Poetry5

** Answer Prepared by: Ben Z. ** Although Shakespeare is best known for his plays, he has an equally potent catalog of poems. According to the book **__An Introduction to Shakespeare's Sonnets__**, by Robert Matz, Shakespeare has 154 individual sonnets published. Sonnets are a very specific style of poetry using iambic pentameter, consisting of 3 quatrains and a couplet, a total of 14 lines, and following the rhyme scheme **a b a b c d c d e f e f g g**. Sonnets are essentially about love; there is some controversy about the type of love. His first 126 sonnets are believed to be about homosexual desires, and the remaining 26 deal with love for a woman (Matz 7). Shakespeare's sonnets are considered to be some of the greatest poems ever written.
 * WHAT IS SHAKESPAERE’S BODY OF WORK IN POETRY? WHAT ARE CONSIDERED TO BE HIS MOST IMPORTANT POEMS? WHAT ARE THEY ABOUT AND WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT? **

Shakespeare also wrote several narrative poems, chiefly "Venus and Adonis", and "The Rape of Lucrece." "Venus and Adonis" deals with Venus, the goddess of love, and her desire for a mortal, Adonis. She tries her best to seduce him but Adonis holds back, and instead decides to go hunting. He is killed by a boar, and where his blood hits the ground, an anemone springs up. Venus picks it up and wears it, and proclaims that forevermore love will end in sorrow (Cousins 258). This poem remains popular for having a powerful representation of love and the sorrow of love.

"The Rape of Lucrece" deals with Roman noblemen competing over the chastity of their wives. One woman, Lucrece, is deemed so chaste that it gives desire to the king's son, Tarquin. He attempts to rape her. Lucrece wants to "preserve both their honors, but Tarquin threatens to murder her and a servant and make it look as though they were in bed together, so Lucrece submits" (Cousins 263). When she wakes up, she calls for her husband and her father, informs them about what happened, and "makes them swear an oath of revenge" (Cousins 263). She "then stabs herself and dies" (Cousins 263). The men punish Tarquin and he is banished from Rome. This poem is important because it gives a modern perspective on the subject of rape.

Shakespeare was a potent poet and his works of poetry are not to be ignored. His poems set a precedent for other poets and continue to inspire new generations of poets. **
 * Works Cited

= Cheney, Patrick. The Cambridge Companion To Shakespeare's Poetry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. 210-212. Print. =

= Cousins, A.D. The Shakespeare Encyclopedia: The Complete Guide To the Man and His Works. Buffalo, New York: Firefly Books Ltd., 2009. 258-282. Print. =

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= Matz, Robert. The World of Shakespeare's Sonnets: An Introduction. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc., 2008. 7. Print. =