Monthly Poetry Event: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Kailana at The Written Word and Lu at Regular Rumination have started a monthly poetry blog-along. I haven’t posted my sign-up yet, so I’m combining this month’s post with that.
On the last Tuesday of every month, I’m going to join in and blog (very) informally about some of the poetry that I’ve read over the past month.
For January, I thought I’d share some of Shakespeare’s thoughts from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
In Act III, scene ii, Hermia has awakened to find her love, Lysander, gone without explanation. She accuses Demetrius, his rival, of harming him:
Out, dog! Out, cur! Thou driv’st me past the bounds
Of maiden’s patience. Has thou slain him then?
Henceforth be never numb’red among men.
O, once tell true: tell true, even for my sake
Durst thou have looked upon him being awake!
And hast thou killed him sleeping? O brave touch!
Could not a worm, an adder, do so much?
I can just feel the pain, anger and contempt in Hermia’s words!
My favorite lines from this play, though, are Helena’s in Act 1, scene i:
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
great call, here’s one by a Romanian poet that references Shakespeare
Shakespeare – Marin Sorescu
Shakespeare created the world in seven days.
On the first say he made the heavens, the mountains,
and the abyss of the soul.
On the second day he made rivers, seas, oceans
And all the other feelings—
Giving them to Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony,
Cleopatra and Ophelia,
Othello and the rest, to master them, and their descendants
For evermore.
On the third day he brought the people together
And taught them about taste
The taste of happiness, of love, of despair
The taste of jealousy, of glory, and still more tastes
Until they went through them all.
Then some latecomers arrived.
The creator patted them sadly on the head
Explaining the remaining roles were for
Literary critics
To challenge his good works.
The fourth and fifth days he kept clear for laughs
Clearing way for clowns
Turning somersaults,
And leaving the kings, emperors,
And other poor wretches to their fun.
The sixth day he reserved for administrative tasks:
He let loose a tempest
And taught King Lear
To wear a crown of straw.
Some spare parts remained from the world’s creation
And so he made Richard III.
On the seventh day he looked about for something to do.
Theatre directors had plastered the land with posters
And Shakespeare decided after all his hard work
He deserved to see a show. but first,
tired down to the bone
He went off to die a little.
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
I really love that sentiment–thanks for posting.
Yes, Phaedosia – love is certainly blind (thank goodness!)
[…] @ ExUrbanis posted about Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night […]
I don’t read many plays or, unfortunately, much Shakespeare, though I wish I did! I just never enjoyed reading it in high school and I haven’t found the motivation to read it now that I’m no longer in school. I really like what you shared. Thank you so much for participating!
You’re welcome, Lu.
I wouldn’t read much Shakespeare either if I didn’t sign up for a challenge like Risa’s. And I wouldn’t read much poetry either if I wasn’t participating in your monthly meme. I’d like to find poetry in a lot of different places this year.
Thanks for dropping by!