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Master
Senior Member
since 1999-08-18
Posts 1867
Boston, MA

0 posted 2000-03-02 11:51 PM


XIII

Hamlet, the ultimate observer--
Sees all as all observe the play.
The actor speaks with ardent fervor
The lines that he was told to say--
He states, “...hands apt, drugs fit
And time agreeing...” He does the deed.
Pours poison in King’s ears and then
Out of the second row, the man
Arises. “Let strucken deer go weep,”
States Hamlet and the lights go on.
The play is left half-way undone
For some-- “...and some must sleep.”
An echo duplicates-- “hands apt...”--
The mouse falls into the trap.

XIV

Prince Hamlet manifests in poems--
So cruel and very strongly versed--
Thus ends one play -- another opens,
Or better yet evolves from first.
Eyes focus, players lose their shield,
The player’s faces-- now revealed!
True drama starts! Becoming conscious,
The rivals meet and silence plunges!
And walking slowly on the stage
Our hero stares into the night--
His future stands before his sight
And preaches like a clever sage.
And only minutes separate
Two lives from finding their fate.

XV

As one sought heaven for forgiveness
While kneeling down in a prayer,
The other raised his sword in bleakness
But could not slay the praying slayer.
For he who meets his death confessing
Shall go to heaven with a blessing
And find God. Thus Hamlet left
Bearing revenge-- a massive heft,
Upon his shoulders. He was certain--
His heart was beating like a drum--
The destined day would surely come
To free our hero from this burden.
And thus he walked away appeased
And left his enemy in peace.

XVI

Seeking no vengeance from he holy,
So wise in thought, he walked away,
For every king must have his glory
And every dog will have its day.
In rage, he entered Gertrude’s room
His anger had no time to cool.
He harshly spoke and heard a cry--
A moan, a wail. And a spy
Behind a tapestry met death.
Was Hamlet acting out of fury?
From madness? -- was he truly
Mad? Or did he simply have
No reason? --What’s done is done!
The Queen felt pity for her son.

XVII

Oh, Gertrude! Overfilled with sadness,
You were the victim of this plot!
You prayed for peace and in this madness
Your eyes refused to look at blood.
And deeply struck by this commotion,
You buried deeply your emotion
And slept in slumber to that day,
When Hamlet entered in a fray  
And gave you sight. He stabbed
Your innocence, spoke daggers,
And he exposed and didn’t stagger
The anger in his bosom trapped.
And looking at your soul, inside
You could not find a place to hide.

XVIII

Something was rotting in the state.
And slowly crumbling, it wailed.
No longer could our hero wait
And thus to England Hamlet sailed.
With conscience, Hamlet could not sleep,
One single notion he would keep
That all was going for the worst
And death was lying on his course.
He chose to test his intuition
And proved it true. All came to focus!
He realized that Uncle Claudus
Before he left, wrote a commission,
In which he ordered to his men
To slay the Prince upon the land.

XIX

King Claudus’ plan was now exposed
And Hamlet, overflowed with hatred,
Would roar in rage, and from exhaust,
He cursed the ship, the wind and nature,
In passionate distress, he shivered
And all seemed wicked, false and evil.
He was alone in his belief--
He felt forsaken, lost, deceived.
Just as the moment turned intense,
Our hero fled from the disaster.
His fortune fell on two imposters
Whom in the past, he called his friends.
And all alone he traveled back,--
Which takes us to the final act.

XX

Into a churchyard Hamlet wandered
And by one monument he stopped.
And Hamlet’s eyes perceived in wonder
And from the weariness they dropped.
There, in the grave, his past would fester,
“Here lies a joker and a jester...” --
Poor Yorick! You were once his teacher,
But now deceased, -- left not a feature.
Yet Hamlet still recalled with pleasance-
The smile that he loved so much
He saw the hands he used to touch
His memory preserved your essence
And Hamlet carried in his mind
The weight of what was left behind.

XXI

Inside his head, decades and ages
Decayed and faded in the night.
He saw the King, the Queen and Laetres,--
Stood short of breath. Before his sight
His love was buried. Pain struck deep!
His soul appalled began to weep.
He went to offer his condolence
But Laetres, blind to his solace,
Attacked him and refused to see
His innocence. Prince Hamlet then,
Would try to reason with this man,--
Laetres ignored him. Even he,
Stood by the crown hypnotized—
No longer seeing through his eyes.

XXII

Words often leave a deadly touch.
The noble Laetres felt it. Hence,
He challenged Hamlet to a match
And Hamlet, taught in youth to fence,
Agreed. And both were ready to defend
Their honor. With a rapid hand
The Prince struck first and soon
Again. Then Laetres. From the wound
Blood dripped. In haste, they traded
Swords. And then, under a magic spell,
Both froze at once, both fighters fell
And instantly two stars have faded.
And lying on the floor, in blood,
Laetres unmasked the wicked plot.

XXIII

Both saw the crown’s charming shine,
And watched the sun play on its tips.
Meanwhile, Gertrude drank the wine,
Which was prepared for Hamlet’s lips.—
Another death from poisoned drink!
Prince Hamlet rose and killed the king
And fell again, his sword would drop.
And thus in Denmark, chaos stopped.
And only Gods watched in dismay,
That day, as tons of blood was shed,
A country-- ruined, people-- dead,
They watched it all. Thus ends the play.
I pray this story strikes you deep
Some must live on, “...and some must sleep.”

XXIV

To sacrifice yourself for virtue,
For mere belief, which seems deceiving!
To be! To stand against your fortune!
How sad is life? -- how worthy living!
Dear Hamlet this we owe to you! --
You challenged life and this you knew,
You walked to certain death. I pray,
That I could take your path some day
And die for honor! Die with pride!
To see what dreams will come, if any,
And if one comes, to pray for many.
And seeing stars fall in the night,
To make a wish that they would rise
And shine again inside our eyes!

XXV

Time is a gathering of moments,
Sometimes we act, sometimes rehearse.
Thus ends one play-- another opens,
Or better yet, evolves from first,
Which never ends. In admiration,
We closely watch each situation
Develop into something bigger, --
So big, that many cannot figure
The moral it conveys so clearly.
So what’s the moral? -- How can I
Describe to you what’s in your eye?
And this I say to you sincerely:
Perhaps it’s better not to see,
And simply let the question be.


© Copyright 2000 Andrey Kneller - All Rights Reserved
Paul Hoekman
Member
since 1999-12-28
Posts 382
Harwinton Ct. U>S>A>
1 posted 2000-03-03 09:58 AM


Extremely Clever!
Amazing verse.
Hamlet 2000 the updated version
that people today can understand.

Master
Senior Member
since 1999-08-18
Posts 1867
Boston, MA
2 posted 2000-03-03 04:01 PM


Thank you Paul and thank you again for ressurecting my old poems, I was shocked to get new replies to those!
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