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"Shall I die?" is a poem which has been attributed to William Shakespeare.[1] Although the poem is included in both The Oxford Shakespeare and the Norton Shakespeare editions of Shakespeare's complete works, the attribution to Shakespeare has not been generally accepted by scholars, thus leaving the poem in the classification of Shakespeare Apocrypha.
Discovery and attribution
editThe discovery of the poem is attributed to Gary Taylor, co-editor (with Stanley Wells) of The Oxford Shakespeare.[2] Taylor found the poem transcribed in a manuscript collection known as "Rawlinson poet. MS. 160",[3] now held at the University of Oxford's Bodleian Library, in which the poem has William Shakespeare's name appended to it.[4] Although the Bodleian Library had printed catalogs of its manuscript collection in 1885 and 1969 which mentioned that the Rawlinson volume contained a poem attributed to Shakespeare, no previous scholarly interest in the poem had been recorded before.[2]
Taylor noted that the attribution of Shakespeare's name at the end of the poem appeared to be in the same handwriting as the poem's text, and that the poem began in the middle of one page and ended in the middle of another, thus seeming to rule out the possibility that the attribution to Shakespeare, or the entire poem, were later additions to the Rawlinson volume from its original compilation.[2]
Structure of the poem
editThe poem consists of nine stanzas, which are printed as ten lines each in the Oxford Shakespeare.[5] The rhyme scheme for the poem, printed in this format, is abcdecfghg[6]; however, it has been suggested that each stanza should properly be printed with eight lines each, combining the second and third lines as printed in the Oxford edition into one, and also combining the fifth and sixth lines as printed in the Oxford edition into one. This would make the rhyme scheme abcbdefe instead.[7] In either format, six lines in each stanza contain an internal rhyme.[8]
The following illustrate the alternate methods of printing the stanzas.
The first stanza in ten-line format reads as follows:
Shall I die? Shall I fly
Lovers' baits and deceits,
sorrow breeding?
Shall I tend? Shall I send?
Shall I sue, and not rue
my proceeding?
In all duty her beauty
Binds me her servant for ever.
If she scorn, I mourn,
I retire to despair, joying never.
In eight-line format, the same stanza would read as follows:
Shall I die? Shall I fly
Lovers' baits and deceits, sorrow breeding?
Shall I tend? Shall I send?
Shall I sue, and not rue my proceeding?
In all duty her beauty
Binds me her servant for ever.
If she scorn, I mourn,
I retire to despair, joying never.[9]
Vocabulary
editAmong the characteristics of the poem which have called the attribution to Shakespeare into question are the meanings applied to certain words. For example, the poem contains the following statement: "Yet I must, vent my lust / and explain, inward pain by my love breeding ...." (lines 9-10). The use of the word "lust" to mean "love" is not found elsewhere in Shakespeare's works; most other appearances of the word "lust" refer to "'the sexual appetite', often with shameful or self-loathing connotations."[10] Similarly, the poet refers to his beloved as having "thin lips red", whereas Shakespeare does not normally use the word "thin" in a favorable context.[11]
References
edit- ^ Friedrich, Otto (1985-12-09). "Education: Shall I Die? Shall I Fly ..." Time. The linked page incorrectly shows the date of this article as June 21, 2005. See [1] for confirmation of correct date.
- ^ a b c "Poem is traced to Shakespeare". Eugene Register-Guard. New York Times. 1985-11-23.
- ^ Vickers, Brian (2002). ‘Counterfeiting’ Shakespeare: Evidence, Authorship, and John Ford’s Funerall Elegye (PDF). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 2. ISBN 0521772435. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
- ^ Shakespeare, William (2005). Wells, Stanley; Taylor, Gary (eds.). The Complete Works (2nd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 805. ISBN 0199267170.
- ^ Shakespeare, William (2005). Wells, Stanley; Taylor, Gary (eds.). The Complete Works (2nd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 807. ISBN 0199267170.
- ^ Vickers, Brian (2002). ‘Counterfeiting’ Shakespeare: Evidence, Authorship, and John Ford’s Funerall Elegye (PDF). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 5. ISBN 0521772435. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
- ^ Vickers, Brian (2002). ‘Counterfeiting’ Shakespeare: Evidence, Authorship, and John Ford’s Funerall Elegye (PDF). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 5–6. ISBN 0521772435. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
- ^ Vickers, Brian (2002). ‘Counterfeiting’ Shakespeare: Evidence, Authorship, and John Ford’s Funerall Elegye (PDF). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 9. ISBN 0521772435. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
- ^ Vickers, Brian (2002). ‘Counterfeiting’ Shakespeare: Evidence, Authorship, and John Ford’s Funerall Elegye. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1, 5. ISBN 0521772435.
- ^ Vickers, Brian (2002). ‘Counterfeiting’ Shakespeare: Evidence, Authorship, and John Ford’s Funerall Elegye. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 35. ISBN 0521772435.
- ^ Vickers, Brian (2002). ‘Counterfeiting’ Shakespeare: Evidence, Authorship, and John Ford’s Funerall Elegye. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN 0521772435.
[[:Category:Shakespeare Apocrypha]] [[:Category:Early Modern English poems]] [[:Category:Bodleian Library collection]] [[:Category:English manuscripts]]