When I was thirteen years old, I spontaneously started writing poetry. I was lying on my bedroom floor, talking on the phone with a notebook opened in front of me, and I suddenly wrote a poem.

Looking back, it was a strange thing to do. My main exposure to poetry at that point had been nursery rhymes, Dr. Suess, and Shel Silverstein, the poetry of my early childhood. I was an avid fiction reader, but I didn’t read much poetry back then.

I’ve always thought that those early poems were inspired and informed by music rather than literature. I was obsessed with music and song lyrics, and there’s really no other explanation for my early foray into poetry writing.

In school, we read poetry but it didn’t resonate with me. The poetry of academia was stiff, old-fashioned, and uninteresting to a teen girl in the 80s and early 90s. I couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about because I wasn’t old enough to appreciate the classics.

Then, I became a young adult. Soon, the Internet arrived, and I found myself searching the web for poetry that was more like mine, poetry that was modern, edgy, and rhythmic. Poetry with flair and sass! This was around the time there was a “Girl Power” movement, and I was a young college student compelled by this new feminism.

So it’s no wonder that when I came across Maya Angelou’s poem “Phenomenal Woman,” I thought finally! It was the first poem I ever printed out and saved. For months, it hung over my desk. I read it over and over — to myself, to friends and family members. I was in love with that poem. And it inspired me to write many poems about the power and enchantment of womanhood. It instilled in me the hope that I could one day be a poet without having to write long, boring verses.

Take a few moments to listen to the poem through which I first discovered the remarkable talent that is Maya Angelou. In the video below, she reads “Phenomenal Woman” as the words show onscreen:

Maya Angelou

Who is this Maya Angelou? I wondered. Well, turns out that she’s a phenomenal woman herself. Her entire life and career takes you on a jaunt through the art of living the renaissance life.

Born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928, she was nicknamed “Maya” by her older brother. The nickname was a shortened version of “My-a-sister.” The first 17 years of Angelou’s life are documented in her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She went on to write a total of six autobiographical volumes, which have won her great acclaim among both critics and readers.

Maya worked as the first black female cable car driver in San Francisco. She’s worked as a dancer, editor, actor, playwright, screenwriter, and songwriter. In the 1950s, she was a member of the Harlem Writer’s Guild. She was active in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and worked as the Northern Coordinator for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Since 1991, she’s taught at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and continues to make frequent appearances on the lecture circuit. In the late 90s, she became the first African American woman to direct a major motion picture (Down in the Delta).

She recited her exquisite poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993. Not since Robert Frost read at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961 had a poet recited at a U.S. Presidential Inauguration. Maya Angelou met Oprah Winfrey in the late 70s. The two eventually became close friends with Angelou fulfilling the role of Oprah’s beloved mentor.

Her work has won her over 30 honorary degrees. She was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for her 1971 volume of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Diiie and has also been nominated for a Tony Award.

Phenomenal Woman, Phenomenal Poet

Dr. Angelou has inspired people, poets, and artists from all walks of life. She has broken cultural barriers and set new precedents for writers. Her work as an activist has moved the masses and she’s touched the hearts of millions.

What strikes me most about Maya Angelou is her warm spirit and positive attitude, her refusal to let life beat her (or any of us) down. Her work is uplifting and invigorating. Below, you can watch Dr. Angelou recite another favorite of mine, “Still I Rise.”

To learn more about this remarkable, phenomenal woman, visit her website, Maya Angelou. Be sure to check out the Media section, where you can peruse Maya’s photo and video galleries and see some of the highlights of her life and work.

Shakespeare the Sonneteer

In 1609, a collection titled SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS was published, which included two previously published pieces (sonnets 138 and 144) plus 152 previously unpublished sonnets. This collection contains the entirety of William Shakespeare’s sonnets, which are each referred to by number as they are not titled.

There is some confusion surrounding this manuscript. Thomas Thorpe (T.T.) is believed to have been the publisher. However, there are doubts about whether the publication was authorized by Shakespeare. Additionally, some scholars have questioned whether Shakespeare even authored all of the sonnets in this collection, though most believe that he is correctly attributed and consider such notions to be ill-advised and unproven conspiracy theories.

The sonnets can be read individually or collectively. Many have studied them as a whole since the subject matter appears to be interconnected among the various sonnets.

The Shakespearean (or English) sonnets are composed of three four-line stanzas (quatrains) followed by a final couplet, all written in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme follows the pattern abab cdcd efef gg. Exceptions to this construction are Sonnets 99, 126, and 145. Many of the couplets tie off the preceding quatrains by summarizing the overall message of the poem.

The Young Man (1-126)

Shakespeare’s sonnets can be grouped according to subject. The first 126 appear to be written to a young man. Of these, the first 17 urge the young man to get married and start a family. These are called the procreation sonnets. Sonnets 18-126 express the author’s adoration for the young man or “fair youth.” Some scholars believe that Shakespeare had a homoerotic affection for the man depicted in these sonnets. However, it is difficult to know what was in the poet’s mind when he authored these poems. There has been particular speculation about sonnet 20, which has been the cause of much controversy:

Sonnet 20

A woman’s face with nature’s own hand painted,
Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion;
A woman’s gentle heart, but not acquainted
With shifting change, as is false women’s fashion:
An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling,
Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth;
A man in hue all hues in his controlling,
Which steals men’s eyes and women’s souls amazeth.
And for a woman wert thou first created;
Till Nature, as she wrought thee, fell a-doting,
And by addition me of thee defeated,
By adding one thing to my purpose nothing.
But since she prick’d thee out for women’s pleasure,
Mine be thy love and thy love’s use their treasure.

In this day and age, the idea of Shakespeare writing romantic poetry to another man is hardly shocking. I do want to stress that we don’t know for sure whether that’s what this poem conveys. Part of poetry’s magic is that it is often open to interpretation, and poets are hailed for being abstract, vague, and for using metaphor. The young man in the poem could be Shakespeare’s art (writing); it could be an abstract, such as time or death; it could even be the poet writing to his younger self. Read sonnet 20 again and try to decide what you think it’s about, or what it could be about.

The Dark Lady (127-152)

The second group of sonnets address a “dark lady,” who is referred to as the speaker’s mistress with whom he is having an adulterous affair. Within this group, some of the sonnets mention another affair between the dark lady and the young man from the first 126 sonnets in Shakespeare’s collection. For this reason, some scholars have speculated that Shakespeare not only had homoerotic affections for the young man, but that he also had an adulterous affair with a woman and that this woman and man had an affair with each other (sonnets 40-42, 133-34, 144).

Sonnett 144

Two loves I have of comfort and despair,
Which like two spirits do suggest me still:
The better angel is a man right fair,
The worser spirit a woman colour’d ill.
To win me soon to hell*, my female evil
Tempteth my better angel from my side,
And would corrupt my saint to be a devil,
Wooing his purity with her foul pride.
And whether that my angel be turn’d fiend
Suspect I may, but not directly tell;
But being both from me, both to each friend,
I guess one angel in another’s hell:
Yet this shall I ne’er know, but live in doubt,
Till my bad angel fire my good one out.

It’s worthwhile to note that Shakespeare’s dark lady is often held in contrast to the “fair youth” of the first 126 poems. She’s never actually called a lady, and she’s described as dark but once. However, she is described as having black hair and dark skin, and she is repeatedly associated with blackness. Some have attempted to identify this woman and various persons from Shakespeare’s time have been presented as possibly being the woman about whom these poems were written, but nobody knows for sure who she was or if she ever really existed.

Cupid (153-154)

The last two sonnets in the collection are allegorical and deal with mythological figure Cupid.

Though there is clear topical cohesion among the three groups of sonnets (the young man, fair lady, and Cupid), a number of other issues are addressed throughout the sonnets. In particular, the “rival poet” as well as self-control (with regards to lust), criticism of the world, plus various sonnets that deal with themes such as love, beauty, politics, and mortality.

Other Poems

The final poem in SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS is titled “A Lover’s Complaint,” a narrative poem. We’ll look at this and other poetry by William Shakespeare in the third and final article in this series, so stay tuned for that.

Sources for this Article: Wikipedia, The Norton Shakespeare.

Do you read poetry? Have you studied Shakespeare? Is it important for modern poets to learn about the great writers of the past and to look at their work with a studious eye? How do Shakespeare’s poems resonate with you? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment. Questions are welcome too!

First, an overview of Shakespeare’s biography and a quick look at the written works that made him successful and wealthy during his own lifetime – his plays, along with reasons why modern poets will find value in Shakespeare’s work, and how their own writing will benefit from reading and studying Shakespeare’s.

In the second and third installations of this series, we’ll take a closer look at Shakespeare’s sonnets and other poems, respectively.

Brief Bio

William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) is the lord of the written word. He lived in England four centuries ago, yet to this day, his fame and acclaim persist, and he is still celebrated as one of the greatest writers to have ever lived.

Often hailed as England’s national poet, William Shakespeare has been crowned the “Bard of Avon.” He was born to John Shakespeare (a glover) and Mary Arden (daughter of a prominent farmer), the third of eight children raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. He attended school but did not go to University.

At age 18, he married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway and together they had a daughter, Susannah, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet died at age 11.

Shakespeare’s works include 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other pieces, including collaborations. His writing has been translated into every known language.

His career in London was that of actor and writer as well as part-owner of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a successful play company. In 1599, his company launched the Globe Theatre, which was the first playhouse that was built by actors for actors. Its construction and history is often studied by theater enthusiasts and academics.

A Master Writer

Shakespeare’s plays were published and performed during his lifetime, and upon them he built a fruitful and lucrative career. His work explores a broad spectrum of genres — from comedy to tragedy, drama to fantasy — and includes classical mythology and religious figures among themes, tightly-woven plots, and dramatic characterizations.

Shakespeare’s plays are still widely performed to this day. They have been adapted into films many times over and have proven that effective writing and storytelling stand the test of time.

But Shakespeare was also a poet. His plays feature rich language more aligned with poetry than play writing. He invented words, which became absorbed into common language, and his works (both his poetry and plays) have spewed countless memorable quotes that are commonly known today.

• “To be, or not to be: that is the question.” (Hamlet Act III, Scene I)
• “This above all: to thine own self be true.” (Hamlet Act I, Scene III)
• “All the world ‘s a stage…” (As You Like It – Act II, Scene VII)
• “Now is the winter of our discontent.” (King Richard III – Act I, Scene I)
• “O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?” (Romeo and Juliet – Act II, Scene II)
• “Good Night, Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow…” (Romeo and Juliet – Act II, Scene II)
• “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” (Romeo and Juliet – Act II, Scene II)
• “This is the short and the long of it.” (The Merry Wives of Windsor – Act II, Scene II)
• “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.” (MacBeth – Act IV, Scene I)
• “Out, damned spot! out, I say!” (MacBeth – Act V, Scene I)

What are some of your favorite Shakespearean quotes?

Why Study Shakespeare’s Poetry?

My early exposure to Shakespeare was rather uncomfortable. As I worked through his poetry and plays in my high school English courses, I kept thinking why do I have to read this drivel? Let’s face it, Shakespeare’s English is not today’s English. His work is difficult to read. While I appreciated some aspects of his work (I have always loved Romeo and Juliet — the movie), reading it was a chore.

But in college, as an English major, an entire course on Shakespeare was mandatory. I took a three-week, condensed class (about six hours a day), and finally, it clicked. I realized that Shakespeare’s writing is masterful and timeless. Sure, you have to work a little harder to get through it, but the payoff is great:

• Expose your mind to Shakespeare’s wit and rhyme.
• See what kind of writing warrants accolades for four centuries.
• Study works that incorporate mythology and cultural and biblical elements.
• Challenge your language and reading skills with Shakespearean words and phrases.
• Better understand the craft of poetry and writing in general.
• Discover phrases in common use today that were coined by Shakespeare (forever and a day).

If you can read Shakespeare, you can read anything. The English language has changed considerably since Shakespeare’s time, so his work may be difficult to get through, but if you can get through it, then you will have absorbed the creative body of an artistic master.

For me, as a writer, it makes sense to know a little bit about the most famous writer in history and to have studied his work. It’s not that you have to memorize his repetoire or biography, but you should (as a writer) have a basic understanding of what he did, how he lived, and what made him so monumental.

More on Shakespeare

Much has been written on Shakespeare, from biographies to criticisms and theories about his work (including whether or not he actually wrote all that was attributed to him). There is little known about the details of his personal life and most conjectures are formed from studying official records (birth, marriage, death, taxes, etc.) and his collection of sonnets. Critics and scholars have evaluated Shakespeare’s poems from every angle, often using them to compose some idea of the man’s biography, but it’s likely we’ll never be certain about William Shakespeare’s personal life. But there’s one thing of which we can be certain; his work is a testament to the power of great writing, excellence in storytelling, and mastery of language and wordplay.

Coming Up

Next month, we’ll look at Shakespeare’s sonnets up close, so stay tuned.

Sources for this Article: Wikipedia, The Norton Shakespeare, Absolute Shakespeare,

A Lover’s Complaint

Shakespeare started writing “A Lover’s Complaint” in 1602 and completed it in 1608. As mentioned, it was first published with his sonnet collection, appearing at the end of the manuscript.

“A Lover’s Complaint” is considered a complaint poem. According to The Norton Shakespeare, it’s a poem in which “a woman laments her (usually) sexual ruin amid generally doleful reflections on life.” The poem is written in rhyme royal (stanzas of seven lines each with the rhyme pattern ababbcc). Some of the preceding sonnets — the ones that deal with the affair between the young male and the narrator’s mistress — lead up to “A Lover’s Complaint.”

In the poem, the narrator overhears a woman confessing to an old man that she was seduced and then abandoned by a young man whom she describes in great detail. Excluding the old man in the poem, all other characters (narrator, young man, and the woman herself) resemble the figures from the sonnets. However, there are significant differences in the narration. For example, in the sonnets, both the young male and the woman voice their thoughts in first person whereas “A Lover’s Complaint” only gives voice to the woman.

Read the full text of “A Lover’s Complaint” online.

Venus and Adonis

Of Shakespeare’s other major work in poetry, there is one poem that I’d like to discuss in greater detail.

“Venus and Adonis” is one of Shakespeare’s most important works. It’s quoted more often than any other play or poem by Shakespeare, and it has enjoyed great popularity, warranting nine editions during Shakespeare’s own lifetime. The story of Venus and Adonis comes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses tale about the goddess of love, Venus, and the object of her affection, the god of rebirth and fertility, Adonis, who is human in Shakespeare’s poem.

Due in part to the popularity of Shakespeare’s “Venus and Adonis,” erotic, narrative poems of this sort became popular during the late sixteenth century, with many poets sourcing classical mythology for plot and applying Medieval and Renaissance treatments.

The poem itself explores themes that center mostly around sexual gratification and gender identity. Traditionally, we see male characters as seducers, but in “Venus and Adonis,” the female character is wooing a young male and he is rejecting her overtures. In this sense, the poem supplies much comedy and would have been even more humorous in Shakespeare’s time when male and female roles were more extremely defined. Nowadays, a seductress is less uncommon.

The poem is long and written in that Shakespearean language that can be challenging for modern English speakers to navigate — but it’s a worthwhile read. My personal recommendation is to read it aloud so you can better catch the rhymes and feel the rhythm. You’ll find that “Venus and Adonis” is funny, sexy, and sad without being cheesy. This is probably Shakespeare’s best poem, and it is a piece of literature every writer should experience at least once.

My favorite excerpt from “Venus and Adonis” is near the end of the poem. Venus has found Adonis dead, killed by a boar, and she prophesies a new vision of love for humankind — or — as the goddess of love, has she, in her despair, penalized us all?

‘Since thou art dead, lo, here I prophesy:
Sorrow on love hereafter shall attend:
It shall be waited on with jealousy,
Find sweet beginning, but unsavoury end,
Ne’er settled equally, but high or low,
That all love’s pleasure shall not match his woe.

‘It shall be fickle, false and full of fraud,
Bud and be blasted in a breathing-while;
The bottom poison, and the top o’erstraw’d
With sweets that shall the truest sight beguile:
The strongest body shall it make most weak,
Strike the wise dumb and teach the fool to speak.

‘It shall be sparing and too full of riot,
Teaching decrepit age to tread the measures;
The staring ruffian shall it keep in quiet,
Pluck down the rich, enrich the poor with treasures;
It shall be raging-mad and silly-mild,
Make the young old, the old become a child.

‘It shall suspect where is no cause of fear;
It shall not fear where it should most mistrust;
It shall be merciful and too severe,
And most deceiving when it seems most just;
Perverse it shall be where it shows most toward,
Put fear to valour, courage to the coward.

‘It shall be cause of war and dire events,
And set dissension ‘twixt the son and sire;
Subject and servile to all discontents,
As dry combustious matter is to fire:
Sith in his prime Death doth my love destroy,
They that love best their loves shall not enjoy.’

You can read the full text of “Venus and Adonis” online here.

Other Poems by Shakespeare

In addition to the sonnets and “A Lover’s Complaint,” Shakespeare is credited with a few other poems, which you can read online here.

Sources for this Article: Wikipedia, The Norton Shakespeare.

Do you read poetry? Have you studied Shakespeare? What’s your favorite Shakespearean poem? Is it important for modern poets to learn about the great writers of the past and to look at their work with a studious eye? How do Shakespeare’s poems resonate with you? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment. Questions are welcome too!

Today, we’ll be taking a look at three poetry queens and in a couple of weeks I will reveal the kings.

Three Favorite Women Poets

These three women poets are hailed for their acclaimed work as writers, and they are also well known for leading interesting lives. Here, I’ve included a bit of both – short bios and links to a few favorite poems these women poets wrote, plus resources so you can explore the women and their poetry further.

Aphra Behn

She lived during the 1600s so you might assume she was a prim and proper lady who did whatever her husband or the king told her. You would be wrong. Aphra broke all the rules and her ability to shock and surprise lives on pretty vividly in her poetry.

During a time when the few women poets were upper class and wrote only as a hobby, Aphra established herself as Britain’s first professional woman writer. Ladies, take note, because Virginia Woolf said, “All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.”

I can’t say I agree with Virginia one hundred percent (isn’t that a natural right rather than an earned one?), but Aphra, even after over 300 years, definitely stands out in the crowd of historical writers. Not only because she was a spy, a playwright, and the first paid female writer, she was also deliciously dirty and wrote poems that were blatantly erotic and peppered with humor. Of her, Anne Finch said, “a little too loosely she writ.” We like that in a seventeenth century chick.

Selected reading (i.e. my favorites): The Willing Mistress, The Disappointment, The Libertine

If you don’t crack a sly grin at the end of each of these poems… well… read them again!

Emily Dickinson

photo credit: Confetta

Who hasn’t heard of Emily Dickinson? Before J.K. Rowling wowed the world with Harry Potter, Miss Dickinson was the most famous woman writer to have ever lived. And not just because she wrote great poetry.

Emily bucked the social expectations of her time by never marrying and becoming an eccentric agoraphobic who always dressed in white. Despite her odd ways, she was much beloved and known around town as the Amherst Myth.

Emily was born and raised in Amherst, Massachusetts during the 1800s and it was clear by the time Emily became an adult that she was marching to the beat of a different drum, which is why many people are surprised to learn she had an extremely normal childhood and grew up in a happy, affluent family. Yet Emily gave up a life of normalcy to pursue her one and only love: poetry.

She locked herself away from the Victorian world whose expectations she rebuffed and threw herself into books and writing. Not much is known about her love life or whether she had one but one thing is certain: Emily Dickinson was wracked with unparalleled literary intensity.

The majority of her poems were found after her death, untitled but neatly written and bound. They are usually numbered or titled by their first lines. Emily Dickinson is also a poet whose biography and poetry play well off each other, building a special mystery that will draw you in wondering who this enigmatic woman really was.

Selected reading: (271) A solemn thing, (288) I’m Nobody!, (384) No Rack can torture me, (441) This is my letter to the World, (569) I reckon — when I count at all, (712) Because I could not stop for Death

There’s a lot of Dickinson poems to explore. This is a very small portion of what she left us. Most of these are short, quick reads.

Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker is probably the writer most loved by dress-wearing feminists. She was cool, dry, and witty beyond measure. She put her own flaws under a magnifying glass and wrote about them, letting the world laugh at her, but there’s a sense that somewhere inside, Dorothy Parker was not laughing.

She is the woman who smiles and nods niceties while whispering obscene, comedic insults against all of society under her breath. I imagine when she cast her eyes over a person, she saw beyond the visible and I’d bet she could give a look that made anyone on the receiving end feel uncomfortably naked.

Dorothy catapulted to fame during the 1920s and 1930s after she coined “Brevity is the soul of lingerie” for an ad. Her job? To write photograph captions for Vogue. After that, she went to work for Vanity Fair. She was also a prominent member of the Algonquin Hotel’s Round Table, which means she was in with the in-crowd. She also helped shape the New Yorker, which is no small accomplishment and doesn’t look too bad on anyone’s resume, even these days.

Like many writers, Dorothy experienced turbulence in life. She married bisexual writer, Alan Campbell, with whom she had several breakups and reconciliations. After an abortion in 1923, she attempted suicide (the first attempt of many). She and Campbell earned over $5000 a week in Hollywood at one time (that was a lot of money in those days) and were later blacklisted as communists during the McCarthy era.

Her poetry is delightfully wit-tickling and her quotes are unforgettable ( she wrote “men seldom make passes / at girls who wear glasses”). Though much of her work expresses a particular sense of self-dissatisfaction, it’s clear that Dorothy Parker’s dissatisfaction went beyond self and extended to all of humanity, especially the gents. However, she delivered it with language that smirks and smarts and satisfies.

Selected Reading: Comment, Interview, Resumé

* * *

Now it’s your turn. Who are your favorite ladies of poetry? What attracts you to a poem or poet? Obviously, I’m drawn to the rebels, the rule-breakers, and the eccentrics. Do you prefer women poets over male writers or does it matter? Take a look at your book or poetry collection and see if it’s gender balanced.

Sources: The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women: The Traditions in English and included links.