The Phoenix and the Turtle
The Phoenix and the Turtle is an allegorical poem by William Shakespeare, first published in 1601 as a supplement to a longer work, Love's Martyr, by Robert Chester. The poem, which has been called "the first great published metaphysical poem", has many conflicting interpretations. The title "The Phoenix and the Turtle" is a conventional label. As published, the poem was untitled. The title names two birds: the mythological phoenix and the turtle dove.
A dying-and-reborn phoenix, depicted in the Aberdeen Bestiary
The Phoenix portrait of Queen Elizabeth, in which she wears her personal badge of the phoenix.
Elizabeth's Phoenix jewel from the Phoenix portrait
Robert Chester is the mysterious author of the poem Love's Martyr which was published in 1601 as the main poem in a collection which also included much shorter poems by William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, George Chapman and John Marston, along with the anonymous "Vatum Chorus" and "Ignoto".
A dying-and-reborn phoenix, depicted in the Aberdeen Bestiary
Elizabeth's Phoenix jewel from the Phoenix portrait by Nicholas Hilliard