The Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeare's Poetry

Shakespeare'spoems,asidefromtheenduringappealoftheSonnets,aremuchlessfamiliartodaythanhisplays,despitebeingenormouslypopularinhislifetime.ThisIntroductioncelebratestheachievementofShakespeareasapoet,providingstudentswithwaysofunderstandingandenjoyinghisremarkablepoems.Ithonourstheaestheticandintellectualcomplexityofthepoemswithoutmakingthemseemunapproachablycomplicated,outliningtheirexquisitepleasuresandabsorbingenigmas.Schoenfeldtsuggeststhattoday'sreadersarebetterabletoanalyzeaspectsofthepoemsthatwereformerlyignoredorthesourceofscandal-thearticulationofaferventsame-sexlove,forexample,ortheincipientracisminherentinahierarchyoflightanddark.ByengagingcloselywithShakespeare'smajorpoems-'VenusandAdonis','Lucrece','ThePhoenixandtheTurtle',theSonnetsand'ALover'sComplaint'-theIntroductiondemonstrateshowmuchtheseextraordinarypoemsstillhavetosaytous.