14.SING WITH SHAKESPEARE-8

14.SING WITH SHAKESPEARE-8

Three famous portraits of Shakespeare.By Brice Stratford (Own Work} via Wikimedia commons.

Shakespeare the poet


Shakespeare is mainly regarded as a dramatist. That means his plays are in the form of dialogues between characters, and at times soliloquies. However, most of his plays are in the form of poetry! Simply on the basis of the quality of his poetry, Shakespeare ranks as the greatest English poet.

His language as a poet is a very effective tool to convey ideas. More than that, he used the occasion of the incidents  in the play (story) to convey higher truths which go beyond the story. And these truths have a universal bearing, going beyond the characters in the play. It is this universal quality which endears Shakespeare to all of us. It is Uncle Shakespeare speaking those words, not an English dramatist of the 17th Century.

Each of his plays contains many lines worth memorising. We can pick memorable words from almost any page.  Many compilations of quotations from his works have appeared; though good in themselves, none has done full justice to the genius of Shakespeare. They are all fine scholars and lovers of poetry who made those compilations, but we need not go by their choice and tastes. As we go through his works and start underlining or highlighting the words and verses that appeal to us, we will make a personalised collection, and will realise how huge it turns out to be! 

School of life

Life in society affords opportunities for display of contrary and conflicting emotions. We are as easily provoked as pleased. Neighbours are not necessarily friends, nor are members of the same family  all overflowing with the milk of kindness . Brothers become estranged, and strangers close.
As Shailendra once wrote:

दिल की ज़ुबाँ अपनी है, दिल की नज़र भी अपनी
Dil ki zuban apni hai, dil ki nazar bhi apni
पलभर में अनजाने से पहचान भी हो जाए
Palbhar mein anjaane se pahchaan bhi ho jaaye
पहचान दो घड़ी की, बन प्यार मुस्कुराए
Pahchaan do ghadi ki, ban pyar muskuraaye
दो दिन की ज़िंदगी रंग लाए
Do din ki zindagi rang laaye
एक आए, एक जाए मुसाफ़िर, दुनिया एक सराए रे
Ek aaye, ek jaaye musafir, duniya ek saraye re
एक आए, एक जाए मुसाफ़िर
Ek aaye, ek jaaye musafir.

If we speak the language of the heart,  if we see with the eyes of the heart,
In a trice a stranger may become well acquainted; 
Two minutes' association may make us smile in love!
Even a short life may be colourful.
One comes, one goes, this world is like a travellers' hut!
One comes, one goes!

Society is the real school where we learn human virtues and values. Scriptures may tell us to love our neighbours or enemies, to turn the other cheek, to bless those who persecute us. It is easy to recite these verses in a temple or church. But we have to practise them on the street!

Many noble virtues

 We know mercy, kindness and forgiveness are  moral virtues advocated by saints and holy persons. Life in society provides the context for the cultivation and display of these virtues.Shakespeare writes about them in many places. In Hamlet, his hesitation to take revenge on his father's killers makes him even  consider suicide ! He contemplates whether it would not be better to suffer than to inflict suffering:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them

In Macbeth, we have Lady Macbeth  fanning his ambitions, but chiding him for his hesitation to kill, because he is too full of kindness:

Lady Macbeth:

Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be
What thou art promis'd. Yet do I fear thy nature,
It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way.

The Merchant of Venice

We have one of the most loved passages in The Merchant of Venice where Portia, in the guise of a young lawyer tells Shylock about mercy:

The quality of mercy is not strained;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
‘T is mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown:
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice.

Therefore, Jew, 
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence ‘gainst the merchant there.



Trial Scene. www.shakespeare-online.com. Accessed: 17 April 2017
"Mercy is above this sceptred sway"

"mercy seasons justice"

Oh, what immortal lines these!

Justice v mercy

It is the very essence of Christ's teaching that Portia is touching here, For, in the so called Lord's Prayer, the prayer that Christ himself taught to his disciples, he said:

Forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive them that trespass against us.

We cannot expect mercy from God unless we show mercy to others. Hence our salvation lies in mercy, not justice.

For us of the Hindu persuasion, law of Karma ie justice is considered inexorable. We pray for mercy and forgiveness against the rigours of Karma. Buddhists believe that  Lord Buddha has forsaken his own Nirvana in order to help humanity, to the last man.

In this background, we can appreciate that Portia is here expounding a moral principle, and a spiritual quality, and not mere civic goodness.

As You Like It
There are occasions for us to show kindness, short of mercy, though the difference only seems to be one of degree! In "As You Like It " we have  Oliver recounting the kindness of his brother Orlando, from whom he was estranged.

A lioness, with udders all drawn dry,

Lay couching, head on ground, with catlike watch

When that the sleeping man should stir—for ’tis

The royal disposition of that beast

To prey on nothing that doth seem as dead.

This seen, Orlando did approach the man

And found it was his brother, his elder brother.

ROSALIND
But to Orlando: did he leave him there,
Food to the suck'd and hungry lioness?


OLIVER
Twice did he turn his back and purposed so;
But kindness, nobler ever than revenge,
And nature, stronger than his just occasion,
Made him give battle to the lioness,
Who quickly fell before him: in which hurtling
From miserable slumber I awaked.







 from: turtledove.wikia.com Accessed: 17 April 2017

What a beautiful verse we have here !
"Kindness nobler ever than revenge" ! 
This reminds us directly of the Tirukkural:
இன்னா செய்தாரை ஒறுத்தல் அவர்நாண
 நன்னயம் செய்து விடல்.      314

How does a man punish them that have wronged him? Let him do them a good turn and make them ashamed in their hearts. 
As Buddha said, hatred does not cease by hatred; it only ceases by love.


Measure for Measure
We have this short and sweet passage from this play:


No ceremony that to great ones 'longs,
Nor the king's crown, nor the deputed sword,
The marshal's truncheon,nor the judge's robe,
Become them with one half so good a grace
As mercy does.
Thus we see that though Shakespeare is not a moral philosopher, he does not desist from upholding and advocating age-old moral precepts which have guided humanity, and which have universal validity.