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beaulesbian · 2 years

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“Note, by the way, that all the Shakespeare and Marlowe dialogue is in iambic pentameter.” - Neil Gaiman in The Sandman episode 6 watch party. (x)

he also mentions that again when Dream and Shakespeare were talking, at the end of the 1589 scene.

(and Ferdinand Kingsley’s response: “Do you know, Neil, it took me only 15 years to realize that, which is weird considering I’m from Stratford-upon-Avon and I only speak in iambic pentameter.” lol)

also found an ask where Neil said “It's easier to hear than it is to see on the page.”

I just love these details!

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notwhatiam · 1 year

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With this amazing gift from @missroserose, plus the Shakespeare magnet poetry set I already had, I can finally achieve my goal of writing conspiracy theories in iambic pentameter.

#conspiracy theory #conspiracies #Shakespeare #word art #word magnets #magnetic poetry #poetry magnets #iambic pentameter #conspiracy theorists #conspiracy magnets #Shakespeare magnets #fridge #gift #poetry #writing

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queenofplaguerats · 10 months

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Hey I don't know who needs to hear this but PLEASE watch Inside No. 9 if you're a fan of horror, genre fiction, anthology series or just good filmmaking in general.

It's a British anthology show which radically alters the format between episodes, so each one feels more like a short film. Most episodes have some kind of plot twist and fit solidly in the mystery genre, but beyond that the show experiments a lot. It has episodes that go for horror, comedy, drama. One episode is entirely a sequel to a semi-obscure series made by the showrunners a few years earlier (Psychoville). There's an episode that is written entirely in iambic pentameter. A "live show" designed to recreate the experience of Ghostwatch with staged technical difficulties and sudden supernatural happenings.

It's honestly hard to overstate my love for the show. Some episodes can drag but it's rare to find two in a row that don't grab your attention. There are currently 8 seasons (though they're very short, the whole series totals are 49 episodes at time of writing)

If I can convince even ONE more person to watch this show I'll be happy, so please consider it. And if you have seen the show, what do you think?? What's your favorite episode??

#horror #horror movies #movies #tv #television #british tv #british telly #inside no 9 #psychoville #iambic pentameter #shakespeare #yes there are MULTIPLE episodes that play on Shakespeare stuff- the Macbeth episode is one of my favs #reece shearsmith #steve pemberton #mark gatiss #bbc

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capricorn-0mnikorn · 9 months

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"For she may strew dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds" (making a fresh argument for my 'Ophelia was murdered' interpretation of Hamlet)

Three-years-and-change ago, I wrote a post with my conspiracy theory literary interpretation that Ophelia was murdered. A couple weeks ago, I was tagged in another post about "The Tragedy of Hamlet," and that brought me back to my chosen hill to die on.

In this post, I'll focus on Gertrude herself, and on the iambic pentameter, because

A) The rhythm of English has not changed in the last 400 years, and B) We know Shakespeare himself wrote it that way on purpose.

Now, Shakespeare used iambic pentameter to direct the pacing of a scene, depending on context (I'm basing this on the work of Shakespearean actor and scholar Ben Crystal; see the link at the end to a video where he demonstrates how this works):

If an actors line was shorter than ten syllables, followed by a full line, that could tell the other actor in the scene exactly how long to pause and do some nonverbal reaction before speaking (the unspoken syllables are there, they're just silent).

If two, or more, lines add up to exactly ten syllables, that could tell the actors to pick up the pace, and answer without pausing

If each line is less than ten syllables, but more than ten when added together, Tell the actors to speak over each other / "step on each other's lines.

And Shakespeare uses all three variations in Act 4, scene Five.

In dialog lines of irregular length, I'll indicate silent syllables with "-_" for each iamb, and I'll underline the when the overlapping syllables blend to make a clean line of iambic pentameter. Then I'll write out the shared & overlapping dialog as though they were lines of verse, showing the stressed syllables in bold.

I hope that's clear (or will quickly become so).

First: Act 4, scene Five (MIT.edu) opens in the middle of things, with a Walk-and-Talk that would make Aaron Sorkin proud:

QUEEN GERTRUDE: I will not speak with her. -_ -_ HORATIO and Gentleman: [Insert astonished blinking man GIF here] Gentleman: She is importunate, indeed distract: Her mood will needs be pitied. QUEEN GERTRUDE: What would she have?

Her moods will needs be pit- What would she have?

Okay, so hearing that Ophelia is "acting up" certainly got the queen's attention, eh? She doesn't even wait for Gentleman to finish the last word of his line (Also: she's being told that a teenage girl is really upset that her dad's dead. And Gertrude's response is to snap: "What does she want?" Really?! Yikes).

The unnamed Gentleman goes on to describe how Ophelia is speaking of her dead father and vaguely alluding to conspiracies, that her speech is basically word salad, but her "winks and nods" give the impression that she's speaking in code.

Gentleman: [concluding] Indeed would make one think there might be thought, Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily. HORATIO: 'Twere good she were spoken with; for she may strew Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds.

Though nothing sure, yet much unhapi-'Twere Good she were spoken with; for she may strew Dange-rous conjectures in ill-breeding minds.

Finally, Gertrude says: "-_ -_ -_ Let her come in."

Horatio and the Gentleman are talking over each other, in their efforts to sway the queen. I get the feeling this attempt has been going on for some time; it may have started with: "She's really sad about her father. she could use some support in dealing with grief.." But the argument that finally sways Gertrude is: "She's a potential threat to Claudius's Power."

Shakespeare wrote the line about the threat she posed in a completely different meter. Instead of giving that line a scansion of: "de-dum, de-dum, de-dum, de-dum, de-dum," he's given it the rhythm of "Dum-de-de, dum-de-de, dum-de-de, dum," which makes it stand out from the rest of the scene. That's another red underline Shakespeare is giving us.

The longish pause could have come at the end of her line, but I think it makes more sense to have her hesitate before agreeing to see Ophelia.

Exit Horatio to go fetch her. Then:

To my sick soul, as sin’s true nature is, Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss: So full of artless jealousy is guilt, It spills itself in fearing to be spilt.

As I noted in my previous post, these are two rhyming couplets -- the only "plain dialog" in the scene that rhymes (other than Ophelia's songs, but they rhyme because that's what song lyrics do), and not even in Shakespeare's usual way of rhyming alternate lines.

Now what, pray tell, could the queen be feeling so guilty about (that she absolutely, positively, does not want Ophelia to find out)?

That Ophelia's father died because of something she had asked him to do? Quite possibly. But Ophelia already knows her father has died, and the queen expressing regret about it would not likely make the queen appear guilty.

Maybe Ophelia doesn't know, however, that her father was in the queen's chamber when he was killed, and the queen is afraid Ophelia would get the wrong idea. But whatever sin Gertrude is trying to hide, it's probably not that she's cheating on Claudius with Polonius so soon after the wedding (unless that's exactly it. I doubt it, though. Polonius is basically a walking-talking plot point).

At first, I thought she felt guilty about the fact that her own son (and Ophelia's boyfriend) was the murderer, and that's the secret she doesn't want Ophelia to find out. That's reasonable. That's what any halfway decent person would worry about, to protect the heart and mind of a young woman that's almost family.

But then, between Ophelia's first confrontation with the queen and her "Flower Speech," Leartes breeches Elsinore's defenses, and leads a raging mob (those ill-breeding minds in which dangerous conjectures have already been planted) to the doors just beyond Stage Left, and:

Leartes: Where is my father? Claudius: Dead. Gertrude: But not by him.

Where is my father? Dead. But not by him.

I said it in my earlier post, and I'll say it again, here: Gertrude literally does not skip a beat to defend Claudius, even when that puts her own son at risk. Doesn't stop to think about it, even for a breath.

If Queen Gertrude didn't hesitate to risk Hamlet's life. I doubt she'd be overly worried about risking Ophelia's opinion's of his character (especially since appeals to speak to her at all didn't sway her until Horatio mentioned Ophelia' threat to civil order). And yet, Shakespeare very deliberately underlined and circled the point that Gertrude is holding a deep secret guilt, and that she's afraid to speak to Ophelia, lest she let something slip.

(Also, when going back to the scene, to check something, I noticed something my mind skipped over, before: The Danish Rabble promise Leartes not to let anyone come in while he's in the room negotiating with Claudius. And yet, they're heard off-stage saying: "Let her come in" just as Ophelia reenters to give her "Flower Speech" while her brother is there. So while Leartes has been in France, Ophelia has clearly been gaining the respect of the Common Folk in the meantime. Which, to my mind, suggests this "madness" has been going on for a while, and is not a sudden reaction to deliberate or accidental poisoning. Which further suggests to me that she is simply better at "Putting on an antic disposition" than Hamlet is.)

So, all that is why Queen Gertrude started to appear very suspicious in regards to Ophelia's death.

But what's the secret Gertrude is so afraid Ophelia will find out? I think :

Claudius's legitimacy to the Danish Throne depends on the courtiers and common people Believing that he and Gertrude agreed to wed after consoling each other in their shared grief over losing a darling husband and beloved brother.

Queen Gertrude had done a "Lady Macbeth," and it was actually her idea for her first husband to have a final, forever, nap in the royal garden.

She's afraid Ophelia will figure that out. After the coded language of the Flower Speech, I think she's worried that Ophelia has already figured it out, and so gives her a little shove into the river, before she can spread that idea any further.

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*Starting here, in a 2014 presentation on Shakespeare's use of language (celebrating Willy Shakes's 450th birthday), Shakespearean actor and scholar Ben Crystal demonstrates how Iambic Pentameter shows us how Shakespeare wanted the dialog to be paced in The Tragedy of Macbeth (sorry, not sorry, not superstitious). A bit later, he and his acting friends demonstrate overlapping iambic pentameter when Hamlet and Leartes fight at Ophelia's grave.

#Hamlet #macbeth #Ben Crystal #'It's just an idea. But I do like it'#iambic pentameter #justice for Ophelia #long post #bold text #underlined text #large text

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moomoocowmaid · 4 months

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Idc how many English courses or poetry units I’ve been through, what in the actual hell is Iambic Pentameter? What rhythm?! And how are you stressing it out?!

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env0writes · 2 months

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A Feud to Carry Vol. 2, 2.7.24

“Saint Peter's Post”

I rise before the waking morning sun With blearied eyes and work yet to be done No sound, save silence breaks this silvered night A sleeping world before first golden light Await the day at gates to judge entry Less pearl on paint to pass as these gentry To work! To work! On towers we build high How burdensome with soaking boots and lye No warmth of love from sun that’s overcast How long in this am I supposed to last? When nature keeps is budding bloom asleep No frost, but chill is all winter may keep I am the eyes that guide them on their way Beyond the gates, where profits surely lay

@env0writes C.Buck

Ko-Fi & Venmo: @Zenv0

Support Your Local Artist!

Photo by @mynamemeanscloud

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thearcanecat · 29 days

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Webby's Promise - A Hatchetfield Villanelle

The Queen in White spins her fragile, new Web

The Witchwood contains an old magic spell

Woven through the trees lies spider's silk thread

Whispers from the tree-people, lives long dead

To sing songs to prophets whose dreams they quell

The Queen in White spins her fragile, new Web

Townsfolk are filled with a deep fear and dread

Called to worship by the clanging of bells

Woven through the trees lies spider's silk thread

Though time has past, the soil is still stained red

Fueled by the poor souls the town had to sell

The Queen in White spins her fragile, new Web

Soft moss on which weary seers lay their head

Creatures hide in caves, a safe place to dwell

Woven through the trees lies spider's silk thread

Seep into the ground where blood has been bled

Stand, protector, over the gates to hell

The Queen in White spins her fragile, new Web

Woven through the trees lies spider's silk thread

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betweenthetimeandsound · 9 months

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An abandoned gift

--inspired by @lily-of-elysium!

My best friend is the moon, naked and pure, watching down on a worshipper of light. Its milky flax remains the only cure to sleepless days, and the tormented night. But it only recognizes my face because I squint towards another world--not one of pink plum blossoms and endless grace, but with its sins tied like a mangled knot. The screen opens itself up, but I go blind, to immerse in so much, too much knowledge, obscures me from the salvage I could find, if I surrender myself to the ledge. The moon is my purest friend, still so quaint, as I search the world for a worthy saint. --Elda Mengisto

--art by Shiori Matsuura, found on @thekimonogallery

#poetry #my poetry #poets on tumblr #poetry on tumblr #writers on tumblr #full moon #full moon poetry #existential #computer #nighttime #sonnet #iambic pentameter #poeticstories #writerscreed

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perfected-grace · 2 months

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What makes a house a home?

What makes a chair a throne?

Why do dogs love bones?

Why do broken women end up alone?

Why does some pain leave scars?

How is the sun a burning star?

Why do the heartbroken end up at bars?

Why are women from Jupiter and men from Mars?

Why does death come in twos?

When presented with 2 options, why choose?

What becomes of a singer who only sings the blues?

Why must you never buy your lover shoes?

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How is it that when love evades me, my fail safe reacts

How am I confidently able to tell my pro tem soulmate that I am never coming back

How can the grass look so green on the other side that it oozes money

Why do the jokes about me ruining my life if I leave actually sound funny

Why are my kids depending on my happiness when I don't have any left

Can someone help me find my worth and self respect

Is it a question without a question mark

Are you really twin flames when there never was a spark

Are you just terrible at matters of the heart

Do you specialize in scribbling lines and call it art

-

When love lays me on the ass here comes a helping hand?

The other end of a man who says he understands?

Sells me the dream that he will wipe my tears away?

Holds me up and holds me down so that I would want to stray?

I stand up and grab the hand ready to experience what I never knew?

I always end up biting off more than I can chew?

What is the difference between fire and the flame if they are the same hue?

Here comes the next guy right on cue?

What's the difference between a question and a statement?

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mortimermcmirestinks · 6 days

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I AM PRETTY SURE THAT YOU'RE THE ONE THAT CONTRIBUTED THE SHAKESPEARE TRANSLATION OF THE POST ABOUT HOW VAMPIRES DRINKING BLOOD IS NASTY AND PEPSI IS CHEAP BUT NOT CHEAP UNLESS IT'S AT THE HOSPITAL AND BLOOD CAN BE STOLEN AND FEMBOYS AND MANGOS WERE INVOLVED AT SOME POINT WAS THAT YOU AND DO YOU KNOW WHERE THAT POST IS NOW

I got a link for you, my friendly pal you ask me to provide a link, I shall

#iambic pentameter

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yesterdays-xkcd · 9 months

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Of course, you don't wanna limit yourself to the strict forms of the meter. That could get pretty difficult.

Iambic Pentameter [Explained]

#xkcd #xkcd 79 #iambic pentameter #2000s #2006 #my hobby #meter

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allergictocolor · 2 months

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Here's Act III of A Story of More Woe: Civil Blood Makes Civil Hands Unclean.

The wedding has happened, but will Wednesday get to enjoy her wedding night? Our Magic 8-Ball (which hasn't been invented yet), says "Don’t count on it." This is the mid-point of the play, and it is testing Wednesday's patience.

#wednesday #wednesday addams #wednesday x tyler #tyler x wednesday #wednesday netflix #tyler galpin #weyler #weyler fic #weyler fan fic #weyler fanfiction #wyler #wyler fanfic #wyler fanfiction #romeo and juliet #romeo and juliet au #a story of more woe #shakespeare au #iambic pentameter #author is a tyler galpin apologist

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britneyshakespeare · 5 months

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His virtue was the brainstorm of a dreamer!

He died a fool. And may his fall pull down

his friend and all his century! We shall see

how they get on without me. For one evening,

the world belongs to me still. [...]

King Philip II of Spain, Don Carlos by Friedrich Schiller, Act V scene ii. Translation by Robert David MacDonald.

#this play is really just so magnificent. might be one of my favorite things ive ever read...#schiller did not fuck around with his european history plays #philip is an extraordinary villain. so compelling #posa was an excellent martyr #carlos is a wonderfully incompetent doomed protagonist #im obsesseddddd #schiller #friedrich schiller #german literature #philip ii of spain #don carlos #poetry #iambic pentameter #blank verse #verse plays #robert david macdonald

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melians-favorite-housecat · 4 months

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The aging year is hobbling to its close;

October limps through piles of crumbling leaves

To scrape a trail November hauls itself

Along, dragging December at its heels--

Already in an icy coffin sealed,

Its destination one more gaping hole

Beside the others in the Field of Past,

That Potter's Field where each and every year,

In row on row, eight thousand at a glance,

Lies crumbling in its tomb, being erased

From mem'ry through nepenthe mixed by Time--

This aging year, with all its trials and grief,

Itself will soon begin to fade and dim,

Its pain to dull; worn, blunted by the grind

Of year on year--by distance rendered mild;

The new year peeks triumphant o'er the hill,

As bright and hopeful as the rising sun.

The only thing that can keep us going is hope; hope that things will get better, that we will make it out. If we let go of hope we have nothing left but a blank, empty existence--and I for one refuse to settle for that :) To anyone who finds this, Happy and hopeful New Year!! Don't give up!!! Or I'll come find you and dunk your head in hope juice until you believe in tomorrow again!!!! :D

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deveril · 3 months

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At what point are life’s lessons finally  Learned, when each time one has loved, one has lost?  When does the miserable heart’s folly  At last awaken one to failure’s cost?

A lifetime that’s spent hopefully grasping  For dreamed-of fulfillment will go awry;  And this continual wretched gasping  For the rarified air of love is why,

Inexorably, the unloved soul dies.  In this world of suffering there are no  Ideals, no destiny to synchronize  Our lives, no soulmate fated for us, so

Eventually the truth is revealed:  Love, for some hearts, remains a barren field.

— deveril

#poem #original poetry #english sonnet #iambic pentameter #love poem

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env0writes · 3 months

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Janus Estuaries Vol. 3, 1.16.24 “Beat Upon My Breast"

Devour me oh, love of life pursued When longing life to have and use When sword is sold for metal made to wed Like shackles that will bind me to my bed Should such a maw as love consume Let it be -ated and the life resume What sweet succored, suckered pain Do we depose to seek love plain Blind fools we are, oh lovers, we With visions true, eyes do oft flee With lovers hand and killers word No pleading bargains shall be heard Oh, night, beneath thy chaliced moon Grant gentle love so great to bring to ruin With tooth and nail and bone and blood and life From lovers anguish cease such aching strife

@env0writes C.Buck Ko-Fi & Venmo: @Zenv0 Support Your Local Artist! Photo by @env0

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