William Shakespeare’s sonnet sequence contains 154 sonnets.
The poems were first published together in 1609 by the printer Thomas Thorpe. They are conventionally numbered from 1 to 154, although scholars continue to debate the order, intended audience, and circumstances of composition. Most are written in Shakespeare’s characteristic English, or “Shakespearean,” sonnet form: three quatrains followed by a final rhyming couplet.
The first 126 sonnets are often associated with a “fair youth,” while sonnets 127–152 are commonly linked with a “dark lady.” Sonnets 153 and 154 adapt a classical story about Cupid and a nymph, giving the sequence a different tone at its close. These labels are modern scholarly descriptions, not titles supplied by Shakespeare.
A common mix-up is confusing Shakespeare’s sonnets with the 14-line poems in some other traditions. The sonnet form itself originated in Italy, especially through Petrarch, while Shakespeare developed an English variation with a distinct rhyme pattern and argumentative structure.