William Shakespeare (1564 — 1616) A famous English poet, playwright, and actor. Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet, and the "Bard of Avon”. Shakespeare's Sonnets, first published in a 1609, is the title of a collection of 154 sonnets, which covers themes such as the passage of time, love, beauty and mortality. The author plays with gender roles, comments on political events, makes fun of love, speaks openly about sexual desire, parodies beauty and even references pornography). Like his other works, Sonnets have been translated into many languages and reprinted many times.