Sonnets and Narrative Poems

"e;The Sonnets and Narrative Poems"e; collects together all the non-dramatic poetry of William Shakespeare. While Shakespeare is known best for his plays he also wrote numerous love sonnets and a handful of narrative poems which are excellent literary works in their own right. The narrative poems include two erotically themed works, "e;Venus and Adonis"e; and "e;The Rape of Lucrece"e; as well as the romantic narratives of "e;A Lover's Complaint"e; and "e;The Phoenix and the Turtle"e;. Shakespeare also wrote a collection of 154 love sonnets. Believed to be written throughout his lifetime there is some dispute as to the intended order of "e;The Sonnets"e;. It is thought that he planned two contrasting series for the poems. The first is of the desire for a married woman of dark complexion, the so-called "e;dark lady"e;, and the other about the conflicted love of a fair young man, the "e;fair youth"e;. This classic collection of non-dramatic poetry shows Shakespeare in a different light than his dramatic works and helps to exemplify the full breadth of his immense literary talents.