Saturday, May 15, 2010

Help?

I am reciting the Hamlet Act 3 soliloquy on Monday. Should I add in my modern interpretation (also in iambic pentameter)? And, if so, please help me edit it.
Especially lines 9, 16, 20.
To be, or not to be: there’s the issue:
Is it more courageous to simply stand,
And deal with all the problems fate will bring,
Or is it better to actively defy
The troubles, ‘til we fight them to their end?
Oh, to die-- or to sleep, it’s all the same--
Just a sleep that ends every sorrow
And all distress that people each receive.
That would be something to wish and hope for.
Dying, sleeping… but with sleeping always
There comes dreaming. That’s the one catch,
For when we’ve shed our human blames and duties,
The dreams that come would be an awful worry.
That’s what makes us prolong the agony of life.
Think about it- who would choose to bear
The shame and hardship that comes with living here,
The leaders’ abuse of power, proud men’s insults,
The pain of love unreturned, useless governments,
The disrespect of superiors, and every snub
That saints must tolerate from evil people,
If it were so easy to find rest
As sleeping? Who would carry such horrible burdens,
Groaning and tiring under the weight of life,
If not for the fear of whatever is after death--
It’s unexplored terrain, and no one returns
From its place, and it makes us wonder.
That’s what compels us to deal with problems we know
Instead of changing to unfamiliar ones.
And so our minds will turn us all into cowards,
And so our natural resolve to act
Is overcast with clouds of thought and reason.
And urgent ventures are long delayed
Until they’re no longer actions at all.
Katie

2 comments:

David said...

I would always opt for the unmodified Shakespeare... but then that is what most English or Theater majors would say...

Katie said...

oh, well, I am also reciting that... this is just an optional add-on.