“Pandora and the Pea”

“Pandora and the Pea”

 

Unsettling hope, even small as a pea,

No matter how much you smother,

Always wins and keeps you awake,

When what you want is there to see.

 

Say “I am no princess”

as much as you want,

It won’t budge or be buried enough,

Going to bed is just useless.

 

It insists that it can come true,

No matter how farfetched or far-off.

That little wish can change the whole frame,

Making lumps around you.

 

You thought you’d climbed so high,

Done well for yourself, rightly so.

But that pestering pea of a thought

Can drag you down from the sky.

 

Piled on feats feel shaky and rough,

That pillow of confidence thins,

Compared to the voice that whispers and nags,

“Without me, you have nothing but fluff!”

 

That damned hopeful pea,

Even small as a gnat,

Isn’t letting me sleep,

Won’t let me think free-

 

All I can do when Pandora’s gift comes,

Is think of that dream

And of what day could bring,

And lie awake twiddling my thumbs.

 

True royal or not,

I’m sorry to say-

That pea will be felt

All through the next day.

 

 

 

King Richard III Day

Today is the day that Richard III took power!  However, during the Tudor dynasty Richard III became the target of one of the most successful slanders in history.  William Shakespeare could not afford to love the last Stuart ruler while under the Tudors’ reign.  Hence, Richard III became an ugly, vile character, as if Shakespeare decided:

“Since I cannot prove a lover, I am determined to prove a villain.”

 

Of course, good ol’ Will made the king so charismatic that he could use his play “Richard III” for other ends, as well:

Upon a time when Burbage played Richard III, there was a citizen grew so far in liking with him that before she went from the play she appointed him to come that night unto her by the name of Richard the Third. Shakespeare overhearing their conclusion went before, was entertained, and at his game ere Burbage came. Then message being brought that Richard the Third was at the door, Shakespeare caused return to be made that William the Conqueror was before Richard the Third.

— E. K. Chambers, William Shakespeare. A Study of Facts and Problems (1930), ii. 212
(from John Manningham’s Diary, Harl. MS. 5353, f. 29^v, ed. J. Bruce (1868) ).

I just love that story.

 

The real Richard of Gloucester:

1. Was not a humpback.

2. Had nothing to do with the execution of his brother.  In fact, he even resigned one of his posts for a day so he wouldn’t be forced to have any hand in putting Clarence to death.  (Also, by all accounts Clarence was a really bad egg, particularly to Richard’s wife.)

3. Has lots of evidence that he treated his wife Anne well.

4. Was an excellent military commander.

5. May or may not have killed his nephews, the princes in the tower.  For the record, I happen to believe he is innocent, but the debate over who killed the princes is always fierce.  What better day to declare my side of it than that of Richard III’s triumph?