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!
