Sunday, April 23, 2006

Remembering the Bard

Shakespeare's precise birthdate is not known; he was baptized on 26 April 1564, and over time 23 April has become the accepted date of birth, in part because he also died on 23 April in 1616.

celebrations?
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/heartofengland/birthday.htm


One of his most famous sonnets:

XII
1. When I do count the clock that tells the time,
2. And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;
3. When I behold the violet past prime,
4. And sable curls, all silvered o'er with white;
5. When lofty trees I see barren of leaves,
6. Which erst from heat did canopy the herd,
7. And summer's green all girded up in sheaves,
8. Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard,
9. Then of thy beauty do I question make,
10. That thou among the wastes of time must go,
11. Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake
12. And die as fast as they see others grow;
13. And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence
14. Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.

A good commentary, analysis and original version of the sonnet's given on this website:
http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/index.htm

A delightful site for the uninitiated. (Mind the colour setting though. You may want to change your IE settings to "ignore colour and font settings of the website" , for a while.)

Though Shakespeare is supposed to have written these sonnets as an 'advice' to his indulgent friend Henry for bringing him towards the noble path of honest matrimony, and the last line refers to the biological progeny of a human being, I guess we can give a symbolic connotation to this line. (That's the fun in being a critic. One can tell the creator to shut his/her mouth and go on and on with one's own viewpoint about the creation, though far different from the creator's own imagination.)

We may say that 'breed' here means the output of your life's work. Who saved Shakespeare himself from time's scythe? Not his offsprings, but his plays and his poetry. The Curies aren't remembered because of Mrs. Joliot 'nee Irene Curie, but because of their discovery of radium.

Would 'beauty' then be physical appearance, wealth and earthly possessions? ..Well maybe - but Then I remember Emily Dickinson's "I died for beauty.." where she claims that beauty is the same as truth, and now I'm digressed again ;)

Some other time maybe, eh?

76 Comments:

At Thursday, June 29, 2006 6:35:00 PM , Blogger paamar said...

Hi Gayatri, I guess you had written a comment on one of the posts on my blog... Tracing that link, reached this blog. Since I could not locate your email id, writing a comment here.
If you want, you can link to my blog ! That will be an honour for me..
Replying back so late, as I got to read your comment today, due to some severe problem with blogspot..

 
At Wednesday, September 06, 2006 1:30:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link,Gayatri. I liked the contents. But the site designer could certainly do with a refresher course in web-page design. The appearance(including colours) is garish and unattractive and the navigation somewhat (I'm being polite here)unintuitive.

 
At Wednesday, September 06, 2006 2:22:00 PM , Blogger Gayatri said...

Yes exactly, anon! That's why I suggested the "ignore colour and font settings of the website" in 'tools' option of IE.

 
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At Tuesday, November 06, 2007 10:42:00 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Suicidal twin kills sister by mistake!

 
At Tuesday, November 06, 2007 11:21:00 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Energizer Bunny Arrested! Charged with battery.

 
At Tuesday, November 06, 2007 11:51:00 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

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At Tuesday, November 06, 2007 1:11:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

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At Tuesday, November 06, 2007 1:54:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

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At Tuesday, November 06, 2007 3:26:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

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At Tuesday, November 06, 2007 4:51:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

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At Tuesday, November 06, 2007 7:21:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

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At Tuesday, November 06, 2007 8:01:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

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At Tuesday, November 06, 2007 8:39:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

A lot of people mistake a short memory for a clear conscience.

 
At Tuesday, November 06, 2007 9:16:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

The gene pool could use a little chlorine.

 
At Tuesday, November 06, 2007 9:49:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Give me ambiguity or give me something else.

 
At Tuesday, November 06, 2007 10:33:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

The gene pool could use a little chlorine.

 
At Tuesday, November 06, 2007 11:17:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

A flashlight is a case for holding dead batteries.

 
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At Wednesday, November 07, 2007 12:47:00 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math.

 
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What is a free gift ? Aren't all gifts free?

 

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