THE SCENE: According to this apocryphal anecdote, William Shakespeare’s flair for the dramatic began at an early age.
THE TEXT: Mr. William Shakespeare was born at Stratford upon Avon in the county of Warwickshire. His father was a butcher, and I have been told heretofore by some of the neighbors, that when he was a boy he exercised his father’s trade, but when he killed a calf he would do it in a high style, and make a speech.
– Brief Lives, John Aubrey, 17th Century AD
“Anthony waited breathlessly to see what on earth she was going to do. Cleopatra took off one ear-ring, dropped the pearl in the vinegar and, when it had dissolved, swallowed it.” […]
“He made worthy widows wail with sorrow,
Weeping and howling they wrung their hands.
And everywhere in his wake he wasted through war
Their wealth and their houses, and awoke their woe.” […]
“They see the Normans meanwhile pressing on from behind, but there was no escape; they go along the banks of the river, seeking for fords and crossings, throwing away their arms and plunder, and cursing their having brought so much. They go straggling and stumbling over the ditches, helping each other forward, the Normans pursuing and sparing no one, till all those who had not crossed the bridge were either taken prisoners, killed, or drowned.” […]
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