Richard lll as magnet. Chaperone. Him bringing us together one more time... How apt, us meeting in his shadow -- you a shadow of your former self, a shadow that had fallen half across my life. And what an irony that it should be the bar! A jealous and ambitious man who, like yourself, unable most to prove (himself) a lover, so out "to prove the villain," prove how physical infirmity does but reflect the soul. He, too, would marry for advancement -- so "I'll have her, but I will not keep her long" (He'd take her in his madness for the throne.) How apt you liked the part of Clarence best whose vision was like yours -- of wealth, of fortune unattainable by man. So to return: the hunchback King, tormented by his victims, found at last reality. He came to realise that if he died "No soul" would pity him. How brave he proved at last -- if only he had not been murderous! If only you had not clawed viciously your way to win your far ambitions -- which I fell for when you laid them at my feet, but later saw their worth and was afraid. Why let the one misfortune of your flesh have too much sway on its young soul?
I like the way an encounter and the setting for this encounter has sparked the poem.
ReplyDeletePowerful lines and powerfully hanging question at the end.
ReplyDeleteA coincidence: today I have decided that one of these evenings I will watch a dvd of Richard III, starring Sir Lawrence Olivier. I know it will be hard for me to understand, being Shakespeare's English the hardest in its branching and booming echoes and sounds... but the decision is taken.
Agh! Dave! I lost an extensive (and insightful -ha!) comment.
ReplyDeleteBut will try to recreate.
I always feel a bit sorry for Richard, who like Edmund (only Edmund much worse to me) seems a victim of expectations of viciousness almost as much as his own viciousness.
An interesting encounter here, which brings up (to me) how diminished those who played large roles in our lives may seem when some of the drama of youth is cleared away. k.
nice dave...an interesting encounter between them...i like how you alluded to their role and made it personal o your own life...unfortunately i know far too many that have fell victim to pursuing position over relationship...
ReplyDeleteThere definitely is a lesson in this poem, Dave......as well as it being a fascinating tale.
ReplyDelete" Why let the one misfortune of your flesh
ReplyDeletehave too much sway on its young soul?"
A worthy and eternal question well asked this time
Aloha from Waikiki,
Comfort Spiral
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Very interesting encounter, Dave.
ReplyDeleteHistory has vicious aspect,,,they say that temples are admirable and beautiful, but I'm sometimes scared somehow when I visit some og them. I'd like to know about Richard lll, though.Thank you.
ReplyDeleteCait
ReplyDeleteMuch appreciated comment. Thanks.
Tommaso
Interesting. Let me know how it goes with the dvd.
manicddaily
I feel for you. I did exactly that recently - some of my best thoughts disappeared into one of bloggoland's black holes.
Thanks for recreating. I do take the point you are making. Difficult to see him in his own time. Our culture keeps getting in the way, but the point about those who play large roles in the ephemeral dramas of youth is well made - and something that I, at any rate, had not thought of in quite that way.
Brian
Thanks. yes, it is all too common to chase after position as the priority. Maybe most of us to some extent...
Mary
Thanks Mary. Have to hand it to Shakespeare when it comes to story telling!
cloudia
Thanks for the response. Much appreciated.
Linda
Good to know you thought so. Thanks.
haricot
Interesting character. Generally thought as evil, but maybe not wholly so.
'Why let the one misfortune of your flesh
ReplyDeletehave too much sway on its young soul?'
Wise words to close with Dave - but this is what we all (to some extent)do.
How others perceive us directs our actions - unless of course we do not like a particular person...then we don't care...
Anna :o]
hyperCRYPTICal
ReplyDeleteThanks for these reflections. I agree entirely. Indeed, as to the final one, I think we may even become bloody minded and do the opposite.