Testimony of the Sonnets as to the Authorship of the Shakespearean Plays and Poems

"Testimony of the Sonnets as to the Authorship of the Shakespearean Plays and Poems" by Jesse Johnson is a study from the 1800s that investigates who really wrote Shakespeare's Sonnets, claiming they offer clues about the writer that challenge the idea that William Shakespeare was the author. Johnson believes that the Sonnets were probably written to the actor Shakespeare from a different, older poet, whose deep feelings and life events don't match what we know about Shakespeare. The book starts by suggesting the Sonnets show strong feelings that wouldn't fit Shakespeare's life back then, considering he was young and becoming successful. Johnson thinks the Sonnets show the feelings of an older man, possibly past middle age, talking to a younger friend. He focuses on taking the words literally, arguing that they suggest experiences that don't match what we know about Shakespeare's life, building a case against Shakespeare writing the Sonnets and, by extension, the plays attributed to him.