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 Poem

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 Poem

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.

The Rape of Lucrece Poem

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.

The Phoenix and the Turtle Poem

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 Pilgrim Poems

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

Shakespeares life can be divided into three periods: the first 20 years in Stratford, which include his schooling, early marriage, and fatherhood; the next 25 years as an actor and playwright in London; and the last five in retirement back in Stratford where he enjoyed moderate wealth gained from his theatrical successes. The years linking the first two periods are marked by a lack of information about Shakespeare, and are often referred to as the dark years; the transition from active work into retirement was gradual and cannot be precisely dated [Boyce, 587]. The most popular plays by Shakespeare include Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Othello and a Midsummer Nights Dream. 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