Let’s talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs;
Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth,
For God’s sake, let us sit upon the ground
And tell sad stories of the death of kings;
How some have been deposed; some slain in war,
Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed;
Some poison’d by their wives; some sleeping kill’d;
All murder’d for within the hollow crown.

Map of Early Modern London

mikaelsplayground:

“The moon’s an arrant thief, And her pale fire she snatches from the sun.”

William Shakespeare

anarchisttiger:

Hark! a Vagrant

avid:

Tom Hiddleston reading Shakespeare Sonnet 130

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask’d, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
   And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
   As any she belied with false compare.

(Source: kamero-gomez)

torrilla:

Tom Hiddleston Performs Henry V Monologue on Hoppus on Music

sophiahelix:

songstersmiscellany:

Shakespeare plays and sonnets performed using 400-year-old Original Pronunciation.

This video demonstrates why historically informed performance can be so illuminating.  Puns and lewd jokes, hidden in RP, leap out when performed in certain versions of OP.  Rhymes that don’t work in RP, do in OP: love vs. prove, speak vs. break, etc.  The ca. 1600 OP is so rich sounding; I would love to hear a production using it!

So cool! I remember my fabulous twelfth grade AP English teacher having us read Chaucer aloud in a very similar accent (“Whan in Aprrrrrrille…”), and it really made the text come alive.

torrilla:

Tom Hiddleston Performs Henry V Monologue on Hoppus on Music

notophelia:

AIDAN/AMY SCOTTISH PLAY RIGHT THE HELL NOW, PLEASE.

I am not even kidding.

Oh Jesus, that would be so hot.

William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

You have witchcraft in your lips.

metatarsus:

A Midsummer Night’s Dream + Dream Cast
HIPPOLYTA - Gina Torres

Four days will quickly steep themselves in night;
Four nights will quickly dream away the time;
And then the moon, like to a silver bow
New-bent in heaven, shall behold the night
Of our solemnities.

reelaroundthefountain:

“The Night, Pt. 1” // The Builders and the Butchers
If thou didst ever thy dear father love,
revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.

I’m gonna take your heart
And put it in my pocket
Your heart is in my pocket
And there’s a lie inside my hand

“Beautiful Enemy” // Dar Williams
A little more than kin, and less than kind.

Oh my enemy, beautiful enemy
Hail to your vast hegemony
But you’re not innocent
I’m not innocent
No one’s innocent

“Where Have All Your Good Words Gone?” // Laura Gibson
I, of ladies most dejected and wretched,
that suck’d the honey of his music vows,
now see that noble and most sovereign reason,
like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh. 

Do you wish you were an honest man?
Do you wish you were a better man?
Where have all your mercies gone?
Oh, when did all your bones start to bend?

“Thistle and Weeds” // Mumford and Sons
There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray,
love, remember: and there is pansies.  That’s for thoughts. 

I know you have felt much more love than you’ve shown
And I’m on my knees and the water creeps to my chest
But plant your hopes with good seeds
Don’t cover yourself with thistle and weeds
Rain down, rain down on me

“Cross Your Fingers” // Laura Marling
The play’s the thing
wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King. 

The house that you were born in is crumbling at the corners
Sagging skin and feet of crows, feet of crows  

“Trellick Tower” by Emmy the Great
‘Forgive me my foul murder’?  That cannot be.

Now you’re high above the people
Who you used to call your equals
I will stay behind and live this life
You left me as a witness
Who can tidy up your business

“This Place is Haunted” // Devotchka
O, my offence is rank it smells to heaven;
it hath the primal eldest curse upon’t
a brother’s murder.  Pray can I not.

Plant myself at the first bottle I see
And pour a thousand drinks in the dream
And you’ll be gone for one more day
And I’ll watch you slip a little further away from us

“You Don’t Know What Love Is” // The White Stripes
You cannot call it love; for at your age
the hey-day in the blood is tame, it’s humble.

You don’t know what love is
You do as you’re told
Just as a child of ten might act
But you’re far too old
You’re not hopeless or helpless
And I hate to sound could
But you don’t know what love is
You just do as you’re told 

“The Virgin Queen” // Regina Spektor
O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain.

Headless mother, heartless father
Ghosts of the yes-man past and future
In the bedroom
You will suture up that hole
Where the babies come from

“Seven Devils” // Florence + the Machine
O, come away!
My soul is full of discord and dismay.

Seven devils all around you
Seven devils in my house
See they were there when I woke up this morning
And I’ll be dead before the day is done 

“Lion’s Teeth” // the Mountain Goats
Nothing but to show you how a king may go a
progress through the guts of a beggar.

Nobody in this house wants to own up to the truth
I climb in shotgun and reach into his mouth
And grab hold of one long sharp tooth
And hold on 

“Willow, Weep for Me” // Billie Holliday 
There is a willow grows aslant a brook,
that shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream;
there with fantastic garlands did she come. 

Hear me willow and weep for me
Gone my lovely dreams
Lovely summer dreams
Gone and left me here
To weep my tears along the stream

“Sister” // The Black Keys
Hold off the earth awhile,
till I have caught her once more in mine arms! 

Sister, sister, what did they do to you
Did they take and try to break
A heart that long
It’s so wrong 

“Poison Cup” // M. Ward
Gertrude.  Do not drink.

She said if love, if love
Is a poison cup
Then drink it up

“The House That Dripped Blood” // the Mountain Goats
Let me speak to the yet unknowing world
how these things came about: so shall you hear
of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts,
of accidental judgements, casual slaughters,
of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause,
and, in this upshot, purposes mistook
fall’n on the inventors’ heads: all this can I
truly deliver. 

Dig up the laughing photographs
They’re here somewhere or other
Take what you can carry
But let me tell you, brother
Still waters go stagnant
Bodies bloat
And the cellar door is an open throat

(Source: gerutha)