#1 = http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/xviicomm.htm I have to say I prefer his plays, but would love to be enlightened if somebody has some favorites to post or list. The other ????
This is one I read after my mom died. I was thinking of all our years together, how much we both had changed, growing up and growing old, this sonnet seemed to echo the feelings I had in those moments. That time of year thou mayst in me behold When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. In me thou seest the twilight of such day As after sunset fadeth in the west, Which by and by black night doth take away, Death's second self, that seals up all in rest. In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, As the death-bed whereon it must expire Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by. This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong, To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
Here's a good one from the Washington Post weekly humor contest a few years back. The object was to rewrite a well-known set of instructions in the style of a famous writer. First Prize How to Do the Hokey Pokey by William Shakespeare O proud left foot, that ventures quick within Then soon upon a backward journey lithe, Anon, once more the gesture, then begin: Command sinistral pedestal to writhe. Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke, A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl. To spin! A wilde release from Heaven's yoke. Blessed dervish! Surely canst thou go, girl. The Hoke, the poke—banish thou now thy doubt: Verily, be this what 'tis all about.
Maybe my reasoning on my preference is - it is just the plays that have a long enough arc to give you time to enter the rhythm of his words, and then, forgetting the rhythm, you feel that you can experience his mental world. I tend to like short-form works that are less obviously structured, like t.s. eliot, for example. But if something is really going to connect with you , it can do it in a few lines, for sure. also, the bard's hoke and poke is very amusing.
Fraggle That was pretty cool. Shel Silverstein wrote "Hamlet From the Street", which was done in gangsta rap. I think it was his last piece or something (I'm told he died Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!). It was pretty funny, but nobody else in the lab knew what I was laughing about. Philistines! My favorite Shakespearean piece is MacBeth. In high school we had a teacher, Mr. Vultee, who really enjoyed the Bard. His enthusiasm was contagious, and he got a class full of early '80's punk rockers, stoners, and new wavers to pile into our own cars on a Saturday and go up to San Francisco en masse to see it at the Geary Street Theater. It was great!
