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As promised, this is part 2 of our Carl Sandburg spotlight. We divided it into two parts mostly because we couldn't decide which of the two poems to include. The following poem isn't one of his best known or even his best, but it is one of our favorites.
They All Want to Play Hamlet
They all want to play Hamlet.
They have not exactly seen their fathers killed
Nor their mothers in a frame-up to kill,
Nor an Ophelia lying with dust gagging the heart,
Not exactly the spinning circles of singing golden spiders,
Not exactly this have they got at nor the meaning of flowers--O flowers, flowers slung by a dancing girl--in the saddest play the inkfish, Shakespeare ever wrote;
Yet they all want to play Hamlet because it is sad like all actors are sad and to stand by an open grave with a joker's skull in the hand and then to say over slow and over slow wise, keen, beautiful words asking the heart that's breaking, breaking,
This is something that calls and calls to their blood.
They are acting when they talk about it and they know it is acting to be particular about it and yet: They all want to play Hamlet.
They have not exactly seen their fathers killed
Nor their mothers in a frame-up to kill,
Nor an Ophelia lying with dust gagging the heart,
Not exactly the spinning circles of singing golden spiders,
Not exactly this have they got at nor the meaning of flowers--O flowers, flowers slung by a dancing girl--in the saddest play the inkfish, Shakespeare ever wrote;
Yet they all want to play Hamlet because it is sad like all actors are sad and to stand by an open grave with a joker's skull in the hand and then to say over slow and over slow wise, keen, beautiful words asking the heart that's breaking, breaking,
This is something that calls and calls to their blood.
They are acting when they talk about it and they know it is acting to be particular about it and yet: They all want to play Hamlet.
Aside from reminding us of Shakespeare's Hamlet, this poem never fails to remind us of one of our all-time favorite literary TV series, Slings & Arrows. If you're not familiar with this show about a theatre festival, we highly recommend it and will even provide a clip for you.
Since there have been problems viewing this first video in the UK, we've added this one:
And while we're at it, here's the theme from series 1:
2 comments:
I have never read this poem before and it has just sent shivers up my spine -- wonderful! Thanks so much for posting it. Sadly the video does not work in the UK -- not licensed for it, apparently.
We're so glad you liked it! Sorry about the video. We'll see about finding one that should work world-wide from Youtube.
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