The Phoenix And The Turtle

A Poem

William Shakespeare

• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9781443443654
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Shakespeare Drama
• Index: Literature

The phoenix and the turtledove are both symbols of love, devotion, and perfection. In this allegorical poem, Shakespeare depicts the funeral arrangements for the Phoenix and the Turtledove, representing love, unity, and marriage in the tragedy of their deaths.

Known as "The Bard of Avon," William Shakespeare is arguably the greatest English-language writer known. Enormously popular during his life, Shakespeare's works continue to resonate more than three centuries after his death, as has his influence on theatre and literature. Shakespeare's innovative use of character, language, and experimentation with romance as tragedy served as a foundation for later playwrights and dramatists, and some of his most famous lines of dialogue have become part of everyday speech.

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The Phoenix and Turtle

Let the bird of loudest lay,

On the sole Arabian tree,

Herald sad and trumpet be,

To whose sound chaste wings obey.

[5]

But thou shrieking harbinger,

Foul precurrer of the fiend,

Augur of the fever’s end,

To this troop come thou not near.

From this session interdict

[10]

Every fowl of tyrant wing,

Save the eagle, feath’red king:

Keep the obsequy so strict.

Let the priest in surplice white,

That defunctive music can,

[15]

Be the death-divining swan,

Lest the requiem lack his right.

And ...

Table of contents

• Contents
• The Phoenix and Turtle
• About the Author
• About the Series
• Copyright
• About the Publisher