This is a fully annotated edition of all the poems which can be confidently assigned to Shakespeare, excluding the Sonnets. It contains Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, The Phoenix and the Turtle, The Passionate Pilgrim and A Lover's Complaint. John Roe's introduction to each poem or group of poems examines the classical and Renaissance traditions behind the poetry and the conditions under which the poems were produced. This updated edition contains a new introductory section on recent critical interpretations and an updated reading list.