Life of a Poet Shakespeare

Shakespeare Biography: I only picked the most interesting things; trust me read it all.
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Who was he?

William Shakespeare is recognized as one of literatures greatest influences, very little is actually known about him. What we do know about his life comes from registrar records, court records, wills, marriage certificates and his tombstone. Anecdotes and criticisms by his rivals also speak of the famous playwright and suggest that he was indeed a playwright, poet and an actor.

Date of Birth :

Wednesday, April the 26th, 1564, and it's assumed that he was born three days earlier on St. Georges day.

William marries an older woman. (1582)

A bond certificate dated November the 28th, 1582, reveals that an eighteen year old William married the twenty-six and pregnant Anne Hathaway. Barely seven months later, they had his first daughter, Susanna. Anne never left Stratford, living there her entire life

The Bard's children. (1583 & 1592)

Baptism records show that Williams first child, Susanna was baptized in Stratford sometime in May, 1583. Baptism records again reveal that twins Hamnet and Judith were born in February 1592. Hamnet, William's only son died in 1596, just eleven years old. Hamnet and Judith were named after Williams close friends, Judith and Hamnet Sadler. William's family was unusually small in a time when families had many children to ensure parents were cared for in later years despite the very high mortality rates of children and also their life expectancy in the 1500s

The Bard suffers breech of copyright. (1609)

In 1609, the Bard's sonnets were published without the Bards permission. It is considered unlikely that William wanted many of his deeply personal poems to be revealed to the outside world. It was not however the first time; in 1599, in a collection entitled "The Passionate Pilgrim" , two of his poems had been printed without Williams permission.

William buys major residential property. (1597)

At age 15, William purchased the New Place. This was one of the most prominent and desired properties in all of Stratford being the second largest house in town. Given his father's known financial hardship from 1576, William must either have used his own money to buy this expensive property or his father had placed money in his sons name. It is possible William might have bought this prominent property with money from his plays. It is estimated that roughly fifteen of his 37 plays would have been written and performed by 1597!

The Bard's will and death.

Records reveal that the great Bard revised his will on March the 25th, 1616. Less than a month later, he died on April the 23rd, 1616. Literature's famous Bard is buried at the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. He infamously left his second-best bed to his wife Anne Hathaway and little else, giving most of his estate to his eldest daughter Susanna who has married a prominent and distinguished physician named John Hall in June 1607. This was not as callous as it seems; the Bard's best bed was for guests; his second-best bed was his marriage bed... His will also named actors Richard Burbage, Henry Condell and John Hemminges, providing proof to academics today that William was involved in theatre. The Bard's direct line of descendants ended some 54 years later until Susannas daughter Elizabeth died in 1670.

The Bard's last words...

Written upon William Shakespeares tombstone is an appeal that he be left to rest in peace with a curse on those who would move his bones...

Good friend, for Jesus´ sake forbeare
To digg the dust enclosed here!
Blest be ye man that spares thes stones
And curst be he that moues my bones.

Translated this reads as:

Good friend, for Jesus sake, forbear

To dig the dust enclosed here;

Blest be the man that spares these stones

And curst he that moves my bones.

First poems ever by Shakespeare:

his first poem Venus and Adonis in the Stationers Registrar on the 18th of April, 1593. The playwright registered his second poem The Rape of Lucrece by name on the 9th of (YAYAYAY 10 days before my birthday LALA)

This is a link to All his sonnets :

http://www.poetry-archive.com/s/shakespeare_william.html

One of my Favorite Sonnets : and if your can leave you analysis and what do you think the poem is about, it would be fun to discuss :

WHEN forty winters shall besiege thy brow
And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field,
Thy youth's proud livery, so gazed on now,
Will be a tottered weed of small worth held:
Then being asked where all thy beauty lies,
Where all the treasure of thy lusty days,
To say within thine own deep-sunken eyes
Were an all-eating shame and thriftless praise.
How much more prasie deserved thy beauty's use
If thou couldst answer, 'This fair child of mine
Shall sum my count and make my old excuse,'
Proving his beauty by succession thine.
This were to be new made when thou art old
And see thy blood warm when thou feel'st cold.

Williammm was a boy I liked during 1st grade XD

Nice, Nana! You were a speedy speedy lady with this! Now I have to sit down and read it.

When/if you got time..let me know what you read in this poem..and if you ever passed by a poem by shakes. and you liked

I know.. what about I send you a The Merchant of Venice..the version with the modern rewording ?

it's one page his words..and under it the same paragraph reworded with modern language ?

very interesting and seriously you would fall in love with the depth of its meaning!>.

you know what I will send it tomorrow by our Lebonpost..XD check your mail in 2 weeks..should be there..

William is my father's name and it is the best man's name in the whole wide world! I'm not biased, I swear...

Ok I need to look over this thread. Edit: Done.

Sunshine, thanks for posting this. I didn't used to be a Shakespeare fan but I've come to appreciate him after reading tons of his plays. King Lear is my favorite, though I can't remember why. Also read Romeo & Juliet, The Tempest, and... oh, I forget them all, hahaha!
So I'm not a huge fan, but I appreciate the guy and his contribution to literature and liberal arts.

Britt, I relate. I prefer modern poetry myself, but I did learn how to write sonnets in a high school creative writing class... it was fun.

Shakespeare, Hafez, Goethe, Me
are exactly what defines poetry

^^^
LOL hahah beautiful confidence ...I like!

I think Shakespeare is interesting to consider as a poet, because everything comes alive to me so much more when I'm watching it performs (on stage or screen) than when I just sit down and read it. Maybe it's because the plays were written for the stage, who knows. I played Lady Capulet in high school. Had a damn good audition as Juliet, though. ; )

Britt, I agree with you on Romeo and Juliet. I mean, sure, it's teenaged love, but wrapped up with teenage love is: the brightness and folly of youth, the stupidity of chance, all those fires that shine so much brighter simply because they burn out too soon.

Everytime I watch Romeo and Juliet, I find myself thinking "maybe this time it will end differently!"

I did a Shakespeare class in high school. I was shocked and tickled by how naughty the plays were, for one. Bawdy, bawdy stuff, mixed in with this kind of transcendent awareness. Nice.

I also liked King Lear. And Henry V's battle speech. Sigh.

Oh right, how could I forget Macbeth! I wrote a modern version of the play and performed it with some classmates in high school.

*throws flowers*

I always enjoyed Shakespeare, reading the plays in school made me seek out his poetry, it was part of why I loved English class so much lol I like trying to wrap my head around the language.

LOL LOVe..no you didn't scare me :P
williams magic words..CHARM ME..
plus as you said we brilliant people..get along well together :P

>>>UUUMMM catches Danny's flowers

SIBS; very interesting person you are..

JANE well done Xd hope they clapped for you