Page 7 - macbeth demo

poems. The sonnets describe two love affairs, but we do not know who the lovers
were - or whether they existed only in Shakespeare’s imagination. Although there are
many public documents concerned with his career as a writer and a businessman,
Shakespeare has hidden his personal life from us. A nineteenth-century poet,
Matthew Arnold, addressed Shakespeare in a poem, and wrote ‘We ask and ask -
Thou smilest, and art still’.
Shakespeare’s language

Shakespeare’s poems are most understood and enjoyed when read aloud, by far. If
you don’t understand everything, don’t worry. Avoid letting the dominant rhythm
control you. Choose the most important words in each line, then use the standard
meter to draw the reader’s attention to them.
Early Modern English is typically difficult for readers to understand when reading
Shakespeare for the first time. Nonetheless, the complexity of this language should
contribute to our enjoyment of Shakespeare rather than acting as a barrier.
One of the first things readers usually notice about the language is the use of
pronouns. Like the King James Version of the Bible, Shakespeare’s pronouns are
slightly different from our own and can cause confusion. Words like “thou” (you),
“thee” and “ye” (objective cases of you), and “thy” and “thine” (your/yours) appear
throughout Shakespeare’s plays.

It can take you some time to adjust to these changes. The glossary column on
each page of this edition has meanings for additional words that frequently cause
confusion.

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