Sonnet #2016, for North Carolina

Sonnet #2016 If Shakespeare saw beyond the mask of death Sir Walter’s face stamped on this legal tryst, I think he’d turn to Richard, to Macbeth, to see what strain of tyranny he’d missed. He could not understand the roots of power so well as all the teachers have portrayed yet be so speechless onContinue reading “Sonnet #2016, for North Carolina”

Poor Richard’s Bones

Today is a big day for Shakespeareans and other early modernists: Richard III dig: DNA confirms bones are king’s. The skeleton provides a great deal of tentative information about Richard’s physique (scoliosis, yes; withered arm, probably not) and also his death. His skeleton had suffered 10 injuries, including eight to the skull, at around theContinue reading “Poor Richard’s Bones”