At the time of the creation of the Shakespeare poems in the literature of English Renaissance already formed the great epic tradition. In prose and in verse he created a number of outstanding works, which, significant productive impact on Shakespeare. Among them should first be noted pastoral novel by Philip Sydney (1554-1586) Arcadia, an allegorical poem by Edmund Spencer (1552-1599) "the fairy Queen", created in the English knightly legends, and a poem on the ancient story of "hero and Leander" by Christopher Marlowe. Under the pen of these writers, the genre of the poem has become more sustainable art form that was later adopted and Shakespeare; however, it would be wrong to assume the poem imitative of Shakespeare's works; creatively appropriated the gains of their predecessors, Shakespeare raised an epic poem to a new, higher level.

Following the tradition of the Renaissance, Shakespeare used as the plot of "Venus and Adonis" - ancient Greek myth, treated in the tenth book of the Metamorphosis by Ovid. This story is very simple, but despite that it little action, it is imbued with a real drama. Love goddess Venus falls in love with the beautiful youth Adonis, but can't get him feeling back; in amorous pleasures Adonis prefers manly entertainment and is killed in the hunt from hitting the canines; after the death of Adonis, mourned by Venus, turns into a beautiful flower, and the mournful goddess hides it in his bosom. This touching legend is deployed by Shakespeare in a wide epic painting; the poem consists of almost 1200 poems.

The basis of the conflict of the poem is the collision of two ethical principles, the bearers of which are Venus and Adonis. The goddess is a passionate advocate of the principle of free love. She openly admits to Adonis came over her passion and tries to awaken the young man's reciprocal feeling. In her passion she did not see anything vicious; it seeks not only to physical proximity, but also to complete the spiritual fusion with her lover; she did not hesitate to sacrifice everything, even life, for the happiness of Adonis. Love in understanding Venus is the great creative force that benefits the person and makes his immortal offspring, and abstinence from love on the contrary, a manifestation of selfishness; the happiness she sees not only in the personal pursuit of pleasure, but also to give happiness to your beloved. Venus is V. the poem is a fervent advocate of the moral standards of the Renaissance as opposed to medieval asceticism, the pursuit of happiness not in the afterlife but here on earth.

Shakespeare portrayed the beloved woman in the form of the immortal ancient goddess; this allowed the poet boldly and openly show mighty flash of passion in the soul of the heroine. But Venus in the poem is perceived by the reader as a real, earthly woman you love with great force and is attracted to her lover, as she leads Juliet to Romeo or the heroine of "Winter tales" Perdito to Florizell.

Adonis, avoiding the caresses of Venus, acts as a carrier. the opposite of moral foundations. In conversation with the goddess it twice in different ways motivates his coldness. The first time he explains his behavior by saying that he was not yet ripe for love; in this explanation of the slip coils naive selfishness, which is so alien to Venus: Adonis that, having tasted love too soon, he has no time disclosed the kidney, wither. The second even more sternly: Adonis says that true love "fled to the sky since then, like a sweaty lust her name on earth". He sees in the passion of Venus mere carnal beginning; and the link to that on earth cannot be true love, unites the views of Adonis with the dogmas of the Christian religion.

Watching the argument the characters of the novel, the reader constantly feels that the likes of Shakespeare completely on the side of passionate and direct Venus. The final poem even more convincingly reveals the rightness of her oral positions. Deep heartfelt sorrow of the goddess of the dead beloved clearly shows the injustice of the accusations of corruption that throws her Adonis. Therefore, the tragic denouement of the poem is sad, but the enlightened one hue, convincing the reader that the real, deep feeling exists in the world.

In this poem Shakespeare has paid a significant tribute to the conventions, weighed heavily on the epic genres of his time. The language of the poem sometimes becomes exquisitely bombastic, figurative means sometimes deliberately complicated; monologues for actors frequently bears the stamp. A tribute to the conventions is the choice of the ancient story. However, the aesthetic value of the poem make their way through all these layers.

A number of traits of the poem takes the reader from conventional Greece to modern Shakespeare England. Brilliant descriptions of nature, forests and glades, where the action is, the image of Adonis, a young hunter racing game on a hot horse, decorated with rich saddle, finally, a wonderful scene of hunts for wild boar a favorite entertainment of the modern Shakespeare noble English youth give the poem a national English flavor which adds to the realistic side of a thrilling story about the love of a beautiful woman to the haughty boy.

Indisputable conquest Shakespeare the realist in the poem is a deep insight of the poet in a complex spiritual life of his characters. This feature of Shakespeare's method is manifested primarily in the characterization of Venus, which is in the poem a complex path from anticipation to happiness to disappointment, and then fear for the fate of the beloved and indignation against the injustice of Death a quiet, but deep grief in solitude. Despite the straightforwardness of the story, Shakespeare was able to show the most subtle nuances of feelings of the heroine. So, he finds a very expressive touch in order to emphasize the power of passion Venus after Adonis for the first time it is accessed with a rude rebuff, Venus is not only not offended, but. on the contrary, is overjoyed, for she first hears the enchanting voice of the beloved and makes sure that he is not entirely unfeeling.