# Shakespeare's most famous sonnets

The sonnets everyone quotes, read at weddings and studied at school, from "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" to the Dark Lady poems.

- 91 votes · 15 items
- Jul 16, 2023 · vinylhead_grumpy
- https://even.best/en/l/2416/shakespeare-s-most-famous-sonnets

## Top 15

1. **Sonnet 116 — Let me not to the marriage of true minds** (8 · ▲9 ▼1) — The one read at weddings: love that does not change.
2. **Sonnet 29 — When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes** (8 · ▲9 ▼1) — From despair to joy at the thought of the beloved.
3. **Sonnet 18 — Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?** (7 · ▲7 ▼0) — The most famous of all: beauty preserved in verse.
4. **Sonnet 130 — My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — A parody of flowery love poems.
5. **Sonnet 73 — That time of year thou mayst in me behold** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — Ageing as autumn, twilight and dying fire.
6. **Sonnet 60 — Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — Time rolling on like waves.
7. **Sonnet 30 — When to the sessions of sweet silent thought** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — Remembering old losses.
8. **Sonnet 55 — Not marble, nor the gilded monuments** (3 · ▲6 ▼3) — Poetry outlasts statues.
9. **Sonnet 20 — A woman's face with Nature's own hand painted** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — The much-debated poem about the Fair Youth.
10. **Sonnet 71 — No longer mourn for me when I am dead** (2 · ▲4 ▼2) — Asking to be forgotten after death.
11. **Sonnet 147 — My love is as a fever, longing still** (2 · ▲4 ▼2) — Love as a sickness.
12. **Sonnet 94 — They that have power to hurt and will do none** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — On people who are cold and self-controlled.
13. **Sonnet 138 — When my love swears that she is made of truth** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Two lovers who lie to each other kindly.
14. **Sonnet 1 — From fairest creatures we desire increase** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — The first of the "procreation" sonnets.
15. **Sonnet 146 — Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth** (-1 · ▲2 ▼3) — The soul against the body.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.