This Month's Sonnets Feature >>

These minor enigmas aside, while the extent to which Shakespeare's name has become virtually synonymous with romantic poetry is not fully measured by his Sonnets, this set contains some of the finest examples of Shakespearean love poems. Space does not allow for a detailed discussion of more than a handful of these works: The next Section focuses upon three outstanding pieces; Sonnets 18, ("Shall I compare thee to a summer's day") and 55, ("Not marble, nor the gilded monuments") and Sonnet 138, ("When my love swears that she is made of truth") from the Dark Lady set.