If your true love is a true romantic, don't be surprised if you find a slightly dishevelled Fool on your doorstep or in your workplace this Valentine's Day. You are about to be sonneted.

Ottawa's A Company of Fools has been delivering sonnets for the past decade, usually on Valentine's Day. It's a fundraiser for the company, which produces two or three of Shakespeare's plays each year and does tours across Canada.

The actors in the company are known as "Fools." And the dishevelment? That's a little bit of Shakespearean verisimilitude, says Scott Florence, artistic director with the Company of Fools and a drama instructor at Algonquin College.

"The classic idea of a Shakespearean lover is that they can't dress themselves properly," says Florence, who usually delivers his sonnets in colourful hose and pumpkin pantaloons. "Your head is such a mess because you are concentrating on that unattainable love."

The Fools -- there will be two of them on sonnet patrol this Valentine's Day -- typically deliver between 20 and 100 sonnets between them.

And then there is the element of surprise. Fool AL Connors agreed to surprise Leah Meredith, an English teacher at All Saints Catholic High School in Kanata, to show the Citizen how he ambushes sonnet recipients with Shakespeare.

Meredith surprised Connors by knowing all the words to Sonnet 18 and gamely joining in the recitation.

The ever-romantic Sonnet 18 (Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate) is one of the most-requested sonnets for the Fools, followed by Sonnet 116 (Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments/ Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds).

"It's popular with a lot of couples who have been married a long time," says Florence.

"This sonnet says: 'If love is fickle and changing, then it's not real love. Real love remains steadfast and true.' "

For the recipient with a good sense of humour and unassailable self-esteem, there's Sonnet 2 (When 40 years shall besiege thy brow/ And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field). The Fools also get requests for Number 43 of the Sonnets From the Portuguese (How do I love thee? Let me count the ways). Which, it must be pointed out, was written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning more than two centuries after Shakespeare's death. But that is an arcane point for romantics, and the Fools are happy to oblige. "People don't bother with the details," says Florence. "What they want to do is send out a piece of love poetry to a loved one."

It's not unusual for a sonnet to be sent or received by someone whose first language isn't English. "It's a romantic thing to do," says Florence. "People aren't necessarily doing it because they're Shakespeare fans. They do it because it is a beautiful gesture on a day carved out for beautiful gestures."

Connors recalls delivering one sonnet to a high-tech company, clad in Elizabethan garb. A parade of curious onlookers collected behind him, which certainly surprised the recipient. "I'm sure it was intimidating seeing this whole horde, all snapping pictures."

On another occasion, the sonnet recipient happened to be a mechanic who was under a car when the Fool arrived. "Oh no, not again," was his response as his co-workers hooted, says Florence.

This, however, is not a typical reaction. "More often than not, people are moved to tears. Men and women."

As an actor, Florence loves delivering sonnets as performance. They are usually delivered in the recipient's place of work. Shakespeare's words were written to be performed. Delivering the Bard's words in front of an audience is every Fool's dream. "Everyone stops to watch," Florence says. "Everyone's heart goes out to it. There's nothing more touching."

Delivering dozens of sonnets in one day can be a logistical nightmare, but an energetic, organized team of Fools can deliver five sonnets in an hour, says Connors.

Another theatre company in Eastern Ontario, the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival, is also delivering sonnets for the first time this year. "Business has been brisk," says Artistic Director Ian Farthing. "I had two bookings within minutes of putting out a e-mail notice."

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To Order A Sonnet:

The Company Of Fools

Sonnets are delivered with a parchment scroll and a small package of sweets on Feb. 14 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Delivered in person, $69.99. Delivered by telephone to anywhere in North America, $ 59.99.

To order, call 613-421-2720 or e-mail info@fools.ca

St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival

Artistic director Ian Farthing delivers sonnets Feb. 14 to homes, restaurants and offices in the Prescott and Brockville areas for a $25 minimum donation to the company.

To order, call 613-246-4301.