In his previous narrative poem, Venus and Adonis (1593), Shakespeare had included a dedicatory letter to his patron, the Earl of Southampton, in which he promised to write a "graver work".
Near to the village are the ruins of Titchfield Abbey, a place with strong associations with Shakespeare, through his patron, the Earl of Southampton.
Henry VIII of England | Southampton | Henry VIII | Henry Kissinger | Henry Wadsworth Longfellow | Henry II of England | Henry II | Henry III of England | Henry IV of France | Henry IV | Henry | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Henry Ford | Henry James | Henry VII of England | Henry III | Southampton F.C. | James Earl Jones | Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex | Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma | Henry Moore | Henry Miller | Henry I of England | Henry Clay | Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener | Henry IV of England | Patrick Henry | Henry Mancini | Henry V | Henry David Thoreau |