William Shakespeare's Poetry

William Shakespeare's poetry includes sonnets and narrative verse written alongside his work for the theatre. The sonnets, collected in 1609, explore affection, separation, time, and the hope that verse can preserve what life cannot keep. A changing image or turn of argument often leads toward a final couplet that sharpens or unsettles the poem's earlier thought. Poems such as Sonnet 18 make the passing of seasons a way to consider beauty and remembrance. This attention to the movement of thought gives his poetry an intimate voice distinct from the many speakers of his plays.