Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Villegas (1580–1645) led an active and turbulent life. He was famous for his religious and moral prose, his picaresque novel, the Buscón (The Sharper), and his satirical Sueños (Dreams). Following the practice of the period, he published no books of his own poetry. With the exception of some anthologized poetry, he gained the reputation as a brilliant and provocative poet mainly from the circulation of his poetry in manuscripts. He was a noted polemicist and wit, a protean, complex individual both praised and censured. He was a Knight of the Order of Santiago (St James), and spent much of his life in the service of His Majesty and royal favorites. In his political activities he made many enemies. He was incarcerated four times, the last contributing to poor health and his death. Most of his poetry was published posthumously in 1648 and 1670.

This book studies a corpus of Quevedo's poetry commonly regarded as his serious love poetry. Within this context I have limited the study to sonnets in the range of the High Style, taking into consideration the poet's tendency to blur the distinction by introducing into this category ‘indecorous’ elements. I do not wish to give the impression that I have arranged the sonnets in a chronological sequence.