Biography of William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. He was born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, a glover/leather merchant and local land heiress, respectively. He was baptized in the parish church of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire on the 26th of April. Shakespeare's father owned many houses in Stratford around the time of Shakespeare's birth, so the exact location of his birth cannot be known for sure (Mabillard 7). William, according to the church register, was the third of eight children the Shakespeare household—three of whom died in childhood. John Shakespeare had a remarkable run of success as a merchant, and later as an alderman and high bailiff of Stratford, during William's early childhood. His fortunes declined, however, in the 1570s.
William allegedly attended the free grammar school in stratford, where he attained the majority of his sparse education. While there are no records extant to prove this claim, Shakespeare's knowledge of Latin and Classical Greek would tend to support this theory.
He married Anne Hathaway, a local farmer's daughter, on November 28, 1582, and six months later their first daughter, Susanna, was born. The couple later had twins, Hamnet and Judith, born February 2, 1585 and christened at Holy Trinity. Hamnet died in childhood at the age of 11, on August 11, 1596.
Information about Shakespeare during his first seven years of fatherhood is nonexistent, a period known as the "Lost Years." There are many speculations as to why this is, such as that he had to leave after being caught poaching a neighbor's animals, or that he was working as an assistant schoolmaster in Lancashire, England ("Shakespeare's Bio" 1; Miller 37). It is estimated that Shakespeare arrived in London around 1588 and began to establish himself as an actor and playwright. Evidently, Shakespeare garnered envy early on for his talent, as related by the critical attack of Robert Greene, a London playwright, in 1592: "...an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tiger's heart wrapped in a player's hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes fac totum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country."
Shakespeare's success is apparent when studied against other playwrights of this age. His company was the most successful in London in his day. He had plays published and sold in octavo editions, or "penny-copies" to the more literate of his audiences. It is noted that never before had a playwright enjoyed sufficient acclaim to see his works published and sold as popular literature in the midst of his career. While Shakespeare could not be accounted wealthy, by London standards, his success allowed him to purchase New House and retire in comfort to Stratford in 1611.

William Shakespeare wrote his will in 1611, bequeathing his properties to his daughter Susanna (married in 1607 to Dr. John Hall). To his surviving daughter Judith, he left £300, and to his wife Anne left "my second best bed." William Shakespeare allegedly died on his birthday, April 23, 1616. This is probably more of a romantic myth than reality, but Shakespeare was interred at Holy Trinity in Stratford on April 25.
here are some poems from William Shakespeare:
a fairy song
Blow, blow, thou winter