Shakespeare Poem
Here's a poem about William Shakespeare, inspired by the play I've been writing about. It would be interesting to know what you make of it. In these days of Internet piracy, I still think it's relevant.
His Name was William Shakespeare
In harsh Elizabethan times
There lived a famous writer
Creating stories with his rhymes
A poet of the theatre
A man concealed in mystery
The truth is much sought after
His life ingrained in history
His name was William Shakespeare
A man from Stratford got some fame
And his name was William Shaksper
A man who couldn't sign his name
Our greatest ever writer
A businessman, a boastful fool
Who thought himself an actor
His friends would bait him like a bull
This man was William Shaksper
It really does perplex the mind
That he took all the glory
The evidence that's left behind
Suggests a different story
For back in old and ancient days
There was a social stigma
That stopped the rich from writing plays
And into this came Shaksper
His name was altered carefully
And borrowed by another
Who forged a new identity
That acted as a cover
When nobody of note deduced
Who really was the author
The man from Stratford then produced
The plays of William Shakespeare
His leading characters possessed
A courtly education
They were well-mannered and obsessed
With honour and religion
Their habits and their social mores
Would set the scene for drama
Their wordplay and their metaphors
Enriched the plays of Shakespeare
The plays sent up the lower class,
The servants and the workers
Their language crude, their manners crass
The rich their lords and masters
Who'd have them at their beck and call
And cry 'Come hither, sirrah'
To Pompey, Bottom, Launce and Dull,
The fools of William Shakespeare
The plays live on and still survive
Their author an enigma
There's not a person left alive
To paint a fuller picture
But still the people congregate
And gather in the theatre
To read, perform and celebrate
The words of William Shakespeare.
Cate Greenlees
Thu 25th Feb 2010 16:23
Well now this is a clever little ditty. There has always been an ongoing debate as to who wrote Shakespeare`s works, with many countries claiming he plagiarized ideas from their poets. But its obvious that John Coopeys got the last word.... twas his ancestor!!!
Cate xx