One of the aims of this anthology is to stimulate interest in and further study of the sonnets written by Victorian poets. It is the first anthology of sonnets devoted to Victorian poets since the nineteenth century, although some recent general sonnet anthologies have included a number of such sonnets. The focus of the anthology is British poets and the intention has been to choose a representative selection of sonnets by each of the poets included.

There are different ways of structuring any anthology with each having pluses and minuses. The chronological structure of this anthology is designed to reinforce that it is the sonnet, the poetic form per se, that is of primary consideration, not the poet. By viewing the sonnets in this way it can be seen how this poetic form developed over a period of seventy years, in both content and structural terms. Simply looking at Alfred Tennyson's sonnets that begin Volume I with those of Gerard Manley Hopkins that begin Volume IV, for example, is an illustration of this point. Another aspect of the chronological ordering is that sonnets of different poets published or written at the same time can be viewed alongside each other. This means, for example, that Christina Rossetti's early sonnets can be viewed alongside those of her brother, Dante Gabriel. Within a specific year of publication the poets are shown alphabetically.

Where possible the first published text of a sonnet in book form has been chosen and used without modification.