Imagine if you will someone who complained all week, ‘these poems have no bearing on reality,’ suddenly brought to life reading Sonnet 29; the poem inhabiting the man rather than the other way around, transforming him for a moment and quite visibly putting a spark in his soul. Or another prisoner who had never read a poem before encountering Sonnet 138, then spending the rest of the week immersed reading every poem he could get his hands on. I could tell you so many stories from the week, like the chap who turned ‘My Mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun’ into a stunning patois rewrite about his girlfriend, but then this post would go on a very long time. I have had a few emails asking why and how this came about, my honest answer is that HMP Manchester wanted something daring, and that the best literature can stand up anywhere and transform lives. I also wanted to test Shakespeare and my own Full Blood and other work in a place where any bull would simply not survive being dishonest. Also something in me just wanted to see if I had the guts to pull off such an endeavour.
138
When my love swears that she is made of truth
I do believe her, though I know she lies,
That she might think me some untutor'd youth,
Unlearned in the world's false subtleties.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best,
Simply I credit her false speaking tongue:
On both sides thus is simple truth suppress'd.
But wherefore says she not she is unjust?
And wherefore say not I that I am old?
O, love's best habit is in seeming trust,
And age in love loves not to have years told:
Therefore I lie with her and she with me,
And in our faults by lies we flatter'd be.
All Best
John
1 comment:
This is quite an achievement John. Aside of all the countless commentaries on Shakespeare's sonnets, on one level the sonnets speak for themselves. However I do think someone like yourself who reads them well and is able to drive the audience along with his understanding conveyed through the poetry is a huge bonus. It is said that most poets are terrible readers of their work though some as described above are gifted with the agility to convey poem, I am thinking of Betjeman, Ted Hughes, Tony Harrison et al.
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