Will Shakespeare (April 23 1564 – April 23 1616)

April 23  1564  —  April 23  1616

WILL

to his fellow players–

Mr. Shakespeare spelled his name

Several ways

And never studied the subject

ENGLISH

NO

In his 8 years of schooling

(Yes only 8)

He read Latin and Ancient Greek

Histories, Myths, Poetry, Plays

In their Original Languages

English was not studied

       It was the language of the people

Kind of like Darija today

Lucky Lucky Will

Free of constraints

English was in flux

Changing Fast

So

Will could

Play with words

Make new words

Coin vivid expressions

And oh

He might find it

Rich

To know he was actually

STUDIED

at Universities

When

After all

He was but a

“Poor Player who struts and frets

His HOUR upon the stage”

Because

You see

He didn’t write for books

HE WROTE FOR THE STAGE

He wrote parts for his friends

He wrote parts for himself

William Shakespeare

Wrote plays for those in fancy seats

And also

For those who had to stand —

The “groundlings”

By Golly

This Actor

And his pals

Owned their own theatre

And who was his greatest fan?

Why Queen Elizabeth

Her Royal Self

And how did this Being

Of 16th Century England

This son of a glove maker

Come to know such extremes

Of Human Nature—

The depraved evil of an Iago

The hard earned wisdom of a King Lear

The appreciation of the “monster” Caliban

For “sounds and sweet airs that give delight”

And in Stratford

As a boy

How did he come to feel

So at home in nature

So ready to name all the

Flowers, herbs,

Each bit of greenery

That

He grew up with

Some miracle, was it ?

That gave us

A mirror

That

400 years later

Reflects our nature

Through indelible characters

In stories we can’t forget

Thanks WILL

For Being With Us

In our brief

HOUR upon the Stage

By Rosalia