Shake-Speare's "Feath'red King"

What is it about?

A better knowledge of Shake-Speare's literary sources--his intertextuality--deepens our understanding of his works. His poem "The Phoenix and the Turtle" has been called one of the most enigmatic poems in English. Its use of the phrase "feathered king" helps link the poem with a poem spoken by Cordelia in the 1574 Mirrour for Magistrates.This link strengthens evidence that Shake-Speare's poem may have actually been written after Queen Elizabeth's death, and speaks covertly against Robert Cecil.

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Why is it important?

Would Shake-Speare have risked opposing Robert Cecil? Yes. Shake-Speare was one of the pen names of Edward de Vere. He was known to his contemporaries as the best courtier poet, the best writer of comedies, and as someone who wrote anonymously. He was one of Queen Elizabeth's favorites. But his "fickle head" got him in trouble with her repeatedly. Robert Cecil seems to have maligned Essex and had him killed. De Vere retaliates in this poem, that appeared in an "allegorical" book, Love's Martyr.