Commentary

POSTED AT 07:21 PM ON Sep. 19, 2012 

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So I want to pose a question.

Was Shakespeare a good poet?

Now, before I get inundated with the infuriated responses of more than 3,000 English majors, hear me out.

It seems the trend in poetry, and in prose as well, is to simplify, delete articles and use concise adjectives and speak as simply as possible and create the most impact.

I suppose I should rephrase my question. Would Shakespeare be considered a good poet by today’s standards?

If Shakespeare walked into any campus poetry workshop as a bright-eyed freshman ready to stun the world with his brilliant metaphors and flawless rhythms, wouldn’t his peers edit the snot out of him?

My answer is yes.

However, we should never forget that without Shakespeare, the poetry we know today would not exist. In fact, the language we speak today would not exist.

Read again the beginning of this article and I dare you not to find something influenced by Shakespeare.

He’s practically a metonym for the English language.

But it’s something to think about, is it not, my fellow English majors?

Was Shakespeare a good poet? Or was he just wordy?

­— ewenning@indiana.edu