William Shakespeare Poems THE POEMS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE - The poems of William Shakespeare are less well known than his plays although his Sonnets are equally as famous
- During the Elizabethan era playwrights were not considered 'serious' authors
- But Poets were different - they were considered refined and well educated
- Most of the poets of Shakespeare's era were well educated Courtiers such as Sir Walter Raleigh and Christopher Marlowe. These poets had credibility and so did their poetry
- William Shakespeare was just a commoner - he lacked credibility - his poems would have helped to improve his image
- William Shakespeare has been attributed with the following poems:
- A Lover's Complaint
- The Phoenix and the Turtle
- The Rape of Lucrece
- Venus and Adonis
- The Passionate Pilgrime (1599) was a poetry collection containing twenty poems by various poets, only five of the poems are attributed to William Shakespeare
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE THE POET - Shakespeare had a patron, a man of prominence who would support the young writer in his poetic works
- His patron was Henry Wriothesley who was the Third Earl of Southampton (1573-1624)
- Shakespeare published his poem Venus and Adonis on April 18th 1593. The poem was dedicated to Shakespeare's patron, the Earl of Southampton
- The dedication refers to the author's "unpolisht lines" and contains the typically fawning language of a commoner who hopes to gain more favour by dedicating the poem to a courtier
- The poem was an artistic success!
- 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!
THE POEMS- You can read the poems of William Shakespeare by clicking the following links:
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