Double murderers,
every crime imaginable
men eaten with remorse
prisoners of their own misdeeds
without hope of redemption
or forgiveness,
locked in a circle
of punishment without pardon,
until Shakespeare entered like thin air through the ether
of the State Correction Home,
and got the inmates to change their
clothes, little did they suspect,
the storm about to break,
as Prospero and cast
came to life inside the prison walls;
and forgotten men grown old within
their prime, were touched,
by words that stretched
through four hundred years......
of time and space,
and woke them from despair
of not knowing,
not knowing if forgiveness
had forsaken them…..
not knowing where it would dawn.
For no officials of redemption,
or correction,
Knew just what to say
to men in another world
but not completely lost
in the darkness,
of the prisoners hell.
The Tempest raged within their breast
flooding tears,
howls of remorse
released them from the
grips of reproach,
and men grown old
in prisons loveless dungeons
wept on stage,
as though they had never known
how to weep
for a thousand years,
and found they had but themselves
to forgive
for being in the sway
of something other than
The one Self in all.
How else would William know?
how to speak to them in their cells
and tell them where,
forgiveness lies?
And thus speak them free men.
Never to return;
To the darkness.
(idea from the film Shakespeare Behind Bars)
.
The old, bald bard is still the main man! I struggle with his language at times but always find him speaking to me in relevant and powerful terms. It's always worth persevering with him, even if I take several attempts to understand him. A very moving poem.
A great poem and a great summing up of the boundless Shakespearean world. Hardly any human emotion has been left untouched by him in his tragedies, comedies, romances, historical plays and sonnets. I haven't seen the film but I have scanned through his plays and poetry. What I can think of him is that he is a universal freelancer but we, our own prisoner like a spider in the web, might see him in prison under a curse, What an irony! ! ! This is why, the Truth shines upon his fools (Shakespeare voicing himself through them, knowing his limitations as a member of the society in prison) who are the Oracles for the wisdom tormented heroic characters of his plays. Perhaps, he had the knowledge, although a few say that he was a stable keeper, lol! ! !
i really like this its really great poetry and its kind of funny and the title is cool too. a 10 from me
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
No poet like Shakespeare.........all recent one are pygmies..........good write..10+++