|
|
THE POEMS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
William Shakespeare is referred to as a Literary Genius and much of this praise
is due to the wonderful words of his short sonnet poems and his extended poems
as detailed on this page. He is the most widely read author in the whole of the
Western World - his poems and quotes from poems are familiar to everyone. And
yet when we think about Shakespeare we immediately we think of his famous plays
and not his less famous poems. During the Bard's lifetime dramatists were not
considered 'serious' authors with 'serious' talent - but it was highly
fashionable to write poems. Plays were for entertainment poems were for the
elite! There was not even such a thing as a custom built theatre until 1576!
Actors were common folk. Poets of the era such as Christopher Marlowe, Sir
Philip Sydney, Sir Walter Raleigh were of the nobility and there poems are still
enjoyed today. These poets had credibility and so did their poetry. William
Shakespeare came from Yeoman stock - he lacked credibility - his poems would
have helped with this problem !. The Bard did not give permission for one of his
plays or his sonnets to be published. He was, however, happy to have his poems
published. William Shakespeare has been attributed with the following poems:
 |
William Shakespeare Poem - A Lover's Complaint |
|
|
William Shakespeare Poem - Phoenix and the Turtle |
|
|
William Shakespeare Poem - Rape of Lucrece |
|
|
William Shakespeare poem - Venus and Adonis |
A Lover's Complaint is the most
neglected of the Poems of William Shakespear, assuming that it is his. It was
first published in 1609, by Thomas Thorpe, under the same cover as the Sonnets;
but has seldom been reprinted. The Lover's Complaint seems to be a very early
poem (perhaps 1591), but no date of composition of the poem can be assigned.
Venus and Adonis
April 18, 1593 Registration of Venus and Adonis Poem
Venus and Adonis, Shakespeare's narrative poem in six-line stanzas, was
published by Richard Field (1561 - 1624). The poem was dedicated to
Shakespeare's patron, Henry Wriothesley, Third Earl of Southampton (1573-1624).
This dedication refers to the author's "unpolisht lines" and contains the
typically fawning language of a commoner addressing a nobleman in the hope of
obtaining, or retaining, their patronage in exchange for poems dedicated to the
recipient.
May 9, 1594 Registration of The Rape of Lucrece
On May 9, 1594, the poem was entered in the Hall Book of the Worshipful Company
of Stationers, the English government's pre-publication registry. The poem was
listed in the Hall Book under the title of The Ravyshement [Ravishment] of
Lucrece but was published with the title Lucrece. The Rape of Lucrece was
substituted as a title at a later date. The Rape of Lucrece is a narrative poem
resembling a revenge tragedy with 1,855 lines.
In 1601 a very fine poem subsequently titled The Phoenix and the Turtle appeared untitled as one of the Poetical Essays appended to Robert Chester's Love's Martyr: or Rosalind's Complaint. It was attributed to William, and many scholars have accepted the poem as genuine. The date of composition of the poem is unknown, but this poem must be a more mature work.
The Passionate Pilgrime (1599) was a poetry collection containing twenty poems
by various poets. The title page to the second edition contains the ascription
"By W. Shakespeare" but only five of the poems appear to be his. The poems, or
Sonnets 138 and 144, despite the "never before imprinted" claim of "a Booke
called Shakespeares sonnettes", were included, albeit in a slightly different
format, in The Passionate Pilgrim poem.
THE POEMS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE