Tag Archives: William Shakespeare

Day 28 — Thursday Next + Thursday Now

Another Lawrence’s Maxim might come as a shock given I’ve been drip feeding them out on Saturdays up until now — but the truth is I quite enjoy writing them, there’s lots of books on the possible shortlist, & I’m running out of time. Three days only left of this year’s Glo/NaPoWriMo so I figured what they hey (I already have one planned for the final day & there was the special Blue Shakespeare edition Wednesday Last) …

As is often the case, the Factoid became more fun & grew in the telling to be a quirky little thing all its own.

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Thursday Next

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Day 28 Factoid — Thursdays on my mind

7 Thursday week: a Fun Factoid pome told in seven days

That may be must be, love, on Thursday next.
Paris

i.
We all know it’s named after 
Thor (Norse god of thunder)

but after that Thursday 
fun facts tend to dry up

ii.
some folks call it “Friday’s Friday” 
given it heralds Friday
& therefore hurrah!  the weekend

i prefer to think of it more 
as Wednesday’s Thursday
— but it seems less exciting

iii. 
Thanksgiving (a local US custom) 
is always celebrated on November’s 
fourth Thursday

er, iv.
the chemical element Thorium (Th) 
is named after Thor, which means
it’s indirectly connected to Thursday

v.
Richard Osman’s now making tons 
of money after choosing Thursday 
as the day his Murder Club meets

vi.
Thursday is mentioned more times
in Shakespeare than any other day

17 including the phrase “Thursday Next”
uttered by three separate characters:
Paris, Capulet, & Friar Maximillian Laurence (no relation)

vii. 
come this Thursday next
i won’t have to crank out 
three poems daily & can 
                                      finally rest

Day 23 — blue Shakespeare + Capital unCanberra

Over the past couple of days I read Shakespeare’s Library: Unlocking the Greatest Mystery in Literature by Stuart Kells [& if books could be considered clickbait, the subtitle is definitely one big troll]. I’d hoped to find something interesting about said library for the basis of a poem. Alas the book is blotchy, all over the shop, often only tangentially or tenuously related to its title. So, I’ve had this idea as a backup as one of the Lawrence’s Maxims series & thought WTH even though it’s not a Saturday (no-one’s probably noticed that’s been a thing) I’m going to be writing about a big old cheap old poor quality book.

Today’s Factoid is one of the few interesting (unknown to me) facts I plucked from Shakespeare’s Library. 

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Day 23 Factoid – Capital Bill

Capital 

Back at the turn of the 20th Century
when Melbourne & Sydney were duking it out
to see who’d be our fair federation captain
some truly godawful names were bandied about*

from mouth manglers like Meladneyperbane & Sydmelperadbrisho (sorry Darwin)

flora & fauna inspired: Acacia, Cookaburra, Kangaremu, Wattleton, & Eucalypta (one I actually quite like)

to the cheeky laconic larrikinesque: Gonebroke, Swindleville, Thirstyville, & Home (surprised Sweet Home wasn’t on the end)

geographically motivated: Austral City, Pacifica, Southern Cross (the fact there already was one in WA existed put the kibosh on this choice toot sweet)

poetically out of place: Aurora, Climax (saucy), Eden, Harmony, Olympus, Paradise, Regina

bureaucratically bland: Captain Cook, Caucus City, Federalia, Frontierland, Hopetoun, Labourville, The National City, New Era, Union City, Unison

& whatever the hell these are: Australville, Aryan City (disturbing), Back Spur, Commonwealth Circular City (huh), Cooksturta, Myola, Wheatwoolgold (you’re just throwing words together now)

As well as — SHAKESPEARE — 

How different might the city of Burley Griffin be with suburbs named Prospero & Capulet & Guildenstern for kidlets to grow up in

*about 700 or 800 reportedly were officially logged & assigned a number
though I’ve been unable to discover the complete list.

Day 23 — Marlowe MashUp + History

In the past week I’ve read the same poem in three different anthologies. It’s unusual for me to have read so many anthologies during NaPoWriMo (normally it might only be one or even none, I tend to prefer volumes by a single poet) but I’ve felt a stronger desire for variety this month — & anthologies definitely give you that. Except in regards to this poem. I took it as a sign. 

Today’s poem is a tweak on the Shakespeare focus I usually have on this day. It is a reworked version of Marlowe’s, The Passionate Shepherd to His Love. 

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The Passionate Capitalist to His Doom

Come frack with me and be my doom, 
And we will all the world’s riches groom, 
Those Valleys, groves, hills, and fields, 
Woods, or steepy mountain yields. 

And we will tear up every rock, 
Strip the Shepherd from his flock, 
Pump our waste into River waters 
& so Create infertility in our daughters.

Poison aquifers, ramp up your ire, 
Enable tap water to be lit on fire: 
And if these pursuits fill you not with gloom, 
Come frack with me, and cause our doom. 

Capitalist Bastards shall rip and plunder 
Turn the world utterly asunder: 
If these delights in thy mind do bloom, 
Then frack with me, and cause our doom.

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Day 23 – TIL  some things about Christopher Marlowe

Marlowe: A Potted History 

Marlowe’s nickname was Kit
& like a more modern KITT
was a Knight Rider who served 
as one of the Virgin Queen’s spies ;
a shadowy flight into the dangerous 
world of a man who did not exist.

Was once arrested for counterfeiting 
coins in Holland ; a crime punishable 
by death, but … nothing happened.

Some say : he should’ve been
executed for his terrible
translations of ancient verse
particularly Ovid’s book 
of love pomes , Amores.

Symbolically killed in 1593
cos Bill Shaxpere no longer 
had time to be both him
                                         & himself 

Day 23 — a sonnet, sort of + big birthday cakes

Today’s poem is a homage to Bill by way of Henry VIII. It’s a Golden Shovel of “Orpheus with his lute” a 12 line poem/song in Henry VIII. Many/Mosyt scholars believe this play was a collaborative effort between Bill & John Fletcher, & I’m inclined to agree with them because it’s never felt like “Shakespeare” to me.

I’ve chosen it because: well Orpheus … & I have Golden Shoveled the last words of each line, juggled them & turned it into a sonnet. Not a great sonnet, mind you, but one with a passing resemblance to a snout. Unlike the ones from the 19th which were all AI generated That was the big guessing game thing that all two of you played haha). It had been my intention to reinterpret one of those to try & punch it into shape but I just found it too hard/the lines too banal. This definitely needs more work, but time being what it is means you get what you see …

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Luteless, Orpheus
(with Golden Shovelment to William Shakespeare/John Fletcher)


Forlorn Orpheus longed once more to see 
for himself; the unbelievable greenness of trees,
Rather than be buried neckdeep in melancholy
surrounded by deep dirt, soul ready to freeze

He had long since forgotten how to sing
had no desire to take up lute & play,
Forgotten there was a thing called spring.
had no desire to complete his latest lay.

He longed for the cheerful sway of flowers
wished somehow to re-kickstart his sad heart
Longed for the gentlest summer showers
wished sadly to care once more about petty art:

If only he hadn’t glimpsed her in his corner eye
Then neither of them would have needed to re-die.

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Day 23 — TIL about Bill’s birthday

old man Bill

If Bill
were alive today 
he’d be 459
which although 
pretty rootin’ tootin’ 
ancient — is still
less than half
as long as Noah 
or Adam.

However, 
he splashes all 
the post-flood crew
out of the water
— over double 
Abraham & Isaac;
almost quadruple 
poor young Moses.

Which is easier to believe:
Methuselah made it to 969
— or the Stratford man
wrote the damn plays!


Day 23 — Bill & his posse of Nature Poets

Shakespeare’s birthday/deathday. Each year I try to write something Bill-affiliated. This can be made harder by having a theme superimposed over the top of it (ie, like pandemics or climate change) but at least it forces me to think outside a few boxes for some green inspiration. Which is always a good thing. Need to apologise in advance for the long pome, I didn’t have the time to write a short poem.

If only poets had the power that multinational corporations have to effect change in the world.

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Bill S & his posse of Nature Poets

Bill being a country boy born & bred
was a big lover of nature
dropping dozens of wildflowers
animals, trees, natural events
63 birds, & more into his plays ;
with whimsical abandon
he set them in forests, on coasts, 
on rugged heaths
— if he were writing today
climate change would be his bent

so too Bill Blake’s rage
against dark Satanic Mills
which were pumping his pristine
English skies full of black soot 
& were, after all, the beginning 
of man-made climate change

the posse is being assembled

Lawrence & his dark forest soul 
would definitely be there …
with his animalistic magic 
of snakes & bats & pansies 

a third Bill, Wordsworth
knew nature was divine
& believed true happiness 
was achieved when existing 
in harmony with it, always happy 
to wax lyrical about daffodils, 
clouds, & Tintern Abbey

youthful firebrand Keats
loved nature’s vibrant scents 
& colours & cool calming water
a man who happily sang odes 
to Nightingales, Autumn, & the Sea
would get in on this action

although somewhat simpler 
in scope another John (Clare)
less complex & less well known
marvellously describes the natural 
world & rural life in affectionate
vignettes of Winter Evening,
Wood Pictures in Summer,
& the Little Trotty Wagtail

Emerson’s belief that we understand 
truth only by studying the song of nature
& Humblebees & Snow Storms

& Shelley’s awareness she destroys 
as well as creates; singing odes 
to the West Wind, Skylarks & Mont Blanc

& Dickinson finding awe in everything
Light Existing In Spring
Birds coming down the Walk

& Frost whose name suggests he should be
though not a pure nature poet loved
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

many modern poets too are in the posse

the marvellous Mary Oliver who instills 
poems with wonder-filled images 
drawn from daily walks near her home
Wild Geese & Journeys on Summer Days

& Gary Snyder an activist who speaks 
with an ancient voice but modern tongue
of fertile soil, animal magic, 
the power of solitude, rebirth; 
the love & ecstasy of the dance
& Mountains and Rivers Without End

but as wonderful as all these 
nature loving poets are
what we really need
is for everyone to remember
they too are poets, alive in this bleak
eternal universe only because
our home is a delicately crafted
paean to life