Poems

In 1593 and 1594, respectively, when the theaters were closed because of plague, Shakespeare created two erotic poems, "Venus and Adonis" and "Lucrece dishonored." These poems were dedicated to Henry Risley, Earl of Southampton. In "Venus and Adonis" innocent Adonis rejects the sexual advances of Venus; whereas in "dishonored Lucretia" virtuous wife Lucrece is raped by Tarquinius. Influenced by Ovid's Metamorphoses, the poems appear in guilt and the terrible consequences of uncontrollable love. Both poems were popular and reprinted several times during the life of Shakespeare. The third poem, "A Lover's Complaint", in which she complains about the seductive trickster, was published in the first edition of the Sonnets in 1609. Currently, most scholars recognize that "A Lover's Complaint" was written by Shakespeare. In the poem "The Phoenix and the Turtle," published in 1601 in the collection of Robert Chester «Love's Martyr», describes the sad death of the mythological phoenix and his lover, faithful dove. In 1599, two of Shakespeare's sonnet on behalf of Shakespeare, but without his consent in the "Passionate Pilgrim"

"Venus and Adonis"

"Lucrece dishonored."

"The Phoenix and the Turtle,"