Literature Entry Week 2
Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Shakespeare...
An interesting thought I heard recently, regarding Shakespeare. "If Shakespeare was alive today, he would not be writing for the social elite, but for the common people. He was a popular writer, who wrote popular things for the enjoyment of a wide community." Venus and Adonis is a true representation of this insight. I found it to be an interesting composition and a remarkable insight into the early workings of Shakespeare. An amazing aspect of this poem is its ability to carry the fictional piece, with regular rhyming structure over 1200 lines. Implicit in the poem's theme, is the aspect of love. Interestingly, as Shakespeare shows the difficulties of human social intercourse and the relationship between love and lust to come as a direct result of Venus' failed attempt to woo Adonis; we too question the relationship between love and Shakespeare's piece. Shakespeare's works had such a magnificent impact on society's view of humanity which leads us to question whether Shakespeare was commenting on love in the world as he saw it, or has love in the world as we see it, arisen from a substance created by Shakespeare and other 16th century writers. This is not a question so easily answered. Many people would scoff at such a thought, thinking I have not read Shakespeare so how can I be influenced by him, but truth be told, Shakespeare has been influences the thoughts and feelings of societies for the greater part of four centuries, and as a result the very basis of our modern humanity can be seen to be linked to him.
One final thought, a stanza of a poem I wrote in my commonplace book the other day, when quite frankly I was all out of ideas.
What do you do when the creative juices
Have all dried up and you feel quite useless?
And you want to express how you feel inside;
But that gap in your mind is just too big to hide.
VENUS AND ADONIS
An interesting thought I heard recently, regarding Shakespeare. "If Shakespeare was alive today, he would not be writing for the social elite, but for the common people. He was a popular writer, who wrote popular things for the enjoyment of a wide community." Venus and Adonis is a true representation of this insight. I found it to be an interesting composition and a remarkable insight into the early workings of Shakespeare. An amazing aspect of this poem is its ability to carry the fictional piece, with regular rhyming structure over 1200 lines. Implicit in the poem's theme, is the aspect of love. Interestingly, as Shakespeare shows the difficulties of human social intercourse and the relationship between love and lust to come as a direct result of Venus' failed attempt to woo Adonis; we too question the relationship between love and Shakespeare's piece. Shakespeare's works had such a magnificent impact on society's view of humanity which leads us to question whether Shakespeare was commenting on love in the world as he saw it, or has love in the world as we see it, arisen from a substance created by Shakespeare and other 16th century writers. This is not a question so easily answered. Many people would scoff at such a thought, thinking I have not read Shakespeare so how can I be influenced by him, but truth be told, Shakespeare has been influences the thoughts and feelings of societies for the greater part of four centuries, and as a result the very basis of our modern humanity can be seen to be linked to him.
One final thought, a stanza of a poem I wrote in my commonplace book the other day, when quite frankly I was all out of ideas.
What do you do when the creative juices
Have all dried up and you feel quite useless?
And you want to express how you feel inside;
But that gap in your mind is just too big to hide.
VENUS AND ADONIS
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