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- # II Date of the sonnets.
## Overview
This is a section titled "II Date of the sonnets." It is part of the frontmatter of a text and discusses the estimated time period in which William Shakespeare's sonnets were written. The section was extracted on January 30, 2026, by a structure extraction process.
## Context
This section [II Date of the sonnets.](arke:01KG6S5PV3CV7WZ4E50ZK50CHC) is part of the frontmatter, [FACSIMILE OF THE EDITION OF 1609](arke:01KG6S4GWQC7KPJ59BAYCY3HXR), which is contained in the [PDF Workflow Main Test 2026-01-30T00:26:53](arke:01KG6NWQ2H2K4PGG7H4ZHYCZ3Y) collection. The text was extracted from the text file [pdf-01KG6Q7Q25RHMFT3SJXPV18VFF.txt](arke:01KG6S2X2EBB305ENM00G16GWA). This section follows [The alleged morbidity of the sonnets.](arke:01KG6S5PV0NV4W789X904TKDXB) and precedes [The plea for marriage.](arke:01KG6S5PV3NR232H8S1WBYT0ZJ).
## Contents
The section discusses the uncertainty surrounding the exact dates when Shakespeare's sonnets were written. It notes that while the sonnets were likely produced over a period of time, external evidence suggests the majority were written before 1598. The section also mentions that internal evidence, such as the language and imagery used in the sonnets, aligns with Shakespeare's work before 1595 or 1596, particularly his narrative poems of 1593 and 1594 and plays of a similar date. It also references Canon Beeching's collection of parallels between the sonnets and Shakespeare's plays like *Henry IV* and *Hamlet*.
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- II Date of the sonnets.
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- ## II
**Date of the sonnets.**
It is not known for certain when Shakespeare’s sonnets were written. They were probably produced at various dates, but such external evidence as is accessible assigns the majority of them to a comparatively early period of Shakespeare’s career, to a period antecedent to 1598. Internal evidence is on this point very strongly corroborative of the external testimony. The language and imagery of the sonnets closely connects them with the work which is positively known to have occupied Shakespeare before 1595 or 1596. The passages and expressions which are nearly matched in plays of a later period are not unimportant, but they are inferior in number to those which find a parallel in the narrative poems of 1593 and 1594, or in the plays of similar date. Again, only a few of the parallels in the later work are so close in phrase or sentiment as those in the earlier work.¹
- title
- II
Date of the sonnets.