Friday, August 29, 2008

Summer Of Shakespeare

After the performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream, let's stay a little longer with Shakespeare... Last summer, I was dying to attend some kind of music, dance or theater festival but really couldn't afford it, so I decided to have my own little festival, and spent a couple of months reading nothing but Shakespeare. The Tempest is my favorite and the Sonnets of course are the most beautiful poems ever.
Here's Sonnet 116, which I'm posting for Pierre:

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

24 comments:

mansuetude said...

I love The Tempest too. (The breaking of his magic wand; the setting free). Maybe a pointing to silence. (?)

There is so much power in these texts, so many times I think there is nothing else as rich to read; I think to kill (literally) the tv and read and reread "S" the minds of world would just flower. :)

But that is a dream.

Laura Neulat said...

... Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

So powerful and meaningful and universal.

Anonymous said...

I must admit, now reading this (outside a highschool reading context) I rather enjoy the words and their meaning....
I have often thought: how wonderful it would have been if we were able, say at highschool...not only to study Shakespeare but...Molière, Lorca, Tennessee Williams...etc (all of which I had to discover on my own..) Just a thought. ;)
nancy

Josephine said...

oh, one of my favorites! have you ever seen "sense and sensibilty"? kate winslet recites it while pining for willoughby!

Mary-Laure said...

MANSUETUDE - I agree, Shakespeare stimulates the mind, the intelligence, the imagination.

NANCY - But maybe if you had discovered these authors in school it would have ruined it for you?... School ruined so many books for me!

JOSEPHINE - no, I haven't seen it but would love to. It seems very appropriate for her character to be enthralled by Shakespeare's Sonnets, though. Ang Lee is so smart, isn't he..

Mrs.French said...

stunning...I need to do the same.

Anonymous said...

Que leida eres!

loveology said...

Gorgeous words....

Thanks so much for your kind comment!

:) Mila.

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Vanessa said...

I think literature was what saved high school for me and made life bearable. I have gone on a "classics" diet before, where I read nothing but literary classics for recreation for an entire year. It did me a world of good.

Elizabeth said...

That sonnet is my very favorite. I remember pasting it into a notebook when I was in high school! Thanks for visiting my blog Mary-Laure, I'm so glad to have found yours. And you have lovely photos of all your travels!

Anonymous said...

I love Schakespeare !
It's funny beacause I'm reading Twelfth Night...^^

Joanna said...

I adore these woodcut illustrations featured on the covers of the New Penguin Shakespeare series. I have A Midsummer Night's Dream and Macbeth.

I have to say, I really enjoy your blog. I just discovered your Los Angeles posts; seems like you spent a lot of time in Santa Monica (I live just a stone's throw away from Montana Ave). It's such a lovely beach side community; so glad you enjoyed yourself!

Anonymous said...

Hello! Thank you for your lovely comment :D

I've been meaning to read the Tempest for the longest time. It's definitely on my must read list now!

raining sheep said...

I am impressed...I just could never get into Shakespeare. It was one of those "I had to read it for college English" things. Oh well, at least I have read it...I don't think my sons ever even studied Shakespeare in school. Tsk! Tsk! Kids nowadays!

Hila said...

oh I know this sonnet by heart! I had to learn it for an exam in high school. I think I could recite it in my sleep!
Have fun with Shakespeare :)

littlebird said...

i always keep an eye out in charity shops for shakespeare books with interesting covers, the stories are so open to interpretation that the covers can be quite diverse.

Doriz Jeltzin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
My Castle in Spain said...

oh...how much i enjoyed Shakespeare when i was a student. I do agree on the Tempest and i love Aimé Césaire's adaptation of it "Une tempête" .

Wish you a nice Shakespearian week end!

Mary-Laure said...

MY CASTLE - I didn't know Aimé Césaire's adaptation but love his poetry in general so I'll make sure to look it up, thanks!

JOANNA - I'd love to meet you next time I'm in LA...

VANESSA - classics diets are the best for the mind.

SCHEHERAZADE - I love Twelfth Night too, enjoy it!

please sir said...

What a lovely idea! I saw a Shakespeare play recently and enjoyed it. Thanks for the memories!

Betsey said...

oh gosh, sonnet 116 is my favorite. i love it so much.
and tom welling is an actor...haha

Anonymous said...

Merci Marie-Laure,
Tu es ma poésie

Joanna said...

That would be lovely!