Saturday, June 05, 2010

I picked up a copy of Palgrave's famous poetry anthology The Golden Treasury the other week from a local charity shop. It's in brilliant condition too, well it was before I started dog-earing the poems I like! So I'm reading my way through it and pleasantly enjoying Shakespeare's poems in particular, whom I never read enough of. I love this song from The Tempest which is of course an important reference point for Plath -

Full fathom five thy father lies:
of his bones are coral made;
those are pearls that were his eyes:
nothing of him that doth fade,
but doth suffer a sea-change
into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
hark! now I hear them, -
ding, dong, bell.

But even better than reading it is hearing it sung, so gorgeously -

11 comments:

deemikay said...

That is my joint favourite piece of Shakespeare! (My other joint favourite is also from The Tempest - Caliban's song.)

deemikay said...

And there's a bit of The Waste Land in there as well... everyone's in good company. :)

Dick said...

Having always heard this poem in my head as a sort of shanty, this offers a delightful alternative.

Marion McCready said...

David, I'm ashamed to say I've never actually read The Tempest :O

hi Dick, it is lovely isn't it!

Titus said...

Marion, just been teaching this to the boys!
I love "The Tempest", and was lucky enough to have it as a set text at "O" level, so it's been with me for a long, long time.
Perfect lines that once heard will never leave you.

Anonymous said...

The Tempest is a favourite Shakespeare play with me. I loved the Peter Greenaway film Prospero's Books, which was based on it, and had music by Michael Nyman. His version of 'full fathom five' gives me goosebumps.

Marion McCready said...

titus, I think they are perfect lines too.

hi colin, I'll have a look out for the film. now to look out my big, fat complete Shakespeare that's well awkward to read from!

deemikay said...

I recommend you get a version of it on its own! That was the only way I could. Much easier to read than big, bulky two-columned things.

Alternatively, there is (was) an stop-motion animated version on youtube in about 4 parts. Not all the text, but enough. (I'm currently at work where we can't get youtube... so I can't link. Boo!)

Marion McCready said...

naughty naughty blogging at work!! ;) the youtube version sounds fun!

Roxana said...

i think i can imagine you writing that song :-)

Marion McCready said...

lol yes, it's very much my themes isn't it!