A still from the final scene of Branagh's version of Shakespeare's Hamlet‘Prince Hamlet Speaks About Election Fraud’ by Evan Mantyk The Society December 14, 2020 Culture, Poetry, Shakespeare 33 Comments . . Prince Hamlet Speaks About Election Fraud Prince Hamlet speaks about election fraud:“O villainy! Ho! Let the door be locked.Treachery! Seek it out.” And this we laud:A voice half crazy yet all true that rockedA kingdom, laying bare the crimes withinThat had enwrapped the nation in a plotTo seize control and make its gears start spinningOn a strange trajectory that’s notWhat seems to make real sense when on the ground—A war for no good reason and seems forced,And in our case today voting that’s unsoundAnd from plain justice seems to be divorced.We hurtle toward corruption’s deep abyssAnd must cry “villainy!” lest the chance be missed. . . Watch a pilot episode of Politics & Poetry hosted by Evan Mantyk. You can watch the video now on Rumble.com:. https://rumble.com/ve9mjv-this-stop-the-steal-poetry-was-censored-yesterday-on-youtube.html . . Evan Mantyk teaches literature and history in New York and is President of The Society of Classical Poets. NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Trending now: 33 Responses Joe Tessitore December 14, 2020 Brilliant! Reply Mike Bryant December 14, 2020 Cool, Evan… Reply Joseph S. Salemi December 14, 2020 No matter what the ultimate outcome of all this is, at least we here are going on record, publicly, that this election was fraudulent, and that Biden and Harris are illegitimate impostors whom we DON’T recognize. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant December 14, 2020 Evan, employing Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet to opine poetically on election fraud is spot on and mightily effective. What better character than Hamlet to let us know the wicked machinations of those who wield power… something is rotten in certain states… rotten to the core. Reply Cynthia Erlandson December 14, 2020 This is great! Now I’m going to have to re-read “Hamlet”! The last two novels I’ve read (“That Hideous Strength” by C.S. Lewis, and “The Children of Men” by P.D. James) have so much in them that echoes what’s going on in the world today (especially in the U.S.A.). Great literature is relevant to other times besides its own! Reply James Sale December 15, 2020 Very relevant, very apposite and very cutting – well done Evan. I sincerely hope, even if only from a selfish UK perspective, that Trump does indeed reverse this questionable result. As with the ongoing Brexit negotiations, we still wait with bated breath … Reply Paul A. Freeman December 15, 2020 The losers munch sour grapes and cry “Boo hoo!” They search for some imaginary theft. Yet even SCOTUS says the vote is true. The pendulum swings therefore to the left. Reply C.B. Anderson December 15, 2020 I detect, Paul, that that you are not really a free man. Reply Paul A. Freeman December 16, 2020 Interesting. Mike Bryant December 15, 2020 While SCOTUS hasn’t ruled on what is true, The pendulum still knows that right is right. The swamp and globalists will cry, “Boo-hoo,” For patriots are ready for the fight. Reply Paul A. Freeman December 15, 2020 Bravo! Reply C.B. Anderson December 15, 2020 Thank God for Texans, Mike. SCOTUS punted, probably because they feared for their lives and for the lives of their loved ones. Courage, unfortunately, is not a requirement for appointment to the highest bench. Perhaps Donald Trump should have gotten out in front of this and not been so trusting of the process. We’ll see what happens next. Reply Cynthia Erlandson December 15, 2020 Amen! Thank you, Mike! Reply Joseph Charles MacKenzie December 15, 2020 Keeping in mind that Hamlet’s indignation at the corruption of the court of Denmark, which mirrors England’s indignation at the Tudors, is vitiated by his crippling flirtation with Protestantism at Wittenberg, the birthplace of Luther’s heresy. Never was there a religious dog whistle in all of English theatre than the repeated mention of Hamlet’s beloved Wittenberg. The Catholics in Shakespeare’s audience, and some say they were most of his audience, heard it loud and clear. Hamlet is Shakespeare psychoanalyzing a new, young generation of English Protestants. Looking into Hamlet’s soul, we see a complete lack of purpose. His is the Hobson’s choice of accepting that life is not pretty or taking the easy, but sinful, way out through suicide. But there is no purpose in either part of Hamlet’s tragic equation, because purpose is not what one learns in Wittenberg. Shakespeare’s prognosis was scientifically proven centuries later by the father of sociology, Emile Durkheim, who found that suicide rates in Protestant countries were dramatically higher than in Catholic countries. And this is important in interpreting Mr. Mantyk’s poem. One absolutely cannot invoke Hamlet without invoking the central political problem of the play. Hamlet turns out to be a monster, as bad or far worse than those whom he condemns. Like all godless suicides, he finds his ultimate purpose in taking down those around him. Hamlet is essentially a modern Puritan liberal. Reply Evan Mantyk December 16, 2020 Dear Mr. MacKenzie, In such a case, I suppose then we should conclude better not to invoke Hamlet? Who would you invoke? Reply Joseph Charles MacKenzie December 16, 2020 I read your poem, Mr. Mantyk, as perfectly invoking Hamlet. Because the real problem, of which election fraud is merely a symptom, is the whole set of errors upon which our present society is founded and under which it can never escape corruption. Like Hamlet, we can cry “Villany!” But until we examine the essential emptiness behind that cry, as Shakespeare invites us to under the microscope of the stage, we ourselves enable corruption. There is more to goodness than the rejection of evil. Thee is also the fulfillment of one’s purpose, a purpose which is not the creation of personal whim or caprice, but the quest for union with God through Christ. Catholics, whether groundlings standing in front of Shakespeare’s stage in the Globe or modern commentators such as Joseph Pearce, all understood Hamlet as the embodiment of a whole society divorced from Truth, because it discarded divine and Catholic faith to guide it. Even such flippant ideas of “classical poetry” as “anything that scans as long as it’s not ‘shackled’ by morality” is emblematic of the corruption Shakespeare directly confronts. C.B. Anderson December 15, 2020 We dreamed before we went to sleep, and now we must all die. HAIL TO THE THIEF! Reply Paul A. Freeman December 16, 2020 A bandwagon of hearsay voter fraud is music to the brainwashed MAGA horde. But SCOTUS needed proof, yet none it saw, so honourably they chose the rule of law. Reply Evan Mantyk December 16, 2020 Dear Paul, I will respectfully disagree with you here. It seems perhaps you don’t understand what happened. SCOTUS didn’t take the case and cited a technicality. They haven’t examined any evidence. There has to be an objective, impartial trial (if possible) to get to the bottom of this and get answers. I assume your tone is still respectful to the highlighted poet? Is it? Reply Paul A. Freeman December 16, 2020 Always respectful. Sorry if my tone was otherwise. Mike Bryant December 16, 2020 Paul, there are at least three misstatements in your poem… Reply C.B. Anderson December 16, 2020 What you’ve neglected to consider, “Freeman,” is over 1,000 sworn affidavits by persons who witnessed voter fraud, where giving false testimony could result in perjury charges (line 1). And, yes, our brains have been washed in the sense that they are clean of whatever it is that infects yours (line 2). SCOTUS saw no proof because it declined to examine the evidence, and thereby acted dishonorably (lines 3 & 4). Your little quatrain does, however, scan fairly well, but I might suggest that you yourself have your brain scanned. Reply Paul A. Freeman December 16, 2020 Will do, ‘Mr Anderson’. BDW December 18, 2020 “No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot.” —Mark Twain Paul A. Freeman December 19, 2020 Obviously you’ve won some kind of argument by quoting Mark Twain, BDW. Congratulations. Paul A. Freeman December 19, 2020 Ironically, the weight of evidence is shows that your Samuel Clemens quote was not even by the great man, himself, BDW. https://factcheck.aap.com.au/social-media-claims/mark-twain-evidence-quote-is-false Paul A. Freeman December 19, 2020 Of course the problem with quotes, is that for each quote, there is usually a counter-quote, such as ‘There are none so blind as those who will not see’ – which is a genuine quote. Anyhow, from hereon in, I’m sticking to writing (and commenting on) non-political, classical-style poetry. Please do extend me the same courtesy. BDW December 19, 2020 “A jay will lie, a jay will steal, a jay will deceive, a jay will betray.” –SLC BDW December 19, 2020 If Mr. Freeman is correct about the Twain quote, which I believe he may be; though Twain may have said it in one of his many live performances; if that’s the case, I won’t have to attribute it, just use it: No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot. I like it. It may be one of my “classical-style” themes on the election of 2020. I thank Mr. Freeman for it. Evan Mantyk December 16, 2020 Thank you all for your comments. An excellent documentary from Joshua Philipp, who was the co-founder of the SCP, by the way: https://www.ntd.com/2020-election-investigation-who-is-stealing-america_540191.html Reply David Watt December 17, 2020 Thanks Evan for highlighting the fraud and subsequent inaction. Failure to investigate mounds of evidence on the basis of a mere technicality makes a mockery of due process. Reply The Society March 1, 2021 The Society was informed by YouTube yesterday (the day of President Trump’s speech at CPAC) that the video above was removed. The video offered an impartial look at the Supreme Court’s decision to not take up the voter fraud allegations and featured a reading of the poem “Strange Election” found here: https://classicalpoets.org/2020/12/09/poetry-on-exposing-voter-fraud-in-the-u-s-election/ Reply Mike Bryant March 1, 2021 I wonder if it’s on rumble.com. That’s the new conservative replacement for youtube. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Joseph S. Salemi December 14, 2020 No matter what the ultimate outcome of all this is, at least we here are going on record, publicly, that this election was fraudulent, and that Biden and Harris are illegitimate impostors whom we DON’T recognize. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant December 14, 2020 Evan, employing Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet to opine poetically on election fraud is spot on and mightily effective. What better character than Hamlet to let us know the wicked machinations of those who wield power… something is rotten in certain states… rotten to the core. Reply
Cynthia Erlandson December 14, 2020 This is great! Now I’m going to have to re-read “Hamlet”! The last two novels I’ve read (“That Hideous Strength” by C.S. Lewis, and “The Children of Men” by P.D. James) have so much in them that echoes what’s going on in the world today (especially in the U.S.A.). Great literature is relevant to other times besides its own! Reply
James Sale December 15, 2020 Very relevant, very apposite and very cutting – well done Evan. I sincerely hope, even if only from a selfish UK perspective, that Trump does indeed reverse this questionable result. As with the ongoing Brexit negotiations, we still wait with bated breath … Reply
Paul A. Freeman December 15, 2020 The losers munch sour grapes and cry “Boo hoo!” They search for some imaginary theft. Yet even SCOTUS says the vote is true. The pendulum swings therefore to the left. Reply
Mike Bryant December 15, 2020 While SCOTUS hasn’t ruled on what is true, The pendulum still knows that right is right. The swamp and globalists will cry, “Boo-hoo,” For patriots are ready for the fight. Reply
C.B. Anderson December 15, 2020 Thank God for Texans, Mike. SCOTUS punted, probably because they feared for their lives and for the lives of their loved ones. Courage, unfortunately, is not a requirement for appointment to the highest bench. Perhaps Donald Trump should have gotten out in front of this and not been so trusting of the process. We’ll see what happens next. Reply
Joseph Charles MacKenzie December 15, 2020 Keeping in mind that Hamlet’s indignation at the corruption of the court of Denmark, which mirrors England’s indignation at the Tudors, is vitiated by his crippling flirtation with Protestantism at Wittenberg, the birthplace of Luther’s heresy. Never was there a religious dog whistle in all of English theatre than the repeated mention of Hamlet’s beloved Wittenberg. The Catholics in Shakespeare’s audience, and some say they were most of his audience, heard it loud and clear. Hamlet is Shakespeare psychoanalyzing a new, young generation of English Protestants. Looking into Hamlet’s soul, we see a complete lack of purpose. His is the Hobson’s choice of accepting that life is not pretty or taking the easy, but sinful, way out through suicide. But there is no purpose in either part of Hamlet’s tragic equation, because purpose is not what one learns in Wittenberg. Shakespeare’s prognosis was scientifically proven centuries later by the father of sociology, Emile Durkheim, who found that suicide rates in Protestant countries were dramatically higher than in Catholic countries. And this is important in interpreting Mr. Mantyk’s poem. One absolutely cannot invoke Hamlet without invoking the central political problem of the play. Hamlet turns out to be a monster, as bad or far worse than those whom he condemns. Like all godless suicides, he finds his ultimate purpose in taking down those around him. Hamlet is essentially a modern Puritan liberal. Reply
Evan Mantyk December 16, 2020 Dear Mr. MacKenzie, In such a case, I suppose then we should conclude better not to invoke Hamlet? Who would you invoke? Reply
Joseph Charles MacKenzie December 16, 2020 I read your poem, Mr. Mantyk, as perfectly invoking Hamlet. Because the real problem, of which election fraud is merely a symptom, is the whole set of errors upon which our present society is founded and under which it can never escape corruption. Like Hamlet, we can cry “Villany!” But until we examine the essential emptiness behind that cry, as Shakespeare invites us to under the microscope of the stage, we ourselves enable corruption. There is more to goodness than the rejection of evil. Thee is also the fulfillment of one’s purpose, a purpose which is not the creation of personal whim or caprice, but the quest for union with God through Christ. Catholics, whether groundlings standing in front of Shakespeare’s stage in the Globe or modern commentators such as Joseph Pearce, all understood Hamlet as the embodiment of a whole society divorced from Truth, because it discarded divine and Catholic faith to guide it. Even such flippant ideas of “classical poetry” as “anything that scans as long as it’s not ‘shackled’ by morality” is emblematic of the corruption Shakespeare directly confronts.
C.B. Anderson December 15, 2020 We dreamed before we went to sleep, and now we must all die. HAIL TO THE THIEF! Reply
Paul A. Freeman December 16, 2020 A bandwagon of hearsay voter fraud is music to the brainwashed MAGA horde. But SCOTUS needed proof, yet none it saw, so honourably they chose the rule of law. Reply
Evan Mantyk December 16, 2020 Dear Paul, I will respectfully disagree with you here. It seems perhaps you don’t understand what happened. SCOTUS didn’t take the case and cited a technicality. They haven’t examined any evidence. There has to be an objective, impartial trial (if possible) to get to the bottom of this and get answers. I assume your tone is still respectful to the highlighted poet? Is it? Reply
C.B. Anderson December 16, 2020 What you’ve neglected to consider, “Freeman,” is over 1,000 sworn affidavits by persons who witnessed voter fraud, where giving false testimony could result in perjury charges (line 1). And, yes, our brains have been washed in the sense that they are clean of whatever it is that infects yours (line 2). SCOTUS saw no proof because it declined to examine the evidence, and thereby acted dishonorably (lines 3 & 4). Your little quatrain does, however, scan fairly well, but I might suggest that you yourself have your brain scanned. Reply
Paul A. Freeman December 19, 2020 Obviously you’ve won some kind of argument by quoting Mark Twain, BDW. Congratulations.
Paul A. Freeman December 19, 2020 Ironically, the weight of evidence is shows that your Samuel Clemens quote was not even by the great man, himself, BDW. https://factcheck.aap.com.au/social-media-claims/mark-twain-evidence-quote-is-false
Paul A. Freeman December 19, 2020 Of course the problem with quotes, is that for each quote, there is usually a counter-quote, such as ‘There are none so blind as those who will not see’ – which is a genuine quote. Anyhow, from hereon in, I’m sticking to writing (and commenting on) non-political, classical-style poetry. Please do extend me the same courtesy.
BDW December 19, 2020 “A jay will lie, a jay will steal, a jay will deceive, a jay will betray.” –SLC
BDW December 19, 2020 If Mr. Freeman is correct about the Twain quote, which I believe he may be; though Twain may have said it in one of his many live performances; if that’s the case, I won’t have to attribute it, just use it: No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot. I like it. It may be one of my “classical-style” themes on the election of 2020. I thank Mr. Freeman for it.
Evan Mantyk December 16, 2020 Thank you all for your comments. An excellent documentary from Joshua Philipp, who was the co-founder of the SCP, by the way: https://www.ntd.com/2020-election-investigation-who-is-stealing-america_540191.html Reply
David Watt December 17, 2020 Thanks Evan for highlighting the fraud and subsequent inaction. Failure to investigate mounds of evidence on the basis of a mere technicality makes a mockery of due process. Reply
The Society March 1, 2021 The Society was informed by YouTube yesterday (the day of President Trump’s speech at CPAC) that the video above was removed. The video offered an impartial look at the Supreme Court’s decision to not take up the voter fraud allegations and featured a reading of the poem “Strange Election” found here: https://classicalpoets.org/2020/12/09/poetry-on-exposing-voter-fraud-in-the-u-s-election/ Reply
Mike Bryant March 1, 2021 I wonder if it’s on rumble.com. That’s the new conservative replacement for youtube. Reply