Sonnet XLVII; Parody
© 06-22-23, Olan L. Smith
To quote, or not to quote — that is the question.
Whether 'tis nobler to plagiarize of suffer
The slings and arrows of outraged professors,
Or to take arms against a civil judge
And be opposed by the wrath of men. To write
No more without the scorn of readers' stares.
The sharp stabs of a thousand steel blades
That fillet the heart — and so to dine
Upon paper plates. To parish, to write no more;
To publish for rags. And there be the loss.
To dream, then breathe in death, what woes,
Shuffled and tossed upon dirt floors of outhouses
Your words but wipe for arses cleansed, a respect
That makes calamity of sorted thoughts a theft.
A.N. This is inspired by a meme question, "Can you turn in a paper without naming all the sources," so my mind worked on this, a parody of Shakespeare's Hamlet: Act 3, Scene 1's part, "To be, or not to be...", and by making exaggerations I make it my own, but without giving the original author credit, I steal the credit, although Shakespeare borrowed many of his stories from the French and other stories that were floating around in his time, making the stories his own. It was originally published in my collection, "Shakespeare does Jack and Jill," but I've added here in my collection of sonnets, because it is uniquely mine.
YOU ARE READING
Sonnets Written by Olan L. Smith
PoetryI am moving many of my singly published poems into collections, and in this collection will reside all my sonnets I have written, and will write in the future--I hope you enjoy. Love, peace, and freedom, Olan L. Smith aka Cotton Jones. (Cover credit...
