by Pa Rock
Poetry Appreciator
Word comes today that the centuries-old skeleton recently unearthed from beneath a parking garage in Leicester, England, appears to be that of Richard III, the last British monarch to be killed in battle. Richard III, the last Plantagenet king, was mortally wounded in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 by the forces of the man who would be crowned King Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch. Richard's death essentially brought the War of the Roses to an end.
Richard III was immortalized by playwright William Shakespeare in one of the Bard's earliest tragedies. Shakespeare depicted Richard as a deformed (hunchback) and conniving individual who would do whatever was necessary to secure the crown of England for himself, to include murdering numerous individuals. Three of the deaths that Shakespeare attributed to Richard were those of his own brother and two young nephews, all of whom had more claim to the throne of England than Richard.
Identification of the skeleton was based on a comparison of its wounds with historical accounts of Richard's death. There was also a DNA match with a descendant of Richard's sister - with the surprised Canadian descendant not realizing that he had any blood connection to British royalty. It was also revealed that the man whose skeleton was recovered under the parking garage suffered from scoliosis, a condition that gave some credence to Shakespeare's description of the monarch suffering a deformity of the back.
Current plans are to re-bury the maligned monarch at an Anglican cathedral in Leicester, a move being opposed by some Catholics who rightly state that Richard was a member of their religion. Burial in Leicester would serve the primary purpose of the modern monarchy - that of being a tourist attraction.
Wherever they plant you Richard, please try to rest in peace - this time.
The following is Richard's Monologue which comes at the beginning of Shakespeare's Richard III. It gives a good overview of the character and his dark thoughts. The meat of the first line was lifted by John Steinbeck centuries later for the title of his last novel.
Richard III's Monologue
by William Shakespeare
Poetry Appreciator
Word comes today that the centuries-old skeleton recently unearthed from beneath a parking garage in Leicester, England, appears to be that of Richard III, the last British monarch to be killed in battle. Richard III, the last Plantagenet king, was mortally wounded in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 by the forces of the man who would be crowned King Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch. Richard's death essentially brought the War of the Roses to an end.
Richard III was immortalized by playwright William Shakespeare in one of the Bard's earliest tragedies. Shakespeare depicted Richard as a deformed (hunchback) and conniving individual who would do whatever was necessary to secure the crown of England for himself, to include murdering numerous individuals. Three of the deaths that Shakespeare attributed to Richard were those of his own brother and two young nephews, all of whom had more claim to the throne of England than Richard.
Identification of the skeleton was based on a comparison of its wounds with historical accounts of Richard's death. There was also a DNA match with a descendant of Richard's sister - with the surprised Canadian descendant not realizing that he had any blood connection to British royalty. It was also revealed that the man whose skeleton was recovered under the parking garage suffered from scoliosis, a condition that gave some credence to Shakespeare's description of the monarch suffering a deformity of the back.
Current plans are to re-bury the maligned monarch at an Anglican cathedral in Leicester, a move being opposed by some Catholics who rightly state that Richard was a member of their religion. Burial in Leicester would serve the primary purpose of the modern monarchy - that of being a tourist attraction.
Wherever they plant you Richard, please try to rest in peace - this time.
The following is Richard's Monologue which comes at the beginning of Shakespeare's Richard III. It gives a good overview of the character and his dark thoughts. The meat of the first line was lifted by John Steinbeck centuries later for the title of his last novel.
Richard III's Monologue
by William Shakespeare
Now is the winter of
our discontent
Made glorious summer
by this son of York;
And all the clouds
that lowered upon our house
In the deep bosom of
the ocean buried.
Now are our brows
bound with victorious wreaths,
Our bruisèd arms hung
up for monuments,
Our stern alarums
changed to merry meetings,
Our dreadful marches
to delightful measures.
Grim-visaged war hath
smoothed his wrinkled front,
And now, instead of
mounting barbèd steeds
To fright the souls
of fearful adversaries,
He capers nimbly in a
lady's chamber
To the lascivious
pleasing of a lute.
But I, that am not
shaped for sportive tricks
Nor made to court an
amorous looking-glass;
I, that am rudely
stamped, and want love's majesty
To strut before a
wanton ambling nymph;
I, that am curtailed
of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by
dissembling Nature,
Deformed, unfinished,
sent before my time
Into this breathing
world, scarce half made up,
And that so lamely
and unfashionable
That dogs bark at me
as I halt by them--
Why I, in this weak
piping time of peace,
Have no delight to
pass away the time,
Unless to see my
shadow in the sun
And descant on mine
own deformity.
And therefore, since
I cannot prove a lover
To entertain these
fair well-spoken days,
I am determinèd to
prove a villain
And hate the idle
pleasures of these days.
Plots have I laid,
inductions dangerous,
By drunk prophecies,
libels, and dreams,
To set my brother
Clarence and the king
In deadly hate the
one against the other;
And if King Edward be
as true and just
As I am subtle,
false, and treacherous,
This day should
Clarence closely be mewed up
About a prophecy
which says that G
Of Edward's heirs the
murderer shall be.
Dive, thoughts, down
to my soul -- here Clarence comes!
1 comment:
His Majesty made the noon show on KCTV5. Of course they teased the story before a commercial break, asking who was buried. Heard it first on the Ramble!
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