XII
Personified as full of pleasance, summer morn, sport, nimble, hot and bold, wild, and adored by the speaker.
XVII
Described as apt to pluck a sweet, contrasting with the vow made.
I
The beautiful young man who is urged to marry and have children to preserve his beauty.
Sonnet II
The addressee, a beautiful young man urged to procreate before his beauty fades.
Sonnet III: The Mirror's Call to Procreation
The young man addressed directly, urged to procreate and not let his image die.
IV
The addressee, a beautiful young man who is urged to procreate.
VI
The addressee, urged to procreate to preserve his beauty.
Sonnet VII
The beloved is addressed as 'thou' and compared to the sun, urged to procreate to avoid being forgotten.
Sonnet VIII
The addressee, urged to marry and procreate.
IX
The addressee, urged to marry and procreate to avoid leaving the world as a widow.
Sonnet X
The young man addressed, accused of self-hatred and urged to marry.
Sonnet XI
The addressee, urged to procreate and preserve his beauty through offspring.
Sonnet XII
Implied as the 'thy' whose beauty is questioned; the poet addresses a young man whose beauty will be wasted by time without procreation.
Sonnet 13
The beloved addressed as 'you' and 'love', urged to procreate.
XIV
The beloved friend whose eyes are the source of the poet's astronomical knowledge and whose procreation is urged to preserve truth and beauty.
Sonnet XV
The beloved is addressed as rich in youth, standing against Time and Decay.
Sonnet XVI
The young man is addressed directly, urged to fight against Time through procreation.
XVII
The beloved friend whose beauty the poet attempts to immortalize in verse.
XVIII
The beloved addressed in the sonnet, whose beauty is preserved eternally in verse.
Sonnet XIX
Implied as the beloved whose beauty the poet seeks to preserve from Time's ravages.
Sonnet 20
The beloved youth is described as having a woman's face and gentle heart, but with a man's hue and form, the master-mistress of the poet's passion.
Sonnet XXII
The beloved whose youth and beauty are tied to the poet's sense of age.
Sonnet XXIV
The beloved whose beauty is painted in the speaker's heart and whose eyes serve as windows to view that inner portrait.
Sonnet XXXIII
The young man addressed as 'my sun' whose splendor was briefly present and then obscured.
XXXVII
The active child or beloved whose beauty, birth, wealth, and wit provide the speaker with solace.
Sonnet XXXIX
The beloved friend who is praised as the better part of the poet.
XLI
The beloved's youth is cited as a cause for straying and breaking trust.
Sonnet XLIX
The beloved friend whose love may turn to judgment and estrangement.
Sonnet LII
Implied addressee, the beloved friend whose presence is treasured and whose absence creates hopeful anticipation.
Sonnet LIV
The beauteous and lovely youth addressed by the poet, whose truth will be distilled in verse.
Sonnet LVIII
The beloved friend who holds absolute liberty over his own time and actions.
LX
Mentioned as the subject of time's destructive power, with its flourish transfix'd and beauty's brow delved.
Sonnet LXII
Implied as the beloved whose beauty the speaker uses to paint over his own age.
Sonnet LXIII
Referenced as the beloved's youthful morn that travels to age's steepy night.
LXVII
The young man whose living beauty is contrasted with false painting and shadow.
LXVIII
The beloved youth is portrayed as a living relic of an earlier, purer age of beauty.
Sonnet LXIX
The young man whose outward beauty is praised but whose inner character is found wanting.
Sonnet LXX
The young man is addressed as the subject of slander and praise, his purity and virtue celebrated.
LXXI
The beloved friend whom the speaker urges to forget him to avoid sorrow.
Sonnet LXXIII
The beloved who perceives the speaker's decline and whose love is strengthened by the awareness of impending loss.
Sonnet LXXVII
The addressee, urged to observe his own aging and to record his thoughts.
Sonnet 81
The beloved friend who will be remembered eternally through the poet's lines.
Sonnet LXXXIII
The fair youth whose beauty is so complete that it needs no poetic embellishment.
Sonnet LXXXIV
The beloved subject of the poem, whose inherent beauty and worth surpass any praise.
LXXXVII
The fair friend whose worth and beauty are deemed too great for the poet to possess.
Sonnet XCII
The beloved friend whose love is the foundation of the speaker's life and whose potential falsehood is acknowledged.
Sonnet XCV
The beloved whose beauty veils moral flaws
Sonnet XCVI
The beloved is addressed as possessing youth, which is both fault and grace.
Sonnet XCVII
The beloved friend whose absence transforms the season into a metaphorical winter.
Sonnet XCVIII
The beloved friend whose absence makes spring feel like winter
Sonnet XCIX
The beloved whose breath, complexion, veins, hand, and hair are the source of all floral beauty.
Sonnet CIII
The beloved (likely the Fair Youth) is addressed indirectly as the one whose face in the mirror surpasses the poet's invention.
Sonnet CIV: The Illusion of Unchanging Beauty
The fair friend, whose beauty appears unchanged despite the passage of three years.
CVI
The beloved whose beauty is the culmination of all past descriptions.
Sonnet CVIII
The 'sweet boy' addressed as the beloved, whose merit and name are eternally hallowed.
Sonnet CXXVI
Addressed as 'my lovely boy' who holds Time's glass and sickle.
Sonnet 143
The beloved who chases after fleeting desires.
A Lover's Complaint
The beautiful and eloquent young man who seduced the speaker, described as having 'browny locks' and a 'maiden-tongued' manner.
