List of Illustrations Introduction Shakespeare the Poet Venus and Adonis Publication and Date of Composition Dedication Literary Milieu Lucrece Publication and Date of Composition The Argument,Sources, and Politics Reading (in) Lucrece Rape and Consent The Passionate Pilgrim Let the bird of loudest lay ShakespearesSonnets Publication and Circulation Dedication Date andSequence Sources Reading theSonnets A Lovers Complaint Date and Attribution The Poem and its Context Poems Attributed toShakespeare in theSeventeenth Century Shall I die? A Funeral Elegy Editorial Procedures Abbreviations and References VENUS AND ADONIS LUCRECE THE PASSIONATE PILGRIM LET THE BIRD OF LOUDEST LAY SHAKESPEARESSONNETS A LOVERS COMPLAINT appendix Poems Attributed toShakespeare in the Seventeenth Century Index Index of First Lines