Poetry

In 1593 and 1594, when the theatres were closed because of plague, Shakespeare published two narrative poems on erotic themes, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. He dedicated them to Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton. In Venus and Adonis, an innocent Adonis rejects the sexual advances of Venus; while in The Rape of Lucrece, the virtuous wife Lucrece is raped by the lustful Tarquin. Influenced by Ovid's Metamorphoses, the poems show the guilt and moral confusion that result from uncontrolled lust. Both proved popular and were often reprinted during Shakespeare's lifetime. A third narrative poem, A Lover's Complaint, in which a young woman laments her seduction by a persuasive suitor, was printed in the first edition of the Sonnets in 1609. Most scholars now accept that Shakespeare wrote A Lover's Complaint. Critics consider that its fine qualities are marred by leaden effects. The Phoenix and the Turtle, printed in Robert Chester's 1601 Love's Martyr, mourns the deaths of the legendary phoenix and his lover, the faithful turtle dove. In 1599, two early drafts of sonnets 138 and 144 appeared in The Passionate Pilgrim, published under Shakespeare's name but without his permission

The Sonnets
A Lover's Complaint
The Rape of Lucrece
Venus and Adonis
Funeral Elegy by W.S.

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  • Coriolanus - Act 4 - Scene 3
    SCENE III. A highway between Rome and Antium.     Enter a Roman and a Volsce, meeting Roman     I know you well, sir, and you know     me: ...
  • Coriolanus - Act 1 - Scene 8
    SCENE VIII. A field of battle.     Alarum as in battle. Enter, from opposite sides, MARCIUS and AUFIDIUS MARCIUS     I'll fight with no...
  • Romeo and Juliet - Act 4 - Scene 4
    SCENE IV. Hall in Capulet's house.     Enter LADY CAPULET and Nurse LADY CAPULET     Hold, take these keys, and fetch more spices, nurs...
  • King Lear - Act 4 - Scene 4
    SCENE IV. The same. A tent.     Enter, with drum and colours, CORDELIA, Doctor, and Soldiers CORDELIA     Alack, 'tis he: why, he was m...
  • Antony and Cleopatra - Act 3 - Scene 3
    SCENE III. Alexandria. CLEOPATRA's palace.     Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, IRAS, and ALEXAS CLEOPATRA     Where is the fellow? ALEXAS   ...
  • Julies Caesar - Act 4 - Scene 2
    SCENE II. Camp near Sardis. Before BRUTUS's tent.     Drum. Enter BRUTUS, LUCILIUS, LUCIUS, and Soldiers; TITINIUS and PINDARUS meeting...
  • Macbeth - Act 4 - Scene 2
    SCENE II. Fife. Macduff's castle.     Enter LADY MACDUFF, her Son, and ROSS LADY MACDUFF     What had he done, to make him fly the land...
  • Timon of Athens - Act 3 - Scene 3
    SCENE III. A room in Sempronius' house.     Enter SEMPRONIUS, and a Servant of TIMON's SEMPRONIUS     Must he needs trouble me in ...
  • Macbeth - Act 5 - Scene 8
    SCENE VIII. Another part of the field.     Enter MACBETH MACBETH     Why should I play the Roman fool, and die     On mine own sword? while...
  • Macbeth - Act 5 - Scene 6
    SCENE VI. Dunsinane. Before the castle.     Drum and colours. Enter MALCOLM, SIWARD, MACDUFF, and their Army, with boughs MALCOLM     Now n...

Monthly Top

  • King Lear - Act 4 - Scene 4
    SCENE IV. The same. A tent.     Enter, with drum and colours, CORDELIA, Doctor, and Soldiers CORDELIA     Alack, 'tis he: why, he was m...
  • Troilus and Cressida - William Shakespeare
    "Troilus and Cressida" is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1602. It was also described by Fred...
  • Timon of Athens - Act 3 - Scene 3
    SCENE III. A room in Sempronius' house.     Enter SEMPRONIUS, and a Servant of TIMON's SEMPRONIUS     Must he needs trouble me in ...
  • Richard III - Act 3 - Scene 3
    SCENE III. Pomfret Castle.     Enter RATCLIFF, with halberds, carrying RIVERS, GREY, and VAUGHAN to death RATCLIFF     Come, bring forth th...
  • Julies Caesar - Act 5 - Scene 4
    SCENE IV. Another part of the field.     Alarum. Enter fighting, Soldiers of both armies; then BRUTUS, CATO, LUCILIUS, and others BRUTUS   ...
  • Julies Caesar - Act 4 - Scene 1
    SCENE I. A house in Rome.     ANTONY, OCTAVIUS, and LEPIDUS, seated at a table ANTONY     These many, then, shall die; their names ar...
  • Macbeth - Act 2 - Scene 4
    SCENE IV. Outside Macbeth's castle.     Enter ROSS and an old Man Old Man     Threescore and ten I can remember well:     Within the vo...
  • Julies Caesar - Act 2 - Scene 4
    SCENE IV. Another part of the same street, before the house of BRUTUS.     Enter PORTIA and LUCIUS PORTIA     I prithee, boy, run to the se...
  • Timon of Athens - Act 2 - Scene 1
    SCENE I. A Senator's house.     Enter Senator, with papers in his hand Senator     And late, five thousand: to Varro and to Isidore    ...
  • Romeo and Juliet - Act 4 - Scene 4
    SCENE IV. Hall in Capulet's house.     Enter LADY CAPULET and Nurse LADY CAPULET     Hold, take these keys, and fetch more spices, nurs...
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