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'''Richard Barnefield''' (or Barnfield; 1574–1620) was a poet, sometimes identified with the "rival poet" mentioned in [[Shakespeare]]'s sonnets.<ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-241135539.html William Shakespeare, Richard Barnfield, and the sixth Earl of Derby].(Brief article)(Book review)." Reference & Research Book News. Book News Inc. 2010. Accessed via HighBeam Research. 16 December 2013 <http://www.highbeam.com> (subscription required).</ref>

Barnfield was born at [[Norbury, Staffordshire]], and brought up in [[Newport, Shropshire]]. He studied at Brasenose College, [[Oxford]]. In 1594 he published anonymously the long poem ''The Affectionate Shepherd'', about the love of the shepherd Daphnis for the prince [[Ganymede]]. In a preface to his second work, ''Cynthia'' he attempts to distance himself from the homosexual theme of ''The Affectionate Shepherd'', but ''Cynthia'' also contained poems which were "explicitly and unashamedly homoerotic, full of physical desire".<ref>Paul Edmondson & Stanlry Wells, ''Shakespeare's Sonnets'', Oxford University Press, 2004, p.18</ref> ''The Passionate Pilgrim'', published in 1599, and described on the title page as by Shakespeare, is now thought to include two by Barnefield.
 
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[[Category:Poets]]
[[Category:1574 births]]
[[Category:1620 deaths]]
[[Category:Articles with no pictures]]