William Shakespeare's
name is synonymous with many of the famous lines he wrote in his
plays and prose. Yet his poems are not nearly as recognizable to
many as the characters and famous monologues from his many plays.
In Shakespeare's era (1564-1616), it was not profitable but very
fashionable to write poetry. It also provided credibility to his
talent as a writer and helped to enhance his social standing. It
seems writing poetry was something he greatly enjoyed and did mainly
for himself at times when he was not consumed with writing a play.
Because of their more private nature, few poems, particularly
long-form poems, have been published.
The two longest works that scholars agree were written by
Shakespeare are entitled
Venus and Adonis
and
The Rape of Lucrece.
Both dedicated to the Honorable Henry Wriothesley, Earl of
Southampton, who seems to have acted as a sponsor and encouraging
benefactor of Shakespeare's work for a brief time.
Both of these poems contain dozens of stanzas and comment on the
depravity of unwanted sexual advances, showing themes throughout of
guilt, lust, and moral confusion. In
Venus and Adonis, an innocent Adonis must reject the sexual
advances of Venus. Conversely in
The Rape of Lucrece, the honorable and virtuous wife Lucrece
is raped a character overcome with lust, Tarquin. The dedication to
Wriothesley is much warmer in the second poem, suggesting a
deepening of their relationship and Shakespeare's appreciation of
his support.
A third and shorter narrative poem,
A Lover's Complaint, was
printed in the first collection of Shakespeare's sonnets. Most
scholars agree now that it was also written by Shakespeare, though
that was contested for some time. The poem tells the story of a
young woman who is driven to misery by a persuasive suitor's
attempts to seduce her. It is not regarded by critics to be his
finest work.
Another short poem,
The Phoenix and the Turtle,
despairs the death of a legendary phoenix and his faithful turtle
dove lover. It speaks to the frailty of love and commitment in a
world where only death is certain.
There are 152 short sonnets attributed to Shakespeare. Among them,
the most famous ones are
Sonnet 29,
Sonnet 71, and
Sonnet 55. As a collection, narrative
sequence of his Sonnets speaks to Shakespeare's deep insecurity and
jealousy as a lover, his grief at separation, and his delight in
sharing beautiful experiences with his romantic counterparts.
However, few scholars believe that the sequence of the sonnets
accurately depicts the order in which they were written. Because
Shakespeare seemed to write primarily for his own private audience,
dating these short jewels of literature has been next to impossible.
Within the sonnets Shakespeare seems to have two deliberate series:
one describing his all consuming lust for a married woman with a
dark complexion (the
Dark Lady), and one about his
confused love feelings for a handsome young man (the Fair Youth).
This dichotomy has been widely studied and debated and it remains
unclear as to if the subjects represented real people or two
opposing sides to Shakespeare's own personality.
Though some of Shakespeare's poetry was published without his
permission in his lifetime, in texts such as
The Passionate Pilgrim,
the majority of the sonnets were published in 1609 by Thomas Thorpe.
Before that time, it appears that Shakespeare would only have shared
his poetry with a very close inner-circle of friends and loved ones.
Thorpe's collection was the last of Shakespeare's non-dramatic work
to be printed before his death.
Critics have praised the sonnets as being profoundly intimate and
meditating on the values of love, lust, procreation, and death.
Nowaday, Shakespeare is ranked as all-time most popular English
poets on history, along with
Emily Dickinson,
Robert Frost, and
Walt Whitman.
| Poem Name |
| A Fairy Song |
| A Lover's Complaint |
| A Madrigal |
| All The World's A
Stage |
| Antony and
Cleopatra, Act II, Scene II [The barge she sat in, like a
burnish'd throne] |
| Aubade |
| Blow, Blow, Thou
Winter Winda |
| Bridal Song |
| Dirge |
| Dirge Of The Three
Queens |
| Fairy Land I |
| Fairy Land II |
| Fairy Land III |
| Fear No More |
| From The Rape Of
Lucrece |
| From Venus And Adonis |
| Full Fathom Five |
| Hark! Hark! The Lark |
| Helen's Soliloqy (All's Well
That Ends Well) |
| It Was A Lover
And His Lass |
| Juliet's Soliloquy |
| Love |
| Not From The Stars Do I My Judgment
Pluck (Sonnet 14) |
| Not Marble Nor The Guilded
Monuments (Sonnet 55) |
| Now The Hungry Lion
Roars |
| Now, My
Co-Mates And Brothers In Exile |
| O Mistress Mine, Where
Are You Roaming? (Twelfth Night, Act Ii, Scene Iii) |
| O Never Say That I Was False
Of Heart |
| Orpheus With
His Lute Made Trees |
| Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's
Day? (Sonnet 18) |
| Sigh No More |
| Silvia |
| Some Say That Ever
"Gainst That Season Comes (Hamlet, Act I, Scene I) |
| Sonet Liv |
| Song of the Witches:
"Double, double toil and trouble" |
| Sonnet 1: From Fairest Creatures We
Desire Increase |
| Sonnet 10: For Shame, Deny That
Thou Bear'st Love To Any |
| Sonnet 100: Where Art Thou, Muse,
That Thou Forget'st So Long |
| Sonnet 101: O Truant Muse, What
Shall Be Thy Amends |
| Sonnet 102: My Love Is
Strengthened, Though More Weak In Seeming |
| Sonnet 103: Alack, What Poverty My
Muse Brings Forth |
| Sonnet 104: To Me, Fair Friend,
You Never Can Be Old |
| Sonnet 105: Let Not My Love Be
Called Idolatry |
| Sonnet 106: When In The Chronicle
Of Wasted Time |
| Sonnet 107: Not Mine Own Fears,
Nor The Prophetic Soul |
| Sonnet 108: What's In The Brain
That Ink May Character |
| Sonnet 109: O, Never Say That I
Was False Of Heart |
| Sonnet 11: As Fast As Thou Shalt
Wane, So Fast Thou Grow'st |
| Sonnet 110: Alas, 'Tis True, I
Have Gone Here And There |
| Sonnet 111: O, For My Sake Do You
With Fortune Chide |
| Sonnet 112: Your Love And Pity
Doth Th' Impression Fill |
| Sonnet 113: Since I Left You, Mine
Eye Is In My Mind |
| Sonnet 114: Or Whether Doth My
Mind, Being Crowned With You |
| Sonnet 115: Those Lines That I
Before Have Writ Do Lie |
| Sonnet 116: Let Me Not To The
Marriage Of True Minds |
| Sonnet 118: Like As To Make Our
Appetite More Keen |
| Sonnet 119: What Potions Have I
Drunk Of Siren Tears |
| Sonnet 12: When I Do Count The
Clock That Tells The Time |
| Sonnet 120: That You Were Once
Unkind Befriends Me Now |
| Sonnet 121:Tis Better To Be Vile
Than Vile Esteemed |
| Sonnet 122: Thy Gift, Thy Tables,
Are Within My Brain |
| Sonnet 123: No, Time, Thou Shalt
Not Boast That I Do Change |
| Sonnet 125: Were'T Aught To Me I
Bore The Canopy |
| Sonnet 126: O Thou, My Lovely Boy,
Who In Thy Power |
| Sonnet 128: How Oft, When Thou, My
Music, Music Play'st |
| Sonnet 129: Th' Expense Of Spirit
In A Waste Of Shame |
| Sonnet 13: O, That You Were Your
Self! But, Love, You Are |
| Sonnet 130: My Mistress' Eyes Are
Nothing Like The Sun |
| Sonnet 131: Thou Art As Tyrannous,
So As Thou Art |
| Sonnet 132: Thine Eyes I Love, And
They, As Pitying Me |
| Sonnet 133: Beshrew That Heart
That Makes My Heart To Groan |
| Sonnet 134: So, Now I Have
Confessed That He Is Thine |
| Sonnet 135: Whoever Hath Her Wish,
Thou Hast Thy Will |
| Sonnet 136: If Thy Soul Check Thee
That I Come So Near |
| Sonnet 137: Thou Blind Fool, Love,
What Dost Thou To Mine Eyes |
| Sonnet 138: When My Love Swears
That She Is Made Of Truth |
| Sonnet 139: O, Call Not Me To
Justify The Wrong |
| Sonnet 14: Not From The Stars Do I
My Judgement Pluck |
| Sonnet 140: Be Wise As Thou Art
Cruel; Do Not Press |
| Sonnet 141: In Faith, I Do Not
Love Thee With Mine Eyes |
| Sonnet 142: Love Is My Sin, And
Thy Dear Virtue Hate |
| Sonnet 143: Lo, As A Careful
Huswife Runs To Catch |
| Sonnet 144: Two Loves I Have, Of
Comfort And Despair |
| Sonnet 145: Those Lips That Love's
Own Hand Did Make |
| Sonnet 146: Poor Soul, The Centre
Of My Sinful Earth |
| Sonnet 147: My Love Is As A Fever,
Longing Still |
| Sonnet 148: O Me! What Eyes Hath
Love Put In My Head |
| Sonnet 149: Canst Thou, O Cruel,
Say I Love Thee Not |
| Sonnet 15: When I Consider Every
Thing That Grows |
| Sonnet 150: O From What Power Hast
Thou This Powerful Might |
| Sonnet 151: Love Is Too Young To
Know What Conscience Is |
| Sonnet 152: In Loving Thee Thou
Know'st I Am Forsworn |
| Sonnet 153: Cupid Laid By His
Brand And Fell Asleep |
| Sonnet 154: The Little Love-God
Lying Once Asleep |
| Sonnet 16: But Wherefore Do Not You
A Mightier Way |
| Sonnet 17: Who Will Believe My
Verse In Time To Come |
| Sonnet 18: Shall I Compare Thee To
A Summer's Day? |
| Sonnet 19: Devouring Time Blunt
Thou The Lion's Paws |
| Sonnet 2: When Forty Winters Shall
Besiege Thy Brow |
| Sonnet 20: A Woman's Face With
Nature's Own Hand Painted |
| Sonnet 21: So Is It Not With Me As
With That Muse |
| Sonnet 22: My Glass Shall Not
Persuade Me I Am Old |
| Sonnet 23: As An Unperfect Actor On
The Stage |
| Sonnet 24: "mine Eye Hath Played
The Painter And Hath Stelled" |
| Sonnet 25: Let Those Who Are In
Favour With Their Stars |
| Sonnet 26: Lord Of My Love, To Whom
In Vassalage |
| Sonnet 27: Weary With Toil, I Haste
Me To My Bed |
| Sonnet 28: How Can I Then Return In
Happy Plight |
| Sonnet 30: When To The Sessions Of
Sweet Silent Thought |
| Sonnet 31: Thy Bosom Is EndearÈD
With All Hearts |
| Sonnet 32: If Thou Survive My
Well-Contented Day |
| Sonnet 33: Full Many A Glorious
Morning Have I Seen |
| Sonnet 34: Why Didst Thou Promise
Such A Beauteous Day |
| Sonnet 35: No More Be Grieved At
That Which Thou Hast Done |
| Sonnet 36: Let Me Confess That We
Two Must Be Twain |
| Sonnet 37: As A Decrepit Father
Takes Delight |
| Sonnet 38: How Can My Muse Want
Subject To Invent |
| Sonnet 39: O, How Thy Worth With
Manners May I Sing |
| Sonnet 4: Unthrifty Loveliness, Why
Dost Thou Spend |
| Sonnet 40: Take All My Loves, My
Love, Yea, Take Them All |
| Sonnet 41: Those Pretty Wrongs That
Liberty Commits |
| Sonnet 42: That Thou Hast Her, It
Is Not All My Grief |
| Sonnet 43: When Most I Wink, Then
Do Mine Eyes Best See |
| Sonnet 44: If The Dull Substance Of
My Flesh Were Thought |
| Sonnet 45: The Other Two, Slight
Air And Purging Fire |
| Sonnet 46: Mine Eye And Heart Are
At A Mortal War |
| Sonnet 47: Betwixt Mine Eye And
Heart A League Is Took |
| Sonnet 48: How Careful Was I, When
I Took My Way |
| Sonnet 49: Against That Time, If
Ever That Time Come |
| Sonnet 5: Those Hours, That With
Gentle Work Did Frame |
| Sonnet 50: How Heavy Do I Journey
On The Way |
| Sonnet 51: Thus Can My Love Excuse
The Slow Offence |
| Sonnet 52: So Am I As The Rich
Whose BlessÈD Key |
| Sonnet 53: What Is Your Substance,
Whereof Are You Made |
| Sonnet 54: O, How Much More Doth
Beauty Beauteous Seem |
| Sonnet 55: Not Marble, Nor The
Gilded Monuments |
| Sonnet 56: Sweet Love, Renew Thy
Force, Be It Not Said |
| Sonnet 57: Being Your Slave, What
Should I Do But Tend |
| Sonnet 58: That God Forbid, That
Made Me First Your Slave |
| Sonnet 59: If There Be Nothing New,
But That Which Is |
| Sonnet 6: Then Let Not Winter's
Ragged Hand Deface |
| Sonnet 60: Like As The Waves Make
Towards The Pebbled Shore |
| Sonnet 61: Is It Thy Will Thy Image
Should Keep Open |
| Sonnet 62: Sin Of Self-Love
Possesseth All Mine Eye |
| Sonnet 63: Against My Love Shall Be
As I Am Now |
| Sonnet 64: When I Have Seen By
Time's Fell Hand Defaced |
| Sonnet 65: Since Brass, Nor Stone,
Nor Earth, Nor Boundless Sea |
| Sonnet 66: Tired With All These,
For Restful Death I Cry |
| Sonnet 67: Ah, Wherefore With
Infection Should He Live |
| Sonnet 69: Those Parts Of Thee That
The World's Eye Doth View |
| Sonnet 7: Lo In The Orient When The
Gracious Light |
| Sonnet 70: That Thou Art Blamed
Shall Not Be Thy Defect |
| Sonnet 71: No Longer Mourn For Me
When I Am Dead |
| Sonnet 72: O, Lest The World Should
Task You To Recite |
| Sonnet 73: That Time Of Year Thou
Mayst In Me Behold |
| Sonnet 74: But Be Contented When
That Fell Arrest |
| Sonnet 75: So Are You To My
Thoughts As Food To Life |
| Sonnet 76: Why Is My Verse So
Barren Of New Pride? |
| Sonnet 77: Thy Glass Will Show Thee
How Thy Beauties Wear |
| Sonnet 78: So Oft Have I Invoked
Thee For My Muse |
| Sonnet 79: Whilst I Alone Did Call
Upon Thy Aid |
| Sonnet 8: Music To Hear, Why Hear'st
Thou Music Sadly? |
| Sonnet 81: Or I Shall Live Your
Epitaph To Make |
| Sonnet 82: I Grant Thou Wert Not
Married To My Muse |
| Sonnet 83: I Never Saw That You Did
Painting Need |
| Sonnet 84: Who Is It That Says
Most, Which Can Say More |
| Sonnet 85: My Tongue-Tied Muse In
Manners Holds Her Still |
| Sonnet 86: Was It The Proud Full
Sail Of His Great Verse |
| Sonnet 87: Farewell! Thou Art Too
Dear For My Possessing |
| Sonnet 88: When Thou Shalt Be
Disposed To Set Me Light |
| Sonnet 89: Say That Thou Didst
Forsake Me For Some Fault |
| Sonnet 9: Is It For Fear To Wet A
Widow's Eye |
| Sonnet 90: Then Hate Me When Thou
Wilt; If Ever, Now |
| Sonnet 91: Some Glory In Their
Birth, Some In Their Skill |
| Sonnet 92: But Do Thy Worst To
Steal Thyself Away |
| Sonnet 93: So Shall I Live,
Supposing Thou Art True |
| Sonnet 94: They That Have Power To
Hurt And Will Do None |
| Sonnet 95: How Sweet And Lovely
Dost Thou Make The Shame |
| Sonnet 96: Some Say Thy Fault Is
Youth, Some Wantonness |
| Sonnet 97: How Like A Winter Hath
My Absence Been |
| Sonnet 98: From You Have I Been
Absent In The Spring |
| Sonnet 99: The Forward Violet Thus
Did I Chide |
| Sonnet C |
| Sonnet Ci |
| Sonnet Cii |
| Sonnet Ciii |
| Sonnet Civ |
| Sonnet Cix |
| Sonnet Cl |
| Sonnet Clii |
| Sonnet Cliii |
| Sonnet Cliv |
| Sonnet Cv |
| Sonnet Cvi |
| Sonnet Cvii |
| Sonnet Cviii |
| Sonnet Cx |
| Sonnet Cxi: O, For My Sake Do You
With Fortune Chide |
| Sonnet Cxii |
| Sonnet Cxiii |
| Sonnet Cxiv |
| Sonnet Cxix |
| Sonnet Cxl |
| Sonnet Cxli |
| Sonnet Cxlii |
| Sonnet Cxliii |
| Sonnet Cxliv |
| Sonnet Cxlix |
| Sonnet Cxlv |
| Sonnet Cxlvi |
| Sonnet Cxlvii |
| Sonnet Cxlviii |
| Sonnet Cxv |
| Sonnet Cxvi: Let Me Not To The
Marriage Of True Minds |
| Sonnet Cxvii |
| Sonnet Cxviii |
| Sonnet Cxx |
| Sonnet Cxxi |
| Sonnet Cxxii |
| Sonnet Cxxiii |
| Sonnet Cxxix |
| Sonnet Cxxv |
| Sonnet Cxxvi |
| Sonnet Cxxviii |
| Sonnet Cxxxi |
| Sonnet Cxxxii |
| Sonnet Cxxxiii |
| Sonnet Cxxxiv |
| Sonnet Cxxxix |
| Sonnet Cxxxv |
| Sonnet Cxxxvi |
| Sonnet Cxxxviii |
| Sonnet I: From Fairest Creatures We
Desire Increase |
| Sonnet Ii: When Forty Winters Shall
Besiege Thy Brow |
| Sonnet Iii: Look In Thy Glass, And
Tell The Face Thou Viewest |
| Sonnet Iv: Unthrifty Loveliness,
Why Dost Thou Spend |
| Sonnet Ix |
| Sonnet L |
| Sonnet Li |
| Sonnet Lii |
| Sonnet Liii |
| Sonnet Lix |
| Sonnet Lv |
| Sonnet Lvi |
| Sonnet Lvii |
| Sonnet Lviii |
| Sonnet Lxix |
| Sonnet Lxv |
| Sonnet Lxvi |
| Sonnet Lxx |
| Sonnet Lxxi |
| Sonnet Lxxii |
| Sonnet Lxxiii |
| Sonnet Lxxiv |
| Sonnet Lxxix |
| Sonnet Lxxv |
| Sonnet Lxxvi |
| Sonnet Lxxvii |
| Sonnet Lxxviii |
| Sonnet Lxxx |
| Sonnet Lxxxi |
| Sonnet Lxxxii |
| Sonnet Lxxxiii |
| Sonnet Lxxxiv |
| Sonnet Lxxxix |
| Sonnet Lxxxv |
| Sonnet Lxxxvi |
| Sonnet Lxxxvii |
| Sonnet Lxxxviii |
| Sonnet V: Those Hours, That With
Gentle Work Did Frame |
| Sonnet Vi |
| Sonnet Vii |
| Sonnet Viii |
| Sonnet X |
| Sonnet Xc |
| Sonnet Xci |
| Sonnet Xciii |
| Sonnet Xciv: They That Have Power
To Hurt And Will Do None |
| Sonnet Xcix |
| Sonnet Xcv |
| Sonnet Xcvi |
| Sonnet Xcvii |
| Sonnet Xcviii |
| Sonnet Xi |
| Sonnet Xii |
| Sonnet Xiii |
| Sonnet Xiv |
| Sonnet Xix: Devouring Time, Blunt
Thou The Lion's Paws |
| Sonnet Xl |
| Sonnet Xli |
| Sonnet Xlii |
| Sonnet Xliii |
| Sonnet Xliv |
| Sonnet Xlix |
| Sonnet Xlv |
| Sonnet Xlvi |
| Sonnet Xlvii |
| Sonnet Xlviii |
| Sonnet Xv: When I Consider
Everything That Grows |
| Sonnet Xvi |
| Sonnet Xvii |
| Sonnet Xviii: Shall I Compare
Thee To A Summer's Day? |
| Sonnet Xx |
| Sonnet Xxi |
| Sonnet Xxii |
| Sonnet Xxiii |
| Sonnet Xxiv |
| Sonnet Xxix: When, In Disgrace
With Fortune And Men's Eyes |
| Sonnet Xxvi |
| Sonnet Xxvii |
| Sonnet Xxviii |
| Sonnet Xxx: When To The Sessions
Of Sweet Silent Thought |
| Sonnet Xxxi |
| Sonnet Xxxii: If Thou Survive My
Well-Contented Day |
| Sonnet Xxxiii |
| Sonnet Xxxiv |
| Sonnet Xxxix |
| Sonnet Xxxv |
| Sonnet Xxxvi |
| Sonnet Xxxvii |
| Sonnet Xxxviii: How Can My
Muse Want Subject To Invent |
| Sonnets Cx: Alas, 'Tis True I Have
Gone Here And There |
| Sonnets Cxlvi: Poor Soul, The
Centre Of My Sinful Earth |
| Sonnets Cxvi: Let Me Not To The
Marriage Of True Minds |
| Sonnets I |
| Sonnets Ii |
| Sonnets Iii |
| Sonnets Iv |
| Sonnets Ix |
| Sonnets Liii: What Is Your
Substance, Whereof Are You Made |
| Sonnets Lx: Like As The Waves Make
Towards The Pebbl'D Shor |
| Sonnets To The Sundry Notes Of
Music |
| Sonnets Vi |
| Sonnets Vii |
| Sonnets Viii |
| Sonnets X |
| Sonnets Xciv: They That Have
Power To Hurt And Will Do None |
| Sonnets Xi |
| Sonnets Xii |
| Sonnets Xiii |
| Sonnets Xiv |
| Sonnets Xix: Devouring Time,
Blunt Thou The Lion's Paws |
| Sonnets Xv |
| Sonnets Xvi |
| Sonnets Xvii |
| Sonnets Xviii |
| Sonnets Xviii: Shall
I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day? |
| Sonnets Xx |
| Sonnets Xxix: When, In Disgrace
With Fortune And Men's Eyes |
| Sonnets Xxv: Let Those Who Are In
Favour With Their Stars |
| Sonnets Xxx: When To The Sessions
Of Sweet Silent Thought |
| Sonnets Xxxiii: Full Many A
Glorious Morning Have I Seen |
| Speech: "Friends,
Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears" |
| Spring And Winter |
| St. Crispin's Day Speech:
From Henry V |
| Take, O Take Those Lips
Away |
| That Time Of Year Thou
Mayst In Me Behold (Sonnet 73) |
| The Blossom |
| The Canakin Clink Pub Song (From
'Othello') |
| The Dark Lady Sonnets (127
- 154) |
| The Passionate Pilgrim |
| The Phoenix And
The Turtle |
| The Procreation
Sonnets (1 - 17) |
| The Quality Of Mercy |
| The Rival Poet Sonnets
(78 - 86) |
| To Be, Or Not To Be
(Hamlet, Act Iii, Scene I) |
| Twelve O'Clock - Fairy Time |
| Under The Greenwood
Tree |
| When In Disgrace With
Fortune And Men's Eyes (Sonnet 29) |
| When That I Was And A Little
Tiny Boy |
| When To The
Sessions Of Sweet Silent Thought (Sonnet 30) |
| Where The Bee Sucks (from
The Tempest) |
| William
Shakespeare Epitaph |
| Winter |
| Witches Chant (From Macbeth) |
| Poem Name |
