A sonnet, commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, was written by Carol Ann Duffy and painted by Stephen Raw on seven large panels. The poem was written to celebrate the 250 anniversary year of the Bard. The artwork hangs in the foyer of the Swan Theatre.
In this video poet and painter discuss the final outcome. . .
S H A K E S P E A R E
Small Latin and less Greek, all English yours,
dear lad, local, word-blessed, language loved best;
the living human music on our tongues,
young, old, who we were or will be, history's shadow,
love's will, our heart's iambic beat, brother
through time; full-rhyme to us.
Two rivers quote your name;
your journey from the vanished forest's edge
to endless fame – a thousand written souls,
pilgrims, redeemed in poetry – ends here, begins again.
And so, you knew this well, you do not die –
courtier, countryman, noter of flowers and bees,
war's laureate, magician, Janus-faced –
but make a great Cathedral, genius, of this place.
Carol Ann Duffy
