Otello And Falstaff Poem by gershon hepner

How very foolish of Otello
to suspect Desdemona,
hearin’ that unmellow fellow
Iago was condemnin’ ’er.
How much wiser was Sir John;
false, he always keeps us laughing;
honor, which that he spits upon,
matters less than sack he’s quaffing.


Shakespeare thus provided Verdi
heroes for his last two op-
eratic triumphs, making wordy
masterpieces so tip-top
that they do far more than gild
the lilies Shakespeare had provided,
since the texts Giuseppe filled
make William’s many-music-sided.

1/19/10