Whoever “Shakespeare” was, it is quite clear from the linguistic cornucopia in the plays and poetry that he must have been a living, walking encyclopaedia on the subject of Greek and Roman prosody. Nearly every play and poem attributed to “Shakespeare” has a vast number of literary and rhetorical techniques, some rare, some extremely obscure and others which would require a classical education in ...

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What is often ignored or overlooked by academics is the vast amount of occult and magical references in Shakespeare's plays and poetry to the art of astrology, alchemy and magic. Qudos Academy examines in detail the "Bard's" interest in Neo-Platonic Symbolism from the time.

https://qudosacademy.org/the-secret-alchemy-of-shakespeare/

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As part of my series "Shakespeare's She-Wolves" I am looking at the tragic but intriguing story of the life and troubling events of Mary Stuart’s life as the first and very last female monarch of Scotland.

https://qudosacademy.org/2022/04/29/the-true-lamentable-tragedy-of-mary-queen-of-scots/

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Have been preoccupied with several articles related to Shakespeare Authorship and their relevance to today's thoughts on mental health, gender stereotypes and free speech. This week I ask: "What was the prevailing attitudes to deformity by Shakespeare and his contemporaries?" Qudos Academy examines Elizabethan attitudes to physical deformity and numerous references found in Shakespeare’s plays.

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To the only begetter of this ensuing sonnet Mr P LARKIN All happiness and that eternity promised by our ever-living poet wisheth the well-wishing adventurer in setting forth

They fuck you up, your Fathers and your Mums:
Their Birthright, Dowry, Heritage, and Lot
Of Faults, with further added to their Sums,
Pass down from what they had to what they've got;
These Faults, again, they gained fr...

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​​​​​ O, this wonderful and worthy writer,

He examined life to make it brighter.

He wrote plays of comedy, tragedy and history,

Yet much of his life is quite a mystery.

He coined many words and many phrases;

And to this day his work amazes,

Whether we may weep or be made to smile,

Discovering his works is truly worthwhile.

And it seems to have been his lifelong mi...

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The following piece is a snippet from Buzzin Bards Manchester Poetry Anthology, submissions are still open at:  https://www.localgemspoetrypress.com/buzzin-bards-poetry-anthology.html

While you’re too busy being two-faced 

I’ve got one face with many layers. 

Take me at face value, or take a detour, 

reforged, like Ant Man upon my deep pores. 

Tryna get 1UP, that’s a weak score...

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It’s not love they play it’s another game

Where what matters is who can count the most

Playing duck and dive, surfers search for fame

Notching names upon digital bedposts

Their followers adore them with their likes

Each character praised as if from God

If their own petard hoists them onto spikes

Then surely, it’s the crowd that has turned odd.

Their ledger marking...

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The trees still sentinel stood

their green leaves whispering

rustling gently in the wood

in the same soft breeze

and I know some summer birds

sang in their canopy

a requiem without words

'neath the same blue sky

that through every passing year

quietly watched over me

safe within Ceredig's sphere

It has been too long a time

since our firs...

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Where art thou?

Post is the day,

With the night almost spent.

Where is my love light?

Without it, I will surely become unsteady,

And am apt to stumble in the night.

Where is my love who has taught the stars to shine,

Which have guided me on such nights as this?

Foul is the northern wind

That would snuff a candle

While it is being lit!

And what of your absence?

I...

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HAMLET FROM THE FRONT ROW

In the front row ready to watch Hamlet

I stretch out my legs contentedly

“These are the best seats and the cheapest

You can see everything from here”

Says the guy next to me

“It’s like being part of the action”

I nod politely

The ghost doesn't appear

We have to imagine him

At the back of the theatre

So we swivel our heads

Unco...

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"The better part of valor is discretion, in the which better part I have saved my life."

-Shakespeare

 Post-Romantic Bop

She avoids my eyes like there’s

Something she doesn’t want to say

I don’t know what it is

I’m not going to ask

It’s bad strategy

Either she’ll pull it up and spit it out

Or we’ll leave it like that

First it seemed incidental

Now it’s intentional ...

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While Poetry Unplugged was off schedule for a couple of weeks, I took the time to produce some experimental material for my performance on the big comeback night. As difficulty coming up with fluent end rhymes has always been my biggest restriction in writing poetry in my second language, I decided to seek help from a rhyming dictionary. It turned out to be a brilliant idea; I was excited, like...

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