Freeverse!!!
Since I haven't been literary for a few days, I was moved to do a mashup of two literary styles, as prompted by catechism and desdenova. See if you can guess which two I picked.
It’s a little known fact that Shakespeare was developing a series of shorter plays, all focused around one family, which he called “situational Comedie.” Below are some excerpts from his notes on the abandoned project, nicknamed by scholars the “Morning Scene,” the “Feeb Scene,” and the “Tooth Scene.”
The Merry Lives of Carlos and Helena
Or
First they made Merry, then did they Tarry, then, marry, they Married
The Names of All the Actors
Carlos, the father
Helen, the mother
A Princess
A Boy
Beckett, a smelly dog
Fairies, monks, courtiers, and others.
1.1
Alarums.
C: S’blood, what is that sound? What time is it?
Is that our children playing near?
H: It is.
C: The Princess lay awake last night, she would
Not let me leave her chambers. Thou?
H The same;
The Boy did howl and suck upon my teat
Until the creeping grayness signal’d dawn.
C: How can they now be sprightly, loud, and wild?
What damnéd imp provides their energy?
2.3
Enter Helen.
H: Arise, mine own; the day does speed apace
Our children dear do wrack upon my nerves.
C: I would fain lie here ‘til the trump of doom;
The bed is warm, the mattress pulls at me.
Alas, it steals my very will to live
And so I shall expire here, my book
Clutched in my hand.
H: Thou art a feeb.
C: Aye, I am, and more with every passing year.
Enter Boy.
C: What ho, my lad, what makest thou here?
B: I pay’d a penny to see the feeb.
C: I’faith, cannot this mob leave me in peace?
Exit Boy.
C: Stay, boy, where goest thou?
B: Away, old man;
In truth, a penny was too much to pay.
I’ll to the princess for my money back.
C: All the world’s a comedian.
3.4
Enter Carlos, Helen.
C: Sweet Helen, dear, what wrinkles up thy brow?
H: It is my tooth, I fear that I shall have
To get another crown.
C: Thy crown’s too new
For it to be usurpéd it from thy mouth.
H: Thy lame reply cannot distract my mind.
The dentist shav’d this tooth so close, that heat
And cold do plague me.
C: Is’t so? But then, they say
‘Tis better to be toothless than bootless.
H: Thou varlet! Cease thy chatter or thou shalt
Experience my boot between thy teeth.
C: I doubt thy word, for fruitless that would be.
Enter Princess and Boy.
H: O I have fruit aplenty, as thou knowst.
And there they stand; I labored hard to pluck
them from the tree.
C: Aye, ‘twas a hard wood.
H: Thy conversation toothless, bootless, aye,
And fruitless be.
C: Much like a crone, methinks.
H: Art thou calling me a crone?
It’s a little known fact that Shakespeare was developing a series of shorter plays, all focused around one family, which he called “situational Comedie.” Below are some excerpts from his notes on the abandoned project, nicknamed by scholars the “Morning Scene,” the “Feeb Scene,” and the “Tooth Scene.”
The Merry Lives of Carlos and Helena
Or
First they made Merry, then did they Tarry, then, marry, they Married
The Names of All the Actors
Carlos, the father
Helen, the mother
A Princess
A Boy
Beckett, a smelly dog
Fairies, monks, courtiers, and others.
1.1
Alarums.
C: S’blood, what is that sound? What time is it?
Is that our children playing near?
H: It is.
C: The Princess lay awake last night, she would
Not let me leave her chambers. Thou?
H The same;
The Boy did howl and suck upon my teat
Until the creeping grayness signal’d dawn.
C: How can they now be sprightly, loud, and wild?
What damnéd imp provides their energy?
2.3
Enter Helen.
H: Arise, mine own; the day does speed apace
Our children dear do wrack upon my nerves.
C: I would fain lie here ‘til the trump of doom;
The bed is warm, the mattress pulls at me.
Alas, it steals my very will to live
And so I shall expire here, my book
Clutched in my hand.
H: Thou art a feeb.
C: Aye, I am, and more with every passing year.
Enter Boy.
C: What ho, my lad, what makest thou here?
B: I pay’d a penny to see the feeb.
C: I’faith, cannot this mob leave me in peace?
Exit Boy.
C: Stay, boy, where goest thou?
B: Away, old man;
In truth, a penny was too much to pay.
I’ll to the princess for my money back.
C: All the world’s a comedian.
3.4
Enter Carlos, Helen.
C: Sweet Helen, dear, what wrinkles up thy brow?
H: It is my tooth, I fear that I shall have
To get another crown.
C: Thy crown’s too new
For it to be usurpéd it from thy mouth.
H: Thy lame reply cannot distract my mind.
The dentist shav’d this tooth so close, that heat
And cold do plague me.
C: Is’t so? But then, they say
‘Tis better to be toothless than bootless.
H: Thou varlet! Cease thy chatter or thou shalt
Experience my boot between thy teeth.
C: I doubt thy word, for fruitless that would be.
Enter Princess and Boy.
H: O I have fruit aplenty, as thou knowst.
And there they stand; I labored hard to pluck
them from the tree.
C: Aye, ‘twas a hard wood.
H: Thy conversation toothless, bootless, aye,
And fruitless be.
C: Much like a crone, methinks.
H: Art thou calling me a crone?