.

Shakespeare’s Women

for Susan Jarvis Bryant, who has a spiritual
home in Stratford-on-Avon

It’s April 23rd. The rain is pouring
And from the Gulf the Poet can hear thunder.
She sips Earl Grey. Her regal cat is snoring.
The Folger in her hand fills her with wonder.
She gazes past the curtains at the haze
Considering the passage she just read.
She savors each Elizabethan phrase
Then scans Act V to see who ends up dead.

In her mind’s eye the neighbor’s wife is seen
To have the visage of Lady Macbeth.
Such thoughts aren’t strange to her! The Poet’s been
To restaurants where she has caught her breath
At seeing Cleopatra with Ophelia.
She’s heard Cordelia sobbing in the wind.
And shopping at the mall she once saw Celia
With Gertrude, Goneril and Rosalind.

As lightning flashes like Prospero’s wand,
She finds herself on stage at Shakespeare’s Globe.
She’s traveled back in time and crossed the Pond!
It’s 1593. A velvet robe
Obscures her figure (women must not act!)
She gestures winsomely. She’s Juliet.
She plays the role with feeling, verve and tact—
Then writes about it as a rhymed vignette.

The Bard wrote worlds in which she can immerse
And small things show the Poet’s admiration:
She pens her shopping lists in perfect verse;
Her checkbook sparkles with alliteration.
Her work is oft inspired by Shakespeare’s quill:
Note how she gathers words she loves by sound.
Explosive thoughts are wrought with perfect skill
And sharp critiques of life with rhyme are crowned.

But this runs deeper than just rhyme and meter!
To some degree each woman Shakespeare wrote
Is her. Think of Cordelia—only sweeter.
Or Isabel of France—without the moat.
Add Beatrice for just a hint of sass,
Miranda for her wide-eyed purity,
Hippolyta’s assertiveness, Kate’s brass,
And Desdemona for her surety.

The Poet weighs a thought and taps her pen.
O, which of Shakespeare’s women would she be
If she could choose? She sips her tea and then
Unbidden thinks of mercy’s quality.
Of course! She sees that Portia is the role
She most admires. Moxie mixed with kindness,
The use of speech with justice as its goal
And fervent hope her words might ease men’s blindness.

The thunder stops. The storm no longer vexes.
The kitchen calls. The Poet must assume
Her most-loved role: The Merry Wife of Texas.
But just as she’s about to leave the room
Her husband brings her a bouquet: blue bonnets.
She kisses him then says to wait one minute.
She grabs her pen—she’s thought of two new sonnets!
O brave new world that has such poets in it!

.

.

Brian Yapko is a retired lawyer whose poetry has appeared in over fifty journals.  He is the winner of the 2023 SCP International Poetry Competition. Brian is also the author of several short stories, the science fiction novel El Nuevo Mundo and the gothic archaeological novel  Bleeding Stone.  He lives in Wimauma, Florida.

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26 Responses

  1. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    Brian, what a beautiful gift to wake up to on the Bard’s birthday. Your magical words have swept me up in the wonder of Shakespeare’s women and transported me to my homeland in a swirl of sensational images (with a cup of Earl Grey in my hand) and brought an array of impressive ladies alive. I’m smiling through tears of joy… but I can still see clearly the wonders of your craftmanship – the alliterative treats, the superb end and internal rhymes (I particularly like Ophelia/Cordelia/Celia, Juliet/vignette, vexes/Texas, and how can I overlook those blue bonnets and sonnets?!), and your ability to tell a tale like no other. I’m honored to be in this one. The opening lines and closing stanza are wonderful and serve to remind me that once smitten with the Bard, he will follow you to the ends of the earth. Brian, thank you so very much. I will treasure this poem. You have made this glorious day extra special!

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      I’m so very happy that you liked this account of a day in the life of a slightly fictionalized SJB. It was a lot of fun to write and it came from the heart. I’ve received much joy and inspiration from your work through the last 3 1/2 years and I wanted to give you something back.

      Reply
  2. Roy Eugene Peterson

    This is a wonderful tribute to one we all admire as told with elan, references to Shakespearean women with their virtues, and vivid details. Another great poem to add to your awesome repertoire.

    Reply
  3. Cynthia Erlandson

    Excellent as well as hilarious, Brian! “She pens her shopping list in perfect verse; Her checkbook sparkles with alliteration.” and “The Merry Wife of Texas” had me laughing out loud! Shakespeare, she, and you, all deserve our admiration.

    One other thing I always notice about Susan:

    She holds the Guiness Record of All Time
    For ample samples of Internal Rhyme.

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      I’m so pleased this poem made you laugh, Cynthia! Thank you very much indeed!

      Reply
  4. Joseph S. Salemi

    What a great tribute from one poet to another.

    No matter what gender-feminist critics say, Shakespeare’s multiplex depictions of women are from a writer who fully appreciated and understood every facet of the feminine character. And using them here to describe Susan Bryant testifies that a male writer can understand women — just as a female writer can understand men.

    The “gender” drivel is nothing but politics in fake scholarly garb.

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Thank you very much, ,Joe. I’ve never understood why there should be a prejudice against men writing women or vice versa. Every playwright who has ever lived has had to write dialogue and speeches for both sexes. Versatility, in my view, is one of the hallmarks of a good writer.

      Reply
  5. Daniel Kemper

    My favorite thing about this poem, being a fan of both Susan and Shakespeare, is that it’s a simultaneous praise; Susan explicitly, but Shakespear implicitly. That in itself is quite clever.

    Favorite lines:
    “The thunder stops. The storm no longer vexes.
    The kitchen calls. The Poet must assume
    Her most-loved role: The Merry Wife of Texas.”

    I’m hearing Lyle Lovet somehow, “That’s right, you’re not from Texas…” lol.

    Enjoyable from start to finish.

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Thank you very much, Daniel. I’m pleased at your selection of favorite lines. I was trying to shoehorn “The Merry Wives of Windsor” into the poem and then the “Merry Wife of Texas” just came to me like a thunderbolt. I guess that’s how the Muse works!

      Reply
  6. Gigi Ryan

    Dear Brian,
    I was captive of your poem from beginning to end. Thank you for this joy, this apt tribute to Susan.

    I especially loved the first verse. You lulled me in then made me laugh with the image of Susan scanning to see, “who ends up dead.”

    Gigi

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Thank you so much, Gigi! That line gave me a chuckle even as I was writing it.

      Reply
  7. Warren Bonham

    Fantastic work! I can well imagine that Susan thinks in sonnets as she performs the mundane daily tasks that all of us must.

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Thank you so much, Warren. I had fun imagining a fictionalized Susan contemplating poetry in the most unexpected of places.

      Reply
  8. James Sale

    A wonderful tribute Brian – I most love that rhyme of vexes with Texas, very nice. And yes, she may be Portia … most of the time, but to really know who she is, we have to ask Mike: does Lady Macbeth ever appear, Mike?

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Thank you very much indeed, James! Yes, that “vexes/Texas” rhyme just seems like a natural! I too would love to know about the occasional appearance of Lady Macbeth…? I doubt it, but only Mike would know…

      Reply
    • Mike Bryant

      Well, James and Brian, I understand that Lady MacBeth is beautiful and smart, just like Susan. Susan has Lady MacBethed me into mopping floors and ironing her linen clothes, but never murder! That’s where I would draw the line… I think…

      Reply
      • Brian A. Yapko

        Well, Mike, even in politics and culture wars I think “Screw your courage to the sticking place” is great advice. (Btw, that quote is a great title for a possible poem… hint, hint.)

  9. Mike Bryant

    Brian, you do write beautifully and I really appreciate your subject matter in this one. Susan does love her birth country and culture and Shakespeare is a huge part of that. I’ll also go along with surety, purity, brass, sass and, especially sweeter. But you are right, most of all she’s Portia’s moxie mixed with kindness and, especially, a burning desire for justice.

    I also love your nod to Texas, which is a whole ‘nother country that Susan has somehow fallen in love with… she still loves me more, though. You have also nailed what it’s like being the husband of a prolific writer. When the muse hits, and it can and does at any hour of any day, then everything else is on the back burner. But, I love it because I know she was born to write poetry, and I know how much she loves to do it.

    Thanks, Brian, for this beauty… I’ve read it three times and I’ll read it many more.

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Mike, I am very honored by this generous comment. I’m glad to get your approval of my portrait of your Merry Wife of Texas! Thank you! Now do note that although the spotlight is on a fictionalized Susan, you are indeed present in the poem with that bouquet of blue bonnets. And that last line, “O, brave new world that has such poets in it…” is really meant for both of you — the greatest poetic couple since Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning!

      Reply
  10. Mark Stellinga

    Brian, you couldn’t have picked a better poet to celebrate. Susan’s one of my favorite SCPers too. Her poetic talents are numerous and quite unique, and elements of her ‘past’ are easily deciphered in some of her coolest pieces. Your beautiful tribute is a masterpiece about a true ‘master’! Great job, young man, and thank you sincerely for the so well deserved homage. BTW – you’re right behind her… 🙂

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Mark, thank you so much for this kind comment! I realize it’s a strange sort of tribute — a poem about a poet who admires yet another poet… And I’m grateful (and amused) by the literary liberty you are taking by referring to me as a young man. Would that this were true!

      Reply
  11. Margaret Coats

    Brian, you show what a master of tribute you are in this Susan-themed poem. She appears in the most attractive light of her British poetic quickness, corresponding to what is known of Shakespeare’s capability to write rapidly for the stage. Just so Susan has provided so very much “speech with justice as its goal/And fervent hope her words might ease men’s blindness.” Your inspiration to cast her as “the Merry Wife of Texas” is supremely suitable.

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Margaret, thank you very much for this kind remark. As I mentioned to Mark, writing a poem about a poet who loves a poet is a bit of a strange conceit but I greatly enjoyed writing it. And I’m glad you enjoyed the Merry Wife of Texas line, which tickled my funny bone when it struck me.

      Reply
  12. Tiree MacGregor

    What great fun, Brian. Lively from beginning to end, with an impressive array of Shakespeare’s female characters and energy and wit and no fuss. What a grand tribute.

    Reply
    • Brian A. Yapko

      Thank you so much, Tiree! “Grand” is a lovely thing to hear!

      Reply

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