The Phoenix and the Turtle by William Shakespeare

About the Poem: The Phoenix and the Turtle  is an allegorical poem about the death of ideal love. When William Shakespeare wrote it was untitled until publishers gave it a name. The turtle in the title is actually a turtle dove, not the animal that has a shell. This poem has been considered one of Shakespeare's most obscure works and there have been many different interpretations of the poem's meaning. Also, this is not the whole version. Due to length and difficulty of poem I decided to cut it down to this portion of it.

Let the bird of loudest lay,̊

On the sole̊ Arabian tree,

Herald sad̊ and trumpet be,

To whose sound chaste wings obey.

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  ̊

Every fowl of tyrant wing

Save the eagle, feather'd king:

Keep the obsequy ̊ so strict.

Let the priest in surplice ̊ white

That defunctive ̊ music can,

Be the death-divining swan,

Lest the requiem lack his right.

And thou, treble-dated crow,

That thy sable ̊ gender mak'st

With the breath thou giv'st and tak'st,

'Mongst our mourners shalt thou go.

Here the anthem doth commence:—

Love and constancy is dead;

Phoenix and the turtle fled

In a mutual flame from hence.

So they loved, as love in twain

Had the essence but in one;

Two distincts, division none;

Number there in love was slain.

Hearts remote, yet not asunder;

Distance, and no space was seen

'Twixt the turtle and his queen:

But in them it were a wonder.

So between them love did shine,

That the turtle saw his right

Flaming in the phoenix' sight  ̊;

Either was the other's mine.

At the time Shakespeare wrote this people were getting very extravagant with their culture. Nature was a large part of their arts and everyday life during the time of Modern English. Shakespeare shows both the extravagance and nature in this poem. The way the language reads is over-the-top so it sounds sophisticated and exaggerated. For example, he once says " 'Mongst our mourners shalt thou go." The nature symbols are clear being that the poem is named after and birds are frequently referenced throughout the course of the poem. These are the two main signs of Modern England that are seen in the poem.