SOURCE: "The Phoenix and the Turtle: The Poem Alone," in The Phoenix and the Turtle: Shakespeare 's Poem and Chester's Loues Martyr, Mouton & Co., 1965, pp. 33-56.

In the following essay, Matchett analyzes The Phoenix and Turtle with an emphasis on structure, versification, symbolism, and the "texture of complexities and ambiguities in the poem. "

"The Phoenix and the Turtle," though brief, is a complexly patterned poem, rich in its connotative relevancy to a variety of situations and values. This . . . chapter does not attempt a maximum extension of the connotative possibilities, but rather a close, line-by-line study of what, at a minimum, the words say, of how they relate to each other within the pattern. Though such a paraphrase may not be as provocative as a more personal interpretation, it is the necessary basis for deeper understanding. Even the insights attained by immediate intuition can only be tested against the...