The Confabulator Cafe

Tag: Shakespeare

  • Literature and History

    It was just a few years ago that I was writing non-fiction every month for school. Throughout my college experience, I was enrolled in several high-level English classes which often required study and commentary on works of literature. One of my favorite assignments was the analytical research paper.

    I enjoy arguing and a research paper is arguing in a controlled format. You make a point, and back it up with facts, anticipating criticism and opening debates. As an English student, I took a lot of literature classes, and my best arguments were on the writings of the English Renaissance.

    Shakespeare, Spenser, and Marlowe were (and are) my favorite, along with a healthy appreciation for other noteworthy works like the King James Version of the Holy Bible or the plays of Ben Johnson. For some people, these are nearly in another language, nearly incomprehensible. I find that with a little bit of study, what looks nearly incomprehensible becomes beautiful, expressive verse that cannot be matched by anything else.
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  • What Rhymes with Poetry?

    I’m too literal for poetry. I have a cautious appreciation for those who enjoy it and can do it well, but I tend to like more story-like poems like Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” or my personal favorite, the book Zombie Haiku by Ryan Mecum.

    I respect writers of poetry, even if I don’t understand half of what they’re saying. I appreciate a well-crafted sentence as much as the next writer, but when I’m writing, I focus less on the art of the words and focus more on the art of the storytelling.

    That’s not to say I haven’t written an unfortunate poem from time to time. I have taken a couple of poetry classes and produced some clever stanzas in my day, but I’ve also written a fair amount of emotional drivel.

    My best experience with poetry was probably when we were studying Shakespeare’s sonnets in my Shakespeare class in college. I found myself strangely moved by his iambic pentameter. Moved enough that I composed my own sonnet. I had thought at the time I’d write a whole series of them, and number them like he did, but I never got past that first one.

    Still, I think it’s an impressive piece of work and I had fun doing it. Not to mention, it’s about the only time I haven’t minded poetry that rhymes. I feel that rhymed poetry sounds too much like a nursery rhyme or children’s song.

    Most of my poetry is really just prose that most people would consider literature. Which is fun to do now and then, but I rarely share it when I write it. It leaves me feeling a bit exposed, for some reason.

    For me, prose is a much better medium. When I tell a story, I don’t want my words to get in the way. I want my writing to be perfectly clear so that by the time readers finish reading my story, they haven’t thought about my words once.