The Poetry of William Shakespeare (Conclusion)

This is the final installment in the Shakespeare poetry series, following up on the introduction and the article on Shakespeare’s sonnets. Today, we’ll talk about “A Lover’s Complaint,” which was originally published with Shakespeare’s sonnets (do note, however, that “A Lover’s Complaint” itself is not a sonnet).We’ll also examine one of Shakespeare’s other major poetic works.

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!