Happy Birthday, William Shakespeare!

He was born today, he died today. His works have made him immortal. Here are some of his most compelling words:

““Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp’d towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.””

This is from The Tempest, a play that I had to take up for Higher Literature in school, and a play that is a take on life itself. Shakespeare has been an integral part of my reading ever since I had Julius Caesar in high school; a playwright that I have returned to for comfort, direction, judgement calls, and familiarity.

1. I felt fantastic visiting the Globe this year. We spent an entire afternoon reliving his tales, the drama, the setting, the history.

2. When on my Highland trip, I caught sight of the  ‘Macbeth’ castle.

“When beggars die, there are no comets seen; the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.”

3. I was awestruck and humbled at his memorial at Westminster Abbey. Awestruck that I was there, humbled by the realisation…

Finally, I’m taking a writing course online and a part of it required the explication of a visual image; so I took it up with a scene from The Tempest! Read it if you have time 🙂

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PS: I hope you have been reading my Scotland themed posts on my other blog!