Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Poetry Wednesday: An Excerpt from Shakespeare's 'As You Like It'.

What is Love?

Let Shakespeare talk to us of love.

I have inserted my own reading of a small passage from this play.

Click the arrow to listen.

 

PHEBE

Good shepherd, tell this youth what 'tis to love.

SILVIUS

It is to be all made of sighs and tears;
And so am I for Phebe.

PHEBE

And I for Ganymede.

ORLANDO

And I for Rosalind.

ROSALIND

And I for no woman.

SILVIUS

It is to be all made of faith and service;
And so am I for Phebe.

PHEBE

And I for Ganymede.

ORLANDO

And I for Rosalind.

ROSALIND

And I for no woman.

SILVIUS

It is to be all made of fantasy,
All made of passion and all made of wishes,
All adoration, duty, and observance,
All humbleness, all patience and impatience,
All purity, all trial, all observance;
And so am I for Phebe.

 

PHEBE

And so am I for Ganymede.

ORLANDO

ROSALIND

And so am I for no woman.

PHEBE

If this be so, why blame you me to love you?

SILVIUS

If this be so, why blame you me to love you?

ORLANDO

If this be so, why blame you me to love you?

ROSALIND

Who do you speak to, 'Why blame you me to love you?'

ORLANDO

To her that is not here, nor doth not hear.

ROSALIND

Pray you, no more of this; 'tis like the howling
of Irish wolves against the moon.

To SILVIUS

I will help you, if I can:

To PHEBE

I would love you, if I could. To-morrow meet me all together.

To PHEBE

I will marry you, if ever I marry woman, and I'll be
married to-morrow:

To ORLANDO

I will satisfy you, if ever I satisfied man, and you
shall be married to-morrow:

To SILVIUS

I will content you, if what pleases you contents
you, and you shall be married to-morrow.

To ORLANDO

As you love Rosalind, meet:

To SILVIUS

as you love Phebe, meet: and as I love no woman,
I'll meet. So fare you well: I have left you commands.

SILVIUS

I'll not fail, if I live.

PHEBE

Nor I.

ORLANDO

Nor I.

 


act 5 scene 2

 

Poetry Wednesday Tour  Start Here.


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30 comments:

  1. That was way too cool. Love that new Voki.

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  2. Wit that fits like a cheverel glove--Love it, that's the way I like it! Have Fun!

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  3. Thanks Rita I had to promote it because its actually pretty good. Hugs from Milli

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  4. Thank you Joy and I am so glad you en..joyedddd Love n hugss to you.

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  5. that is my darling sister always innovative good one, what a coincidence your sibling is conflicting with"as you like it from india" but then i have a verse to continue with that thanks for the visit

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  6. At least my understanding of Shakesspear is consistant......I still cant figure what he was prattling on about....he used a lot of words to say nothing.

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  7. Where is conflict here dear Shankar. This is in harmony to yours if you read betwixt the lines.

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  8. Thanks for the visit Mister I the Bard from the bush. Ah yes in those days they made a verse using so much more of the language. It was there to be used in total expression and at length because of the period from which it came. These days we are less tolerant of anything that lats more than three minutes because our attention span is less for many reasons. Thank you for your comment here and I always like to remember: Different Horses for different courses, therefore to each his own.

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  9. This was great fun! Wonderful to hear your gorgeous voice along with these famous words.
    Thanks Milli! I tried my own reading and testing out recording but can't seem to adjust the volume properly, you'll see. Thanks so much again.

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  10. Beautiful. Shakespeare inspires me always. His AS YOU LIKE IT is my favorite. Your Voki is Excellent and introduction of a new concept. Thanks a lot for sharing. Please see my poetry for this Wednesdayhttp://jayaramanms.multiply.com/journal/item/86 and comment.

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  11. visiting again
    i introduced voki though the voice is not mine, milli
    it was your challenge which i met in yahoo that i reproduced over here!
    a verse of Shakespeare in “as you like it” with little add ons!
    the link for the verse is
    http://shankarg.multiply.com/journal/item/53/2008-m049_-_Poetry_Wednesday_Passage-_11_March_16_30_hrs_Chennai_India

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  12. Great theme and I love the Voki...even if you'll never catch me using it (I became a writer so I wouldn't have to talk).

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  13. Actually, I watched a programme on tv, where an English literature teacher re-wrote Shakespear into our modern style language because his class couldnt grasp the concept of Will....with immediate sucess,,,,, all students passed their test that year....but the English being English, banned him from future use of this experiment........sad, hey.....

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  14. I am saddened by that decision Mister I, because to learn to love this art form ie poetry one must understand it first.. Thank you for the update..we need more forward thinking on the matter. Not to change from the original concept but to introduce the old with enthusiasm and vigour.

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  15. Thanks Kit and I appreciate your comment and your reasonings too!

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  16. I am coming over for a look see and listen Dear Shankar.

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  17. it was thoughtful of you to introduce "as u like it" over here perhaps you like it the best. thanks for visiting My poem on “searching peace” is linked below:
    http://rajarishi.multiply.com/journal/item/6/Poetry_Wednesday_-_Searching_Peace-_005

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  18. "All made of passion and all made of wishes," such is love and ohhhhh, this is like Poetry Reading in a cafe.. sooo cool!

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  19. Wonderful poem and nice to hear it read

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  20. Lovely selection and it is nice to hear a voice!
    thanks for stopping by

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  21. Milli, The voice concept is new to me. Very interesting. I had to really turn up my volumn, but I did hear the voice finally. Great choice ! Thanks, Milli.

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  22. You read so well, I felt transported to the time period ... I may have to check voki out for my readings if they don't have a set time. Thanks for sharing this.

    ... and thank you for your comments too 8=)

    http://danceinsilence.multiply.com/journal/item/172/Poetry_Wednesday_among_the_stars_and_other_places

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  23. cool and like your Limerick well done

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  24. I don't ever remember reading this one :o(. Don't know how that happened LOL.

    Very nicely done! It reads like poetry. Thanks for sharing it.

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  25. I am enjoying being transported by in time to school days and english classes with Shakespeare's(we used to say- Shake his spear :P) plays.. Love the voice and the reading. Thank you for sharing this, its been a while since I read his plays.

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  26. How neat to hear you do the reading. I had not seen that before on a blog. Well done.

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  27. Must agree with Mike, great reading, and there is only one person I ever read to, besides my sons

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  28. May I thank each and everyone one for you wonderful comments here. I do think that this particular posting was a bit like a poetry reading and sharing time. We just did not have the coffee, wine or small sherry or what ever it is you would like to partake of . Nor did we all have the pleasure of hearing all of the voices. However we did have a Cyber Cafe type effect and I guess in the not too distant future this will be a common occurance. Thanks to everyone who stopped in.

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  29. A dreamy presentation, dear! I'm sorry I'm belated this week!...
    I really enjoyed it and traveled in Shakespeare's magical world with you! Thank you!!! :)

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