I can't speak authoritatively either, but the theory I've heard that seems most plausible is that Shakespeare wrote a lot of these sonnets as work for hire, or some such -- in much the same way someone might commission a portrait, so also might some rich fop without the penchant for language might commission a sonnet for his or her beloved.

I don't know if that's the story either, but it makes sense to me. I'm more confident about the supposition that Shakespeare didn't write a lot of the work attributed to him. My understanding is that studies have been done on his writings, using metrics such as word frequencies and other definitive measures of language use, and the conclusion is that it's highly improbable that anybody other than the man himself wrote the work attributed to him. Someone with fresher details in mind correct me if I'm wrong about this.

Anyway, I don't have anything in particular to say in response to the sonnets themselves, Chrysanthemum, but I did want to say that I share your appreciation, and I thank you for contributing these selections to the forum here.