Favourite Poet

My favourite poet is William Shakespeare. I chose William Shakespeare as he was widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. William Shakespeare was regarded as the foremost dramatist of his time, evidence indicates that both he and his world looked to poetry.

William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, a successful glover and alderman originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowning farmer. Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, in 1564. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, who bore him three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. Very little is known about his life, but by 1592 he was in London working as an actor and a dramatist. Between about 1590 and 1613, Shakespeare wrote at least 37 plays and collaborated on several more. Many of these plays were very successful both at court and in the public playhouses. In 1613, Shakespeare retired from the theatre and returned to Stratford-upon-Avon. He died and was buried there in 1616.

Shakespeare wrote plays and poems. Shakespeare wrote more than 30 plays. These are usually divided into four categories: histories, comedies, tragedies, and romances. His 17 comedies include A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Among his 10 history plays are Henry V and Richard III. The most famous among his 10 tragedies are Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear. Shakespeare’s best-known poems are The Sonnets, first published in 1609.

The three poems that William Shakespeare wrote are Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece and A Lover's Complaint. He dedicated Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece to Henry Wriothesley, earl of Southampton.

Venus and Adonis:
An innocent Adonis rejects the sexual advances of Venus

The Rape of Lucrece:
The virtuous wife Lucrece is raped by the lustful Tarquin

A Lover's Complaint:
A young woman laments her seduction by a persuasive suitor

Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece show the guilt and moral confusion that result from uncontrolled lust. Both proved popular and were often reprinted during Shakespeare's lifetime.

Resources:
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/122
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare#Poems
http://www.bl.uk/treasures/shakespeare/basics.html