couplet: a two-line, typically rhyming unit of verse

Early Modern English: the English language as it was between the years 1485 and 1650, featuring slight but noticeable differences from Modern English in spelling, pronunciation, and grammar

iambic pentameter: a poetic meter comprising five feet, each foot consisting of an unstressed or short syllable followed by a stressed or long syllable, making each line ten syllables long; variations on this meter are common

quatrain: a four-line, typically rhyming unit of verse

Shakespearean sonnet: named after its most famous practitioner, this sonnet form comprises three quatrains and a closing couplet written in iambic pentameter with a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg; also known as the Elizabethan sonnet

sonnet: a poem of fourteen lines, typically featuring intentional rhyme, regular meter, and a logical structure

• Biography of William Shakespeare
• About Shakespeare's Sonnets
• Character List
• Major Themes
• Glossary of Terms
• Short Summary
• Full Summary and Analysis
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 1 - "From fairest creatures we desire increase"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 18 - "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 20 - "A woman's face with Nature's own hand painted"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 30 - "When to the sessions of sweet silent thought"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 52 - "So am I as the rich, whose blessed key"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 60 - "Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 73 - "That time of year thou mayst in me behold"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 87 - "Farewell! thou art too dear for my possessing"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 94 - "They that have power to hurt and will do none"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 116 - "Let me not to the marriage of true minds"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 126 - "O thou, my lovely boy, who in thy power"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 129 - "The expense of spirit in a waste of shame"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 130 - "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 146 - "Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth"
• Summary and Analysis of Sonnet 153 - "Cupid laid by his brand, and fell asleep"
• Related Links on Shakespeare's Sonnets
• Suggested Essay Questions
• The Art of the Shakespearean Sonnet
• A Note on the Pronunciation of Early Modern English
• Author of ClassicNote and Sources
• Purchase Shakespeare's Sonnets and Other Works
• Test Yourself! Quiz 1
• Test Yourself! Quiz 2
• Test Yourself! Quiz 3
• Test Yourself! Quiz 4
• Essays on Shakespeare's Sonnets
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