Boy Shakespeare in forest of Arden. As a boy, Shakespeare loved to roam through the forest and to feel its mystery and power. Every day he wandered down its shady paths and into its most secret places until he grew to know it, and felt that over its solitudes there brooded an invisible presence. He longed to discover the secret of the mystery and power of the forest. William Shakespeare (died 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon".