Each Edition Includes:Comprehensive explanatory notes placed on pagesfacing the text of the poems；Vivid introductions and the most up-to-datescholarship；Clear, modernized spelling and punctuation,enabling contemporary readers to understand theElizabethan English；Completely updated, detailed bibliography；An index to the first lines of the sonnets.

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.

The Poems vii

VENUS AND ADONIS 1

Introduction 3

Venus and Adon/s 9

Date and Text 93

Textual Notes 95

THE RAPE OF LUCRECE 97

Introduction 99

The Rape of Lucrece 105

Date and Text 231

Textual Notes 233

THE PHOENIX AND TURTLE 235

Introduction 237

The Phoenix and Turtle 239

Date and Text 247

SONNETS 249

Introduction 251

Sonnets 263

Date and Text 455

Textual Notes 457

A LOVER'S COMPLAINT 459

Introduction 461

A Lover's Complaint 463

Date and Text 489

Textual Notes 491

Index of Sonnet First Lines 493

Further Reading 499