Publisher's Synopsis
"Bloomsbury Poetry Classics" are selections from the work of some of our greatest poets. The series is aimed at the general reader rather than the specialist and carries no critical or explanatory apparatus. This can be found elsewhere. In the series the poems introduce themselves, on an uncluttered page and in a format that is both attractive and convenient. The selections have been made by the distinguished poet, critic and biographer Ian Hamilton.;William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-Upon_Avon. A dramatist and a poet he was one of the most prolific and successful English authors ever. During the years 1592-94 when the theatres were closed because of the plague, he wrote his erotic poems, "Venus and Adonis" and "The Rape of Lucrece". The poetry in this selection is taken from the plays. He died in 1616.
