What Fools These Mortals Be!

A shout out to Shakespeare.

"This was the winter of our discontent"

as we froze one another out of the equation,

poured cold water over the warmth we shared

and spoke in frosted tones with a razor's edge.

 

"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind",

but for us our eyes and our ears and minds

were long closed to the overture sounds of passion,

as we plunged so far from affection's gentle grace.

 

"The course of true love never did run smooth",

and for us the rocks were jagged and fierce,

and as we fell we were impaled through hearts

that long ago gave up their hope to grief.

 

18/07/19

Author's Note

Reviews

[barleygirl]

Since I live in Steinbeck country, your first line got me started off kicking any Shakespearean thought to the curb. This is a thoughtful work of art. I love the quotes you pick & how you expand on the ideas, as well as drawing parallels between them. This would adequately describe my lifelong feeble attempts at a love life! *wink! wink!!!* Fondly, Margie

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Ah you and I experience the same Margie. Many thanks for such a considered review.

[alanwgraham]

That has worked well John taking the three quotes as the inspiration for the three verses. You've made a good job of interpreting and expanding on each. Perhaps in your last verse there could be a few words omitted e.g. 'as we fell impaled though hearts' but a minor suggestion.
I like it!
Cheers
Alan

[John Alexander McFadyen]

thank you Alan for such a considered review. Will look at your suggestion.

[Pryde Foltz]

A poignant classically inspired write. I have hung out on those rocks a time or two. Exciting but painful.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Indeed so Pryde exciting and painful. many thank yous.

[DAH]

This is one of those writes that I relate to on a level of experience.
Beautifully composed and presented.

Broken love is never pretty, and you make this crystal clear:
"as we froze one another out of the equation,
poured cold water over the warmth we shared"

Excellent, poet, simply excellent!
DAH

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thank you DAH, I have Shakespeare to thank for this one lol!

[DAH]

My pleasure!

[NotUsinganymore]

Very nice poem about death and love. I enjoyed it. c:

[Chris Shaw]

Wounds inflicted and painful ones in a winter of discontent. Such damage the reader wonders whether once it goes this far there is any chance of survival. I swear I heard the vultures as I read your lines. Excellent portrayal of a savage end to love. Good morning John.

Chris

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Morning Chris. I blame Shakespeare! Many thanks.

[Chris Shaw]

Yes, he had a way with words :))

[Eilis]

I like how your collection of verses kind of flesh out the Shakespeare quotes. I’m trying to teach my kids to read Shakespeare and understand it, and it’s always a bit of a challenge. Like a different language when your mind isn’t tuned to it, but I love the idea of taking a line and poetically expanding on it.

There is so much tragedy to be had when we’re speaking of love in his plays that your expansions on the ideas seem quite apt. The pained or loveless relationship that weighs heavy. There’s a real sense of being trapped in a coldness with no promise of an exit towards warmth.

Cool verses, John. I like this approach.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Ambitious to try to get kids to 'get' Shakespeare as it is quite a challenge to most, but if they can it is a head start. This was an impulsive and experimental piece, many thanks Eilis.

[gram linski]

loved this, dude, nae witty banter, f**k all, just a great read, *out damn spot, out*, and tell yon c**t fae Denmark to f**k right off

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Oh I wish gram, there's a few more I wid tell ta f**k rite off! Just about to watch 'Wee Man' again. Paul Ferris was my brother's best mate at school! Cheers dude!

[Carol Cashes]

I admire you writers who can fill in so much detail in so little words. Clear, concise, compact...the perfect short story and a very tragic love story. Well done.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thank you very much Carol.

[Chris Shaw]

My, these lines are full of frost. That was some winter of discontent John.
Hope the climate is better these days. Good use of metaphor.

Chris

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Ah I blame Shakespeare for inserting those lines for me to use. Many thanks Chris.

[Chris Shaw]

He has much to answer for :)