John Donne:The Funeral

John Donne was born in 1572 and died in 1631. Donne studied at Oxford, Cambridge, and Lincoln's Inn, but he never received a degree. He began his studies at age eleven. He was appointed as Keeper of the Great Seal in 1598 and married in secret a few years later which resulted in loss of his position and a brief imprisonment when they were found out. After prison he worked as a lawyer in London until entering service in the Anglican church where he moved from position to position every so often. As a preacher, he was praised for his eloquent services and was a marvel of his time. His works had many subjects and he did some work on how suicide may not be completely sinful. He became obsessed with death as he neared his own and wrote a sermon called "Death's Duel" shortly before his death.

The Funeral

WHOEVER comes to shroud me, do not harm,
          Nor question much,
That subtle wreath of hair, which crowns my arm ;
The mystery, the sign, you must not touch ;
          For 'tis my outward soul,
Viceroy to that, which then to heaven being gone,
          Will leave this to control
And keep these limbs, her provinces, from dissolution.

For if the sinewy thread my brain lets fall
          Through every part
Can tie those parts, and make me one of all,
Those hairs which upward grew, and strength and art
          Have from a better brain,
Can better do 't ; except she meant that I
          By this should know my pain,
As prisoners then are manacled, when they're condemn'd to die.

Whate'er she meant by it, bury it with me,
          For since I am
Love's martyr, it might breed idolatry,
If into other hands these relics came.
          As 'twas humility
To afford to it all that a soul can do,
          So 'tis some bravery,
That since you would have none of me, I bury some of you. 

I enjoyed this poem. It has a somber tone, but at the same time I got the feeling he was being spiteful of the dead. I've never been good at reading into poems. I want to say he is talking about Death coming for him and he fights Death and says not to take his soul. He talks about leaving his body behind when his soul goes to Heaven and how the Earth reclaims his flesh. In the second verse, he talks about being condemned to die. I think he is referring to the feeling of Death knocking at his door. He can feel his death nearing and he compares this feeling to a death row prisoner's feelings. In the last verse, he references his own death, but ends by talking about the death of someone who slighted him or refused him in some way, but who is now dead. I feel that he is laughing at them and finds a bit of revenge in that he lived longer than that person.
www.online-literature.com/donne/
www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/funeral.php

The Codex Florentine

The Codex Florentine was a collection of twelve books written by Friar Bernardino de Sahagun and associates in the mid-1500s. It was commissioned as a collective history of the Nahua peoples before the Spanish conquered them. It was originally a collection of Nahua history told in the Nahuatl language. Bernardino translated this into Spanish, but loosely. In order to generate the greatest understanding from the Spanish readers, he sometimes summarized the text and left out sections he thought were unimportant to the concepts. To compensate, numerous illustrations (most in color) filled the first two pages of the fourth book. Bernardino went and lived with the Nahua peoples in order to generate the material for this codex. When he first arrived, he thought they were backwards and was set on 'fixing' them. The more time he spent with the Nahua, the more he grew to respect them and he constantly praised them in many of his other works on the Nahua. Bernardino is sometimes called the Father of Anthropology in the New World for his extensive research done with the Nahua during his lifetime.
codiceflorentino.tripod.com/english.htm

Hamlet:Kenneth Brannaugh

This particular Hamlet (which is what the picture below left of the posts is of) is my favorite adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Kenneth Branagh, Julie Christie, Dame Judi Dench, Kate Winslett, and Derek Jacobi are just a few who star in this film version of Hamlet. Jacobi, who plays Claudius, actually used to play Hamlet, but at the time this was made, he was too old to play the part so they gave him the part of Claudius. Branagh, who played Hamlet, was also actually too old for the part himself, but it didn't really matter. Branagh's performance was absolutely amazing. Most of the actors in this movie were either stage only actors or well-known Shakespeare/British period piece actors. This movie has the most amazing scenes and moments. There are several scenes in which you are looking out at an amazing vista. The fight scenes are realistic and the deaths were well done. The movie followed the original script for the stage version from lines to dress and places. This really is a must see for Shakespeare lovers!

Othello

I thought Othello was a very interesting play. Jealousy infected the characters like a disease and the plague ravaged them and brought death down upon them. It was customary to kill one's wife after finding out about infidelity. If Desdemona had truly been unfaithful, Othello would have been supported in his actions. I was appalled at Othello's unwillingness to listen to his wife and to trust her seeing as he did love her. I would have thought he would have given her a chance to try to explain or prove her innocence, but he never gave her a change in his jealous rage. I think it is amazing what some people will do because of jealousy. I wouldn't call it revenge, really, because nothing was really done in the first place, but that is what Othello, Roderigo, and Iago all sought. It is hard for me to understand what would motivate someone to take such elaborate actions to get back at someone for passing them over for a promotion. Roderigo didn't really come up with much of anything and just did what Iago told him to, so I can't say that this was partly fueled by the jealousy over a woman. Iago was the 'mastermind' behind all of this and all that was done to him was that he was not promoted. He wasn't even demoted or anything. People will surprise you though I suppose. Overall I thought this was a wonderful play and while the revenge plot wasn't completely thought out and not really well executed, there was a level of intelligence to it and it was enjoyable to watch it play out.

Shakespeare

Shakespeare's father, John Shakespeare, dealt in farm products and wool. He married Mary Arden, who was the daughter of a wealthy family. William Shakespeare was born in April 1564. The exact date is yet to be determined, but his christening was on the 26 of April. There were two children born before William; both succumbed to the plague before their first birthday. After William, there was a boy, Gilbert, and daughter, Joan, who lived to adulthood. Joan actually lived to be 77, which is a great feat for the time. William married Anne Hathaway and fathered three children, Susanna, and Hamnet and Judith, who were twins. Hamnet died at a young age, but the two daughters lived to adulthood. William attended grammar school for a while and then seemingly disappeared for several years before emerging as one of the greatest playwrights in history. He wrote 38 plays that are known and numerous poems.
www.shakespeare-online.com
shakespeare.mit.edu