And All The Nations Merely Players (DMW TOP Salvage)
With Sincerest apologies to the Bard. (A modern retelling of Jaques monologue from "As You Like it")
All the world's a stage,
and all the myriad nations merely players.
They have their entrances and their exits,
And each Nation in time plays many parts.
Its acts being seven ages, at first the Hero,
Fighting and struggling to find its feet and soul.
And then the eager Learner. With earnest
and gracious respect For those that might crush
the spark of freedom. And then the Trader,
welcome to all that bring the shining coin
Regardless of the source. Then a conq'rer
Full of excuse, and costumed as a clown,
Sudden to attack, Merciless its vengeance
seeking the fear of others,
marching its best to their doom. And then the Wizened
All smug patricians, secure from all fear
with moral guidance for all those beneath
so it has always been. The sixth age shifts
into the slow and paranoid decay
spies among the people, jails full to burst
the earnest ideals beloved in its youth
forsworn for methods of those it replaced
soldiers walk the streets, seeking imagin'd foes
created if not found. Last stage of all,
that ends this sad, but well forseen journey,
is the mad grasping at what crumbs remain,
Sans Law, Sans Hope, Sans everything.
(At Some point I still want to write a full work in the Style of Shakespeare. Not necessarily the LANGUAGE, but the poetic imagery, the symbolism and the sheer joy to perform. I love learning and emulating the style of the greats, which I think is pretty obvious.)
(BTW: For those who ever played Battletech, I think you get the in-joke in why I name what I'm bringing over from TOP what I do. )
Comments
Nicely done! n/t
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Shakespeare is SUCH a joy to write
Because of course, like any good poetry, to get the feel correct, you HAVE to say it out loud, ticking off the syllables and rhythm on your fingers.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
love it!
and could not agree more: Shakespeare must be read aloud, recited, and relished.
it's wonderful to rework great work... it shows how timeless it is, the lack of boundary of meaning.
really enjoyed it.
you know, I was thinking after your "not going to republish old stuff" essay that we should ask Cass if he'd like some of our old stuff for his series on classic blog posts . whaddya think?
“There are moments which are not calculable, and cannot be assessed in words; they live on in the solution of memory… ”
― Lawrence Durrell, "Justine"
I'm comfortable with using my own little series marker...
But if other folks would like to go with a more centralized idea, I'm down.
Honestly, I don't really have a preference. I mostly bring over an old essay when I want to post something but can't think of anything to write. However, if we wanted to put it on a schedule, that works too.
Yes, I'm very easy to work with, but terrible at setting guidelines.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Shakespeare used iambic pentameter in his plays and sonnets.
They play, in my mind, like a song. Sometimes I get a kick out of rapping his sonnets.
Thank you for sharing this DMW. It is wonderful, and heart wrenching.
You are good
'Well, I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years, Doctor, and I’m happy to state I finally won out over it." Elwood P. Dowd "
There's a couple points in this one...
Where I deviate slightly from the Iambic.
Course, in this monologue Shakespeare did as well. I have had SO many arguments with directors about that. Nothing annoys me more than directors who won't let you hit a different syllable for effect... (Sorry, Actor/Director conflict rant)
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Too right.
Too right.
Those hitches and variations of rhythm are in effect stage directions that allow, almost force, the player to emphasize what the playwright wants emphasized. To ignore or suppress them is a terrible mistake.
Euterpe2
Completely agreed.
Course there are people who LOATHE Shakespeare because they don't get that. (And I include some directors that have directed Shakespeare. BADLY I might add...)
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
I played Puck in highschool...
Yes, yes, I know...it's a male character...but I won it on audition and made it work...
I can still run the soliloquy....
I am that merry wanderer of the night.
I jest to Oberon and make him smile
When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile,
Neighing in likeness of a filly foal:
And sometime lurk I in a gossip’s bowl,
In very likeness of a roasted crab,
And when she drinks, against her lips I bob
And on her wither’d dewlap pour the ale.
The wisest aunt, telling the saddest tale,
Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh me;
Then slip I from her bum, down topples she,
And ‘tailor’ cries, and falls into a cough;
And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh,
And waxen in their mirth and neeze and swear
A merrier hour was never wasted there!
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Nothing against it...
Last production I was in we had a female Puck. Course it was also a weird production where Titania was played by all the faerie attendants in a group consciousness kinda thang... (Didn't have to deal with it. I played Philostrate and Egeus.)
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
A group Tatania.... interesting... in
a weird sort of way... hmmmm...
A girl playing Puck in my day, and in Kansas...well it was odd to say the least.
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I am really missing doing theater...
But the problem has been kids and rehearsal time.
They're ALMOST old enough to watch themselves for a few hours...
Tantalizingly close.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
the mad grasping at crumbs
We'll be there soon, absent a major course correction.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
There's always a core fragment of Empire
that remains. Rome, England, Japan... You get the idea.
However large it ends up being, I'm willing to bet our core remaining fragment will be centered around D.C. and N.Y.
For the rest of us, Hail Portlandia! or Cascadia. Or Canada if you feel lucky.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Bisbonia
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
That works too... I'm assuming you'll be
the one on the Biggest Car with the spikes?
(J/K)
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Donkey
We're just hopeful that proximity to NOTHING will keep the big spiky cars away.
I would really rather be up in the PNW. But that would mean starting over, again! And we're too old for that. And my partner can't stand the weather. Hence my sig line...
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
I love literate people.
Funny thing. My son's name is Oberon.
I don't know when it became popular to think of Shakespeare as "Lame" but I blame High School English teachers who keep recycling "Julius Caesar."
The Comedies are so much better for getting the feel of the language, first.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Inspired!
But, yet even amidst the Tudor darkness, there were glimmers of hope,
And we can conjure such light, for some tomorrow'd day,
That day t’will be call’d the Feat of St. Bernard:
He that outlives that day, and comes won home,
Will stand a' tiptoe when that day is named,
And rouse him at the name of St. Bernard. . . .
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats were done that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words. . .
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
The spirit of party serves to enfeeble the Public Administration,
agitates with Jealousies and false alarms, and opens the door to corruption,
which finds access to the government itself through the channels of party passions.
George Washington
Nice adaptation of Henry V
Heh, Now of course I want to start that with...
What's he wishes so?
My old compatriot Kos, No my fair Blogger...
If we are marked to lose, we are enough to do the system loss
but if to live, the fewer vote, the greater share of honor
Rather proclaim it, Great Orange Fool, throughout the net
that he that hath no STOMACH for debate let him depart...
His Mentions shall be made and cash for service put in his purse
We would not blog in that man's company,
he who would not choose to stand with us
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Sza ... seriously! Henry V!!!
my favorite! one of the greatest scenes evah:
“There are moments which are not calculable, and cannot be assessed in words; they live on in the solution of memory… ”
― Lawrence Durrell, "Justine"
Branaugh's Henry was good...
But there are many actors I'd love to see take a shot at the role who never will because of typecasting.
One that comes to mind is Oldman...
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
i loved his portrayal of Henry
I don't like actors who approach Shakespeare with too much reverence. This henry caught the life, the humor, the adventure, excitement of Shakespeare.
I always hated Hamlet and so many of the bloodless productions. Until, and I know you'll think I'm crazy, I saw Mel Gibson as the Dane. Finally, some testosterone and more than a shadow of a man.
Did see and love Al Pacino as Richard at the Cork theater many years ago.
“There are moments which are not calculable, and cannot be assessed in words; they live on in the solution of memory… ”
― Lawrence Durrell, "Justine"
Hamlet is way OVERDONE...
And Mel at least approached it from a different angle than the typical "Ham".
My personal favorite take on that is of course "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead"
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abKFIhxPxe4]
(Sorry, I admit to loving the Comedies. "Twelfth Night", "Midsummer Night's Dream" and "As You Like It" are my favorites.)
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Hale Fellow, Well Met!
;->
The spirit of party serves to enfeeble the Public Administration,
agitates with Jealousies and false alarms, and opens the door to corruption,
which finds access to the government itself through the channels of party passions.
George Washington