What source poem helped inspire Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet?

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was strongly inspired by Arthur Brooke’s poem The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet.

Brooke published the long narrative poem in 1562. It was itself based on an earlier Italian version by Matteo Bandello, transmitted through a French adaptation by Pierre Boaistuau. Shakespeare transformed this established story into a stage tragedy.

Many important elements were already present in Brooke’s poem, including the feuding families, the secret marriage, the sleeping potion, and the lovers’ deaths. Shakespeare reshaped the material through dialogue, dramatic pacing, comic scenes, and memorable secondary characters.

The poem’s title is sometimes shortened in references, which can cause confusion with Shakespeare’s play. Shakespeare did not invent the basic plot, but his version became the best-known English dramatic treatment of the story.