The Longer Poems

Four of the great playwright's more in-depth poems include "Venus and Adonis," which recounts the romance between the goddess of love and her handsome swain; "A Lover's Complaint," a narrative poem voiced by a seduced and abandoned woman; "The Phoenix and the Turtle," an allegory concerning the death of ideal love; and "The Rape of Lucrece," a narrative poem based on an ancient Roman legend.