Keďže tento volume Shakespeare's poems bol prvý odobratý v 1609, he had already written most of the great plays that made him famous. 154 sonnets - všetky ale dve z ktorých sú určené pre krásny mladý muž alebo treacherous 'dark lady' - contain niektoré most exquisite a haunting poetry ever written, and deal with eternal subjects such as love and infidelity, memory and mortality, and destruction wreaked by Time. Also included is "A Lover's Complaint", originally published with the sonnets, v ktorých mladá žena je overheard lamenting hier betrayal by a heartless seducer.