English Wordplay ~ Listen and Enjoy
Sonnet 89
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Hamlet's Dresser by Bob Smith. Smith describes how as a boy his greatest enjoyment was in taking part in a Shakespeare festival; but returned home his father and mother were unsympathetic: "It took a long time for that painful summer of exile to pass. The yearning was excruciating. Going to the theatre was like loving someone you can't speak to or even acknowledge. Shakespeare, the worshipper of beauty, knows all about it."
Say that thou didst forsake me for some fault, And I will comment upon that offence: Speak of my lameness, and I straight will halt, Against thy reasons making no defence. Thou canst not love disgrace me half so ill, To set a form upon desired change, As I'll myself disgrace; knowing thy will, I will acquaintance strangle, and look strange; Be absent from thy walks; and in my tongue Thy sweet beloved name no more shall dwell, Lest I, too much profane, should do it wrong, And haply of our old acquaintance tell. For thee, against my self I'll vow debate, For I must ne'er love him whom thou dost hate.