- Title Pages
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgements
- A Note on References
- Introduction
-
1 Textual Shakespeare -
2 Shakespeare and Poetry -
3 Shakespeare and The Novel -
4 Shakespeare and Translation -
5 Shakespeare Anthologized -
6 Shakespeare and Biography -
7 Shakespeare and Early Modern Music -
8 Shakespeare and Opera -
9 Shakespeare and Classical Music -
10 Shakespeare and Musical Theatre -
11 Shakespeare, Ballet and Dance -
12 Shakespeare and Popular Music -
13 Shakespeare and Drama -
14 Shakespeare and The Renaissance Stage -
15 Shakespeare and The Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Stage -
16 Shakespeare and The Victorian Stage -
17 Shakespeare and The Modern Stage -
18 Shakespeare and Contemporary Performance Spaces -
19 Shakespeare for Children -
20 Shakespeare and Teenagers -
21 Shakespeare and The Comic Book -
22 Shakespeare, Portraiture, Painting and Prints -
23 Shakespeare, Sculpture and The Material Arts -
24 Shakespeare Exhibition and Festival Culture -
25 Shakespeare and Silent Film -
26 Shakespeare on Film, 1930–90 -
27 Shakespeare on Film, 1990–2010 -
28 Shakespeare on Television -
29 Shakespeare and Radio -
30 Shakespeare on The Internet and in Digital Media - Notes on Contributors
- Index
Shakespeare and Poetry
Shakespeare and Poetry
- Chapter:
- (p.37) 2 Shakespeare and Poetry
- Source:
- The Edinburgh Companion to Shakespeare and the Arts
- Author(s):
Peter Holbrook
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
This chapter argues that the various typologies of poetry in Shakespeare are often, surprisingly, treated satirically: poetry is linked to fantasy, to dubious claims and to an alienation from ‘reality’. Shakespeare's significance for poetry may amount to an intuition that there are more important things in life than the right words in the right order. Moreover, it reviews some of the ways in which Shakespeare is understood in the critical tradition in order to make it clear why Thom Gunn, of all modern poets, has one of the strongest claims to Shakespeare's inheritance. Gunn's conscious engagement with Shakespearean writing is evident in the pattern of allusions across his oeuvre. His poetry derives its considerable wit and power from the combination of control and openness — ‘Rule’ and ‘Energy’ — that is also found in Shakespeare. Additionally, his fusion of energy with order is the true Shakespearean inheritance.
Keywords: poetry, Shakespeare, Thom Gunn, Rule, Energy, Shakespearean inheritance
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- Title Pages
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgements
- A Note on References
- Introduction
-
1 Textual Shakespeare -
2 Shakespeare and Poetry -
3 Shakespeare and The Novel -
4 Shakespeare and Translation -
5 Shakespeare Anthologized -
6 Shakespeare and Biography -
7 Shakespeare and Early Modern Music -
8 Shakespeare and Opera -
9 Shakespeare and Classical Music -
10 Shakespeare and Musical Theatre -
11 Shakespeare, Ballet and Dance -
12 Shakespeare and Popular Music -
13 Shakespeare and Drama -
14 Shakespeare and The Renaissance Stage -
15 Shakespeare and The Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Stage -
16 Shakespeare and The Victorian Stage -
17 Shakespeare and The Modern Stage -
18 Shakespeare and Contemporary Performance Spaces -
19 Shakespeare for Children -
20 Shakespeare and Teenagers -
21 Shakespeare and The Comic Book -
22 Shakespeare, Portraiture, Painting and Prints -
23 Shakespeare, Sculpture and The Material Arts -
24 Shakespeare Exhibition and Festival Culture -
25 Shakespeare and Silent Film -
26 Shakespeare on Film, 1930–90 -
27 Shakespeare on Film, 1990–2010 -
28 Shakespeare on Television -
29 Shakespeare and Radio -
30 Shakespeare on The Internet and in Digital Media - Notes on Contributors
- Index
