In Shakespeare’s 1601 poem, The Phoenix and the Turtle — known to some as the first great metaphysical poem — the two protagonists die. Interpretations vary but it is assumed that the poem charts an unrealised love affair between two birds — a phoenix and a turtledove — who represent truth and beauty. Its tragic end is countered with a hopeful prayer that this ideal union will re-emerge — like a phoenix from the ashes.

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