The Phoenix and the Turtle, first edition

Shakespeare’s poem, now known as “The Phoenix and the Turtle,” was appended to a collection of poetry called Loves Martyr printed in 1601.This volume mostly consists of Robert Chester’s long and obscure narrative poem about the love between the phoenix and a dove (that is, the mythological bird and the turtle-dove). According to the title-page, Chester’s poem is an allegory “shadowing the truth of Loue,” a statement that has inflected the interpretation of Shakespeare’s poem.

Loves Martyr was dedicated to Sir John Salusbury, a member of a prominent Welsh family, and may have been intended by Chester as a celebration of his patron’s recent knighthood. It was printed by Richard Field – who had previously printed the early editions of Venus and Adonis and Lucrece. It was published by Edward Blount, who would be a part of the syndicate that produced the First Folio two decades later.

Shakespeare’s contribution appears in a separate section of “Poeticall Essaies on the former Subiect” of the “Turtle and Phoenix,” written by “the best and chiefest” of “our moderne writers,” a group that also included Ben Jonson, John Marston, and George Chapman. Shakespeare’s poem was not given a title. It simply begins with an invocation to “Let the bird of lowdest lay | On the sole Arabian tree, | Herauld sad and trumpet be.” The figures of the phoenix and the turtle are mentioned by name in the poem, which accounts for the title now often used to refer to the poem – a title first used in the nineteenth century. Shakespeare’s puzzling and difficult poem laments the death and recounts the funeral rites for the two loyal birds, who exemplified a perfect union of love, beginning with the gathering of mourners. The poem concludes with a “Threnos” (a song of lamentation) below which appears the name “William Shake-speare.”

The poem has often defied the attempts of critics to interpret it, and because of this it is often overlooked. For instance, scholars are not sure whether or not the birds refer to historical figures from Shakespeare’s time. However, Shakespeare’s inclusion as one of the “best and chiefest” of “moderne writers” demonstrates his reputation and renown as a poet among his contemporaries.