Reading Shakespeare: Venus and Adonis

It's the last day of January, so I wanted to squeeze in one more Shakespeare read before I move onto Venice in February hosted by Snow Feathers and Dolce Bellezza. I slogged my way through "Venus and Adonis." Maybe I should have read it aloud, maybe than I would have been more entranced by it's beauty, but as it is I just wanted to yell at Venus to move on. Venus, the goddess of love, sees Adonis and is smitten. He is apparently above all other men, even though he's actually little more than a boy. She drags him from his horse and wants to smother him with kisses and carreses, even though he's not interested. His horse runs off and he's upset. .............."For shame," he cries, "let go, and let me go; ..............My day's delight is past, my horse is gone, ..............And 'tis your fault I am bereft him so: ..............I pray you hence, and leave me here alone; ..............For all my mind, my thought, my...
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Reading Shakespeare: Sonnet 130

Sonnet CXXX by William Shakespeare My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red, than her lips red: If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damasked, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound: I grant I never saw a goddess go, My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: And yet by heaven, I think my love as rare, As any she belied with false compare. Ah, I like this one. The speaker manages to make fun of traditional comparisons by stating that no, in fact, his beloved's eyes are not like the sun, her skin is as white as snow, her hair is black, her lips are not as red as coral....
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Reading Shakespeare: Sonnet 29

Sonnet XXIX by William Shakespeare When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself, and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featured like him, like him with friends possessed, Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope, With what I most enjoy contented least; Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising, Haply I think on thee, and then my state, Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate; For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings. The speaker in this Sonnet is obviously upset at the beginning, an outcast who Fortune is not smiling on. We don't know why he's in disgrace, and we really can't just assume the speaker is Shakespeare himself. The disgrace, real or imagined, may be exaggerated to make the speaker sound more gloomy and depressed, even heaven...
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Reading Shakespeare: Sonnet 18

Sonnet XVIII by William Shakespeare Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd, And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature's changing course untrimm'd: But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st, Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st, So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. This is certainly one of  Shakespeare's most famous sonnets, justifiably so. The first line of the poem tells us what it will be about, comparing the young man to a summer day, but immediately the poet realizes that the comparison will be inadequate,...
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Review: Sweethearts of Rhythm by Marilyn Nelson

(Suggested reading level: Grade 4 and up) Sweetheart of Rhythm by Marilyn Nelson had such potential, but I just can't bring myself to say I loved it. The subject matter is fantastic - the first integrated all women band in America. The Sweethearts of Rhythm played jazz and swing nationwide during the 1940s and were some of the best female musicians of the day. Not only does the book tell the story of the women, it explores the historical backdrop, from Jim Crow laws and segregation to the effects of the war. The writing style is perfect. The story is told through series of poems, each with the title of a song from that era. The rhythmic nature of the poetry fits with the topic and they simply beg to be read aloud. The illustrations, done by Jerry Pinkney, evoke the era and enhance the story dramatically. The images of the harsh lives people led, contrasted with the jeweled toned music really made me...
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Sharing a poem

April Rain Song  by Langston Hughes Let the rain kiss you Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops Let the rain sing you a lullaby The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk The rain makes running pools in the gutter The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night And I love the rain....
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