Shakespeare, Oxford I Do Name Thee
Sinking helplessly through quicksands of time
A tiny grain through an hourglass figure,
I will with the charm of a wordsmith's rhyme
Restore thee to full honour and vigour.
S-P-E-L-L a word aright and cast the right spell
To conjure thee like noble Hamlet's ghost.
Anonymity's witchcraft to dispel
As by the grace of the heavenly host;
From history's curse, I do release thee
Shakespeare, thy name Oxford I do aver.
In return, I entreat thee, set me free
Thou, who to the last, was in name a Vere.
Now that misidentity's set aright,
We from mists of obscurity alight.
________________
For E-Ver Shakespeare
As an oar is lightly dipped in the sea,
So in thine eyes do mine cast anchor;
As if they held some secret prophecy,
Struggling to issue from amid the rancour.
Thy lips remain as mute from age to age,
As pursed and silent to the artist's brush
As thine eyes speak volumes of the sage,
Whose words are muted by protracted hush.
William Shakespeare, I do proclaim thy name
To be de Vere, to whom I ever aver.
The Shakespearian portrait is the same
As him whom the generations revere.
The man for whom I record this rhyme
May he long continue his journey through time.
To hear Tim's fuller presentation, go to:
http://www41.zippyshare.com/v/9uSJ3TZo/file.html
In 1845 Delia Bacon began developing her theory that the plays and poems ascribed to William Shakespeare had actually been composed by a group of literary/political figures including Francis Bacon, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Edmund Spenser; her first publications on the subject was assisted by a skeptical admirer, Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1856, and the following year her book on the subject appeared. Walt Whitman became one of the most vociferous supporters of her idea, while Ignatius Donnelly favored the notion of Bacon as sole author. By the end of the the 19th century both Christopher Marlowe and William Stanley (earl of Derby) had joined the list of prominent Shakespearean alter egos. It was not until 1920 that Edward de Vere, 17th earl of Oxford, was suggested; since then, however, he has emerged as the principle figure in Anti-Stratfordian speculation. For his part, Timothy Spearman suggests that Bacon and Oxford were both illegitimate sons of Elizabeth I who together developed various espionage and propaganda organizations; however, Oxford wrote the plays and poems in question as part of that effort.
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