlain's Men)
Numbers 20, 53, 126,
Play Character Sonnets
(written by William Shakespeare about his play characters who especially pleased him)
Numbers 18, 70, 99,
Vere Sonnets
(Some of the Sonnets were not written by William Shakespeare, but rather they were written to him, by Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. Then, there are some by Shakespeare to Vere. Shakespeare inherited the Vere Sonnets, as fully his own, when Vere died in 1604.)
By Shakespeare, to Vere
Numbers 21(?), 24, 26, 38, 39, 40,
By Vere, to Shakespeare
Numbers 22, 25, 29, 30, 31, 32, 36, 37,
I hope to provide discussion pages for the various Sonnet groupings after I have all the individual Sonnet pages completed.
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