Shakespeare's Poems: Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece and The Shorter Poems (Arden Shakespeare: Third Edition): Third Series

In 1593 Shakespeare awoke and found himself famous. Lines from his comic, erotic, tragic poem Venus and Adonis were on everyone's lips.The appearance in 1594 of the darkly reflective and richly descriptive Rape of Lucrece confirmed his fame as 'Sweet Master Shakespeare', Elizabethan England's most brilliant non-dramatic poet. Shorter poems in this volume testify further to Shakespeare's versatility and to his poetic fame. Some, like the much-debated `Phoenix and Turtle', pose problems of meaning; others raise questions about authorship and authenticity. Detailed annotation and a full Introduction seek to resolve such difficulties while also locating Shakespeare's poems in their literary context, which includes his own career as a playwright.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English dramatist, poet, and actor, generally regarded as the greatest playwright of all time.

Katherine Duncan-Jones was Professor of Early Modern English at Somerville College, University of Oxford, UK. Publications include Shakespeare's Sonnets (The Arden Shakespeare, 1997) and the critically acclaimed biography Shakespeare: An Ungentle Life (The Arden Shakespeare, 2010).

Professor Richard Proudfoot served as Senior General Editor of the Arden Shakespeare for 35 years, until his retirement from King's in 1999. In 2001 The Arden Shakespeare published Proudfoot's Shakespeare: Text, Stage and Canon a critical overview of the scholarly achievements made in the field of Shakespeare studies by the end of the twentieth century.

Henry Woudhuysen is Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, UK.

ANN THOMPSON is Emeritus Professor in English at King' s College London UK.