…What is the point of memorizing the Sonnets?
Why suck the dew from a rose? An element of English eccentricity I guess. I needed to have an intimate knowledge of the sonnets and somewhere to keep them where they wouldn’t get misplaced or lost, since my short-term memory sucks. It took only 6 years to memorize them, fortunately poetry is still one of the few Arts you can carry around with you. Having the Sonnets embedded in my brain allowed me to digest this fascinating body of work, reach my conclusions and be able to present the bard to the masses.
Why love Shakespeare?
It’s hard not to love a man who was a Mensch and not an elitist. His language and skill in handling that language along with his thoughts and emotions captured human behavior like none other. His observations echo through time and are as relevant today as when they were penned, humans haven’t changed much in that respect. Plus he hated sycophants and boot lickers.
Why should we love Shakespeare?
It’s up to the reader. The proof is in the pudding but you have to take a bite. He was a man not God or a snob. I have my Shakespeare – you have yours. We all find our inner selves mirrored in his words, our doubts, fears and pain played out in his verse. He’s alive through all that read him, commit him to memory and perform him because of the power of his words, not his looks. Actors love him because he hands them roles that challenge their skill to the extreme. Audiences love him, well why actually?
How do you commit a Sonnet to memory?
The same way you get to Carnegie Hall or Beckham kicks that ball: practice, practice, practice. How great is your need? Funnily enough the hardest sonnets to learn are the ones about memory.
Go through the sonnet aloud and follow the string of sounds you make. See their relationship to one another. Ignore the meaning for now, that’ll change. Try saying it to a friend or someone who won’t laugh at you.
Get your tattered sonnet filled with scribbles out and do it properly this time. Repeat this process until the paper is no longer necessary. I also record it on computer or minidisk and play it repeatedly until I foam at the mouth because I still get it wrong. Actually I have them microscopically tattoed on my fingertips and excellent close-up vision.
My biggest helper was making a phonetic transcript of the sonnets on music paper (I gate-crashed a phonetics class at the University of Amsterdam). Learning to speak a second language fluently helped me appreciate the nuance and flow of the bard’s writings. Anyone who has tried to learn another language knows the frustration of not being able to say exactly what you want to say. Look at the English and the Scots.
Why Why love Shakespeare?
I’m a populist and believe the Sonnets are the perfect introduction to manipulating and speaking Shakespeare’s verse. Understanding the man and his times is a great help as well. Nowadays there seems to be a Renaissance happening in how one studies, views and performs Shakespeare. There is no standard anymore for speaking the verse except to ride the sound energy within the words. First Folio facsimiles abound and people are studying them as blueprints for performance. Film-makers are stripping the language and showing us the power of storytelling. The IT revolution is opening possibilities like the Printing Press did in Shakespeare’s time. If he came back I think Shakespeare would be an amazing DJ.
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