.

Shakespeare

The Master strolled upon the beach,
__And stooped to find
Among the shells washed up in heaps,
__Mere husks of Mind—

Selecting them to suit his sense
__Of what would score
To entertain an audience
__That roared for more.

But did he ever come to know
__Whence flowed his Art?
In all his dramas and his poems,
__This plays no part.

For I have put him to the test,
__And placed his shell
Beside my ear, and tried to guess
__What he might tell.

But past the echoes of his voice
__I could not hear.
Though all his Art made me rejoice,
__The end was clear:

To charm me whilst he struts his hour
__Upon the stage—
His tales evolved by that same power
__My dreams engage.

Then I to the one source of being
__As close may stand,
Or closer than he to the stream
__That moved his hand.

Refute me with my own poor lines:
__This dog, perforce,
Devours the carcass of the lion
__And barks his roar.

.

.

Secret Shopper

I browse in antique shops but never buy.
I’m always searching there for something old,
But seldom find what’s old enough to try.

Neglect, patina, ambiance I crave—
The sense of things that were so modern once,
And now are untold stories in the grave.

You won’t catch me shoplifting and emboldened.
Too slick for that, I stash goods in my mind:
My head’s chock full of oddities unstolen.

Antique myself I find it suits my ways
To gravitate toward things Sub specie
Aeternitatis, as the Ancients say.

So when you stop me on my way back out,
Don’t think you’ll nail me with the loot in hand.
Feel free to frisk me if you’ve any doubt.

I’m your best patron, take my word or not!
Though should you meet another who’s like me,
He’ll tell you what I’ve told you, on the spot.

.

.

Lee Evans resides in Bath, Maine, and works for the local YMCA. His poetry has been published in The Christendom Review, Mused: The Bella Online Literary Review, The Poetry Porch, and elsewhere. His books of poetry are all available on Lulu.com.

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4 Responses

  1. Roy Eugene Peterson

    On your first poem my mind was lost. Were you writing by the sea? Or maybe you were looking at a painting by Botticelli? You alluded to a stream, perhaps it was Avon. Or maybe you conceived it on a beach you were upon? Maybe it is deeper than my mind’s prepared to go. I hope you will explain it. My mind would like to know. “The Secret Shopper” speaks to those of us who enjoy looking at art and antiques. I share the thoughts in your well-written and well-presented poem.

    Reply
  2. Lee Evans

    Roy,

    Thanks for your comments. I seem to have been influenced by Emerson’s essay, “The Over Soul,” in which he wrote “Man is a stream whose source is hidden. Our being is descending into us from we know not whence.” Hence the comment about “the one source of being.” One can take that however one wants. But you don’t have to be Shakespeare to live from that source, and as the Biblical proverb goes, “A living dog is better than a dead lion.” Or as in my case, a minor poet who lives by his own experience and not in someone else’s shadow, no matter how great that shadow is….and so on, following the implications of that thought.

    Anyway, I think I just ruined things by over explaining!

    Take Care,

    Lee

    Reply
  3. Joseph S. Salemi

    It’s not often that a poem gets under my skin, but “Shakespeare” does. It tries to judge Shakespeare by non-aesthetic standards. The speaker admits that Shakespeare entertains him, that he makes him rejoice, and that he charms him. OK, fine. What else could one want?

    Shakespeare was an artist of colossal ability and accomplishment. You don’t judge art by philosophical or religious standards. I hope I don’t start a war now, but this poem hits a hot-button issue that we at the SCP have tried to skirt. No artist is obliged to adhere to any kind of “Something Higher” when he creates his artwork. His only obligation is to be an excellent craftsman.

    Judging Shakespeare to be wanting because he doesn’t quote scripture, or genuflect, or wear a phylactery, or bow to Mecca, or recite Buddhist mantras, or pay explicit homage to some Platonic “higher power” or Emersonian “Over-Soul” is — at root — an anti-aesthetic stance. And speaking of him as an empty shell who just struts on stage is as puritanical as a censor who wants to cover up the nakedness of the Venus di Milo.

    Reply
    • Evan Mantyk

      Maybe Lee could elaborate but I read this as saying what made Shakespeare great can make us great too and even so the Poet acknowledges he may be wrong in the end.

      Reply

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