Shakespeare & Donne

I felt like the Olde Englishe today, sort of.

William Shakespeare
( Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments )

( Sonnet 130: My Mistress' Eyes )

( Sonnet 54: O, how much more doth beauty beauteous seem )

( The quality of mercy: Portia's speech from The Merchant of Venice )

Once more into the breach: Henry's speech at Harfleur
Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead!
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour’d rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect...

(Couldn't find the whole speech, unfortunately.) Also look for: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" , Shylock's "to bait fish withal" speech from The Merchant of Venice, and, and, and, oh, who am I kidding, I can't tell you everything, right?

John Donne

Just the one from Donne because there's a hell of a lot of Shakespeare up there anyway.
( The Ecstacy )

I couldn't find the original spelling version, "The Extasie", unfortunately. I know three verses of this by heart, though; my mother had it painted on the walls of my parents' old bedroom.

When love, with one another so
Interanimates two souls,
That abler soul which thence doth flow
Defects of loneliness controls.

To our bodies turn we then, that so
Weak men on love reveal'd may look:
Love's mysteries in souls do grow
But yet the body is his book.

So must pure lovers' souls descend
T'affections, and to faculties;
Which sense may reach and apprehend
Else a great prince in prison lies.


GREAT poem. :p such a good message, too... hehehe.

*so very amused*

http://www.savetoby.com/ is giving me mixed feelings; but it's funny, so check it out.

A Knight's Tale

Also, I need to rant about this one leetle, tiny thing.

Something I've been hearing a bit of lately is people bitching about the film A Knight's Tale: not because it's poorly acted, not because it's badly written (neither of which I personally think it is, but at least I could unserstand of you did) or any of the other problems a film may have. No, what these people have a problem with is... the style of the film, most specifically the soundtrack. And possibly some of the language and references (okay, even I thought the nike symbol was a little overdone, and I happily admit I love this movie.)

Now this. just. drives. me. nuts. If you don't know the movie, well, it's set in the Middle Ages around a series of jousing tournaments. As a consequence we have various MA bits and bobs, including heralds, formal dances, etc. So it's set in this period. But the thing about the soundtrack is it's not period music- it's not gavottes or musettes. It's... I guess Rock and Roll is the best way to describe it? Queen, Clapton, Bowie. So it's modern, or semi-modern; the costuming isn't hugely accurate either (I mean, the way Josselin was dressing in particular, it's wrong, it's not period.) Now, okay, if you totally adore period films and love historical accuracy I can understand why this annoys you- but the thing is, this isn't a period film. It's not about the Middle Ages, it's about- like most things are- people. Now of course that doesn't mean everyone should be wandering around in jeans and tshirts. But a certain amount of license is necessary.

What people seem to have a huge, huge problem with is, as I said, the soundtrack: setting thigns like the dancing scene to modern (or semi-modern) music, and having said dance be not precisely period-accurate. This gets my goat. You know why? Because when people were dancing those dances, or attending the jousting tournaments, they didn't go thinking "Now, I live in the Middle Ages. I must be sure to dance in the style of the Middle Ages to music of the Middle Ages. Absolutely nothing else must contaminate my evening." No, they went to have FUN. When they danced, what they were dancing was modern. The actual dances now, to us, seem old-fashioned and boring: but to them they were modern, often even daring or shocking. They were fashionable. What I think the director managed to do very well was capture that feeling- setting it in the Middle Ages, or close enough, but using the soundtrack especially and changing enough so that we, the audience, can have fun too, and can get an accurate sense of how the participants would have felt. If the audience is bored- and frankly, I hate Middle Age music and formal dancing is generally hideously boring onscreen- they're not getting it. I mean, they may well be able to understand that that's what it was like back then, and people thought it was fun, but there's an element of boredom- like, oh, god, yeah, the Middle Ages were so boring they thought that was fun. When it wasn't really like that at all.

So, you know, people who bitch on and On about spoon feeding and too much Queen- I hear you, and I understand where you're coming from. But I think you're missing the point: it's not about spoon-feeding, it's about feeling. It's about the audience's interaction, not about a point-perfect representation of the period. I mean, let's face it, it's not historical fiction, it's not even fiction: mostly it's fantasy, because nothing about that movie is true, okay? it's awesome, but it's fantasy. So don't get your knickers in a knot, already!