This weekend of events commemorating the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death is drawing to a close. There are 37 plays in the Complete Works of Shakespeare. Can you name them all? If so, how do you remember them? If not, and you would like some suggestions, my mnemonics are given below. [Digressions appear in square… Continue reading Shakespeare Mnemonics
[There are over 700 words in this piece, and links to 10,000 words elsewhere.] So, how to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death? At Shakespeare’s Globe this weekend there are filmed excerpts of all the plays: “The Complete Walk: 37 Plays, 37 Films, 37 Screens, A free, celebratory journey through Shakespeare’s plays”. That’s what… Continue reading 10,000 words about Shakespeare
Iamb: it’s a “metrical foot”. This is nothing to do with imperial measurements involving distance, it’s about meter in poems, or how syllables are used in a line of poetry. An iamb is a 2-syllable “metrical foot”, a short or unstressed syllable followed by a long or stressed syllable: da-DUM. Examples include the words “remark”… Continue reading Word of the week: iamb
Yesterday morning, just after 7am, I finished reading “The Tempest”, Shakespeare’s last play. These days I get up early if I can. If I get to bed before 10.30pm (which was unthinkable until about five years ago) I generally get up before 6am the next day. If I could control my sleep cycle (which would… Continue reading On reading every Shakespeare play
The Compartments 