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.