I don't think I have the capacity to read and understand Shakespeare. It's in plain English, but I don't understand it!
sometimes, though, his antiquated English surfaces very vivid poetic imagery:
Quote:
Coriolanus
And by his rare example made the coward
Turn terror into sport:
As weeds before
A vessel under sail, so men obey'd
And fell below his stem: his sword, death's stamp...
...a thing of blood, whose every motion
Was timed with dying cries...
Quote:
The Tempest, Prospero's Soliloquy
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands:
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardon'd be,
Let your indulgence set me free.
But this is how I like my Shakespeare: in small, bite-sized doses, without too much brain-wracking on thees and thous; and I believe the reason why I like them is because saying the words is a fresh way of expressing the same stories. Mind you, I like Eminem and Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park) as way, so I should not be mistaken for anything other than an unenlightened lout.
09 Nov 2011, 9:05 am
