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Karl Constantine FOLKES 1935 (Portland)
Life is a tall tale.
Full of sound, raging fury.
It is vanity.
Acts of vanity.
Vanity of vanities.
All is vanity.
Two philosophers.
Both Shakespeare and Solomon.
Cut from the same thread.
Threading together.
Their poetry of knowledge.
About vanity.
The one a poet.
The other king and poet.
Both linked together.
Both as deep thinkers.
Both as life commentators.
Judging vanity.
And so we notice.
The influence of the one.
Upon the other.
Of King Solomon.
Despite the passage of time.
On Shakespeare’s art form.
This is the message.
That these two great men offer:
Vanity corrupts.
And its corruption.
Does not respect anyone.
It is absolute.
King or commoner.
Vanity goes after all.
It leads to downfall.
Yet from Bard Shakespeare.
There is a ray of sunshine.
Penned from his works.
Where Shakespeare declares:
To thine own self be truthful.
Without falsity.
By this guideline.
You would never be false.
To any person.
And Solomon, too.
Sought for justice with mercy.
Dispensing wisdom.
Wisdom that desires.
Erasure of falsities.
Without vanity.
Together both men.
By meditating on life.
Seeking honesty.
Both meditating.
On the bitter and the sweet.
Of right and of wrong.
That life is a tale.
A tale made of our choices.
Ethical choices.
The choices made false.
Are full of our vanities.
Leading to furies.
Thus both men declare.
In sharing their sound wisdom.
Their observation:
Life is a tall tale.
Full of sound, raging fury.
Raging vanity.
Two ancient critics.
Divided by time and space.
Judging vanity.
Two ancient critics.
Both Solomon and Shakespeare.
Judging vanity.
One examines life.
And sees it made of fury.
An idiot’s tale.
Tale of vanity.
That makes one very foolish.
Foolish vanity.
As for the other.
He sees it too as empty.
As pure vanity.
As pure emptiness.
Empty of life’s true values.
Of moral values.
Two ancient critics.
Both Solomon and Shakespeare.
Judging vanity.
Two philosophers.
Of ethical principles.
Judging vanity.
Both in agreement.
Malady of vanity.
That makes men foolish.
About this poem
This poem is poetically linked with that of another poem entitled “The Tragedy of Shakespeare’s Hamlet in which both poems explore the tragedy of vanity in human affairs. In William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, the protagonist Macbeth, King of Scotland, delivers the following soliloquy: “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player/ That struts and frets his hour upon the stage/ And then is heard no more: it is a tale/ Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/ Signifying nothing. ” This famous soliloquy is depicted as a confession which reveals that while Macbeth is not without blemish, his moral turpitude and his vanity do not deter nor hinder him from confessing that he cannot escape blame for his own failures in life. In this regard, his quasi courageous act reminds us only so painfully, of biblical King Solomon’s strikingly similar confession at old age, delivered in the book of Ecclesiastes 1:2, which reads, in part: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Literary critics of Shakespeare’s voluminous poetic oeuvres have argued that there is an inherent influence of the biblical Solomon on Shakespeare’s writings. In this regard, both King Solomon and the English bard Shakespeare’s King Macbeth yearn for a greater understanding of the moral purpose of life. And both do so in the form of a soliloquy. Both are partners of the same ilk, which gives cause for us to reflect on the purpose of our own lives; hence, the title of this extended haiku poem, “Solomonic Influence in Shakespeare’s Work.” more »
Written on December 04, 2021
Submitted by karlcfolkes on December 04, 2021
Modified by karlcfolkes on October 02, 2023
- 2:17 min read
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