The Phoenix and the Turtle by William Shakespeare
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"The Phoenix and the Turtle" by William Shakespeare is an allegorical poem published in 1601. This enigmatic 67-line work describes a funeral for two birds—the mythological phoenix and the mortal turtle dove—whose perfect, transcendent love defied all logic. Invited mourners gather to lament lovers who achieved complete unity, leaving no heirs. The poem explores truth, beauty, and ideal devotion through mysterious symbolism that has sparked countless conflicting interpretations about its meaning and
possible historical inspirations. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
|---|---|
| Title | The Phoenix and the Turtle |
| Note | Wikipedia page about this book: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phoenix_and_the_Turtle |
| Credits |
This etext was prepared by the PG Shakespeare Team, a team of about twenty Project Gutenberg volunteers. |
| Reading Level | Reading ease score: 78.6 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PR: Language and Literatures: English literature |
| Subject | Poetry |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 1525 |
| Release Date | Nov 1, 1998 |
| Last Update | Sep 27, 2025 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 456 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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