Shakespeare’s greatest achievement in nondramatic verse was
his collection of 154 magnificent sonnets that portray a tumultuous
world of love, rivalry, and conflict among a poet, an aristocratic
young man, a rival poet, and a mysterious “dark lady.” More
profound than other Elizabethan sonnet sequences and never
surpassed as archetypes of the form, these poems explore almost
every imaginable emotional complexity related to love and
friendship. Some poems are dark, bitter, and self-hating, others
express idealism with unmatchable eloquence–and all are of
quintessential beauty, part of the world’s great literary
heritage.
In addition to his sonnets, Shakespeare published two long poems
early in his career: Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece.
Immediately popular in Shakespeare’s time, they display a richness
that can also reward us with insights into the powerful imagery of
his plays.
Rounding out this volume are two minor poems, “A Lover’s
Complaint” and “The Phoenix and Turtle,” thought to be part of
Shakespeare’s early writings.