* English poet, playwright, and actor
* Considered one of the greatest writers in the English language
* Wrote 154 sonnets, published in 1609
2. Petrarch (1304–1374)
* Italian poet and scholar
* Considered one of the fathers of humanism
* Wrote 366 sonnets, published in 1554
3. Dante Alighieri (1265–1321)
* Italian poet, writer, and philosopher
* Considered one of the greatest writers of the Middle Ages
* Wrote 31 sonnets, published in 1527
4. Edmund Spenser (1552–1599)
* English poet
* Considered one of the greatest poets of the Elizabethan era
* Wrote 88 sonnets, published in 1595
5. Philip Sidney (1554–1586)
* English poet, courtier, and soldier
* Considered one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan era
* Wrote 108 sonnets, published in 1591
6. William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
* English poet
* Considered one of the founders of the Romantic movement
* Wrote 420 sonnets, published in various volumes throughout his lifetime
7. John Keats (1795–1821)
* English poet
* Considered one of the most important figures of the Romantic movement
* Wrote 64 sonnets, published in various volumes throughout his lifetime
8. Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861)
* English poet
* Considered one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era
* Wrote 44 sonnets, published in various volumes throughout her lifetime
9. Christina Rossetti (1830–1894)
* English poet
* Considered one of the most important poets of the Victorian era
* Wrote 284 sonnets, published in various volumes throughout her lifetime
10. Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889)
* English poet
* Considered one of the most important poets of the Victorian era
* Wrote 154 sonnets, published in various volumes throughout his lifetime