ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The idea for a Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare's Poetry emerged through discussions with Sarah Stanton at the Press.I am grateful to her for support and advice throughout the project. Also at the Press,I wish to thank Jackie Warren for guiding the volume through production with courtesy and efficiency,and Penny Wheeler for expertly copy-editing the manuscript. The Press produced four readers'reports on the volume proposal,and each of them helped shape the final outcome.So did Lukas Erne and Colin Burrow,who read the Introduction and the note on reference works,and who offered scrupulous commentary.As always,at Penn State I wish to thank Robert R.Edwards,Garrett A.Sullivan,Jr.,and Laura Lunger Knoppers for their continued conversation and collegial friendship.My department heads,Robert Caserio in English and Caroline D.Eckhardt in Comparative Literature,make my work possible through their generous support. Three research assistants also made contributions.Alexis Hait,an under- graduate intern,helped assemble some of the upfront material;Eric Brune, also an undergraduate intern,compiled the Index;and Giuseppina lacono, a Ph.D.student,prepared both the Chronology and the note on 'Reference works on Shakespeare's poetry'.My thanks to all three for doing excellent work. Finally,let me thank the contributors themselves.Through their care, discipline,and scholarship,they have ensured that this volume appears in a timely fashion.The field is lucky to depend on so much expertise,assembled in a single volume,and devoted to Shakespeare's poetry. xiiiACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The idea for a Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare’s Poetry emerged through discussions with Sarah Stanton at the Press. I am grateful to her for support and advice throughout the project. Also at the Press, I wish to thank Jackie Warren for guiding the volume through production with courtesy and efficiency, and Penny Wheeler for expertly copy-editing the manuscript. The Press produced four readers’ reports on the volume proposal, and each of them helped shape the final outcome. So did Lukas Erne and Colin Burrow, who read the Introduction and the note on reference works, and who offered scrupulous commentary. As always, at Penn State I wish to thank Robert R. Edwards, Garrett A. Sullivan, Jr., and Laura Lunger Knoppers for their continued conversation and collegial friendship. My department heads, Robert Caserio in English and Caroline D. Eckhardt in Comparative Literature, make my work possible through their generous support. Three research assistants also made contributions. Alexis Hait, an under￾graduate intern, helped assemble some of the upfront material; Eric Brune, also an undergraduate intern, compiled the Index; and Giuseppina Iacono, a Ph.D. student, prepared both the Chronology and the note on ‘Reference works on Shakespeare’s poetry’. My thanks to all three for doing excellent work. Finally, let me thank the contributors themselves. Through their care, discipline, and scholarship, they have ensured that this volume appears in a timely fashion. The field is lucky to depend on so much expertise, assembled in a single volume, and devoted to Shakespeare’s poetry. xiii