I am reading The Rape of Lucrece, a narrative poem by Shakespeare for class tomorrow. It is not easy reading and not my favorite Shakespeare reading only because I do not care for long poems. This poem and Venus and Adonis, the other narrative poem the class has to read, are like 36 pages of text all together (in addition to about 100 pages of academic criticism on the poems, yikes!) . At least 1000 lines apiece– now those are some long poems! I really love Shakespeare’s sonnets — only 14 lines. This poem is cool though, very suspenseful. I just read a very scary stanza:
“Now stole upon the time the dead of night,
When heavy sleep had closed up mortal eyes:
No comfortable star did lend his light,
No noise but owls’ and wolves’ death-boding cries;
Now serves the season that they may surprise
The silly lambs: pure thoughts are dead and still,
While lust and murder wake to stain and kill.”
I read that and was wowed…sounds like a contemporary horror movie or at least a Dexter episode. Now I am at the part where the evil Tarquin is in Lucrece’s bedchamber and about to rape her. It all seems very gothic! I am not sure I will like the rest of the poem– I know what happens after all. The story in the poem is referenced in Titus Andronicus by poor Lavinia. Both Lucrece and Lavinia feel duty bound to kill themselves because they were raped. Not good to say the least.
Jacquelyn's Space 