POEMORAMA AT PAPER POETRY
Breath that from My Master Reeks
A sonnet of Shakespearean clichés
Allow me to break the ice by saying A green-eyed monster dwells within my soul Whenever my quill goes wild goose chasing And I remember The Bard’s heart of gold.
Though I should not wear my heart on my sleeve For I know all that glitters is not gold; Besides, love is blind, his works might reveal (It’s all Greek to me — that’s just what I’m told).
The world was his oyster, poems were his pearls. As good luck would have it, we share our goals Since clothes make the man — and impress the girls — We dress our thoughts so they don’t catch a cold.
His words, oft compared to a summer’s day Now reek of cold comfort and stale cliché.
Jim Dutton © 2022
The italicized words in each line of this poem derive from a phrase invented or popularized by William Shakespeare. The title is derived from a line in Shakespeare’s sonnet 130, where he makes fun of literary clichés. Obviously, we’d all love to turn even just one phrase so sublime that it someday passes into literary cliché.
Here are links to the Shakespearean clichés referenced:
“breath that from my mistress reeks” — Sonnet 130 “break the ice” — Taming of the Shrew, Act 1 Scene 2 “jealousy is green-eyed monster” — Othello, Act 3 Scene 3 “wild goose chase” — Romeo and Juliet, Act 2 Scene 4 “heart of gold” — Henry V, Act 4 Scene 1 “wear my heart on my sleeve” — Othello, Act 1 Scene 1 “all that glitters is not gold” — The Merchant of Venice, Act 2 Scene 7 “love is blind” — The Merchant of Venice, Act 2 Scene 6 “it’s all Greek to me” — Julius Caesar, Act 1 Scene 2 “the world is my oyster” — The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 2 Scene 2 “as good luck would have it” — The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 3 Scene 5 “clothes make the man” — Hamlet, Act 1 Scene 3 “catch cold” — Cymbeline, Act 1 Scene 4 “compare thee to a summer’s day” — Sonnet 18 “cold comfort” — Taming of the Shrew, Act 4, Scene 1
If you enjoyed this story and wish to read more, please visit my Fiction or Poetry lists. And if you are not already a Medium member, you can get access to all of my work, and many, many others through my referral membership link.
Thanks for reading!
Celebrating National Poetry Month with the good folks at Paper Poetry. This is in response to the Poemorama Part 1 prompt: