The Swan’s Song
He brewed his words in cauldrons on the moors.
They doubled as they bubbled to the brim.
He conjured clifftop storms and sea-whipped shores
On savage isles where wizards’ secrets swim.
His words tamed shrews. They kindled gall and guilt.
They silenced loyal lips with unhinged rage.
They stoked a star-crossed love as poison spilt
Linguistic hexes on the page and stage.
He set the yellow-stocking strut in play.
He summoned moon-licked hags and mossy skulls.
He loosed a puck to laugh the dark away—
And now a restless princely spectre mulls
On whether bardic blaze is meant to be
In muzzled days of grunt and bridled glee.
Susan Jarvis Bryant is a poet originally from the U.K., now living on the Gulf Coast of Texas.
Brava.
The bard himself might smile in humbled glee,
that you have laid his plots and settings down
In fine homage. We surely must agree
His pen created worlds that still resound,
And characters whose speeches we recite,
To happily learn iambic delight.
Happy Birthday, Will!
It’s lovely to read you are in the bardic-birthday spirit, Dusty. Thank you for your appreciation and for your poetic nod to greatness. What a wonderful comment. Happy Birthday, Will, indeed!
Brilliant, Susan!
Thank you very much, Cynthia!
An absolutely enchanting gift to us all for Shakespeare’s birthday, Susan! Your Shakespearian sonnet is perfect in form and lush in language — reminding us how very much our imaginations have been not only influenced but set on fire by the Bard. That final couplet serves as a grim warning of what we stand to lose in an era of historical revisionism, censorship and general disrespect for the literature that has formed us. Thank you for a piece which is both deeply enjoyable and yet which offers much to ponder.
Brian, thank you very much for your appreciation and for pointing out the sad and serious aspect of my sonnet. If we’re not careful, our rich literary heritage will be stolen from us in the blink of an eye, which is why celebrating Shakespeare’s birthday is so important to me. Long may he be celebrated for his genius.
Susan, your unmitigated gall enchanted us all. I detect a deeper perspective in these days that are hective. The last three verses pillory today’s curses. Brian made the perfect comments concerning modern disenchantments. Oh, for a Shakespeare in these days to set our stages ablaze.
Roy, what a rhyming, rhythmic song of a comment – celebratory sentiments that lift my spirits and make me smile. Thank you very much indeed!
What a marvelous first line to start it off!
I just loved writing the opening, Margaret – scenes from the Scottish play always send my imagination on a mystical journey that surprises me. The first line fueled the rest of the poem. I’m glad you enjoyed it, and thank you!
He really was a colossus, astride the literary world like a giant. And just a simple kid from little Warwickshire. But the Muse picked him out for a fire-flamed destiny (“O for a Muse of Fire!”), and gave him a linguistic power and a capacity for invention that changed English forever.
Our language was percolating at that time like a pot of coffee, ready to bubble and boil over with the sheer creative energy of scores of brilliant writers. And he was the epitome of that energy, that power, that explosion.
Susan, you have honored his birthday well.
Joe, I love your take on Shakespeare’s works, and especially enjoyed this observation: “And just a simple kid from little Warwickshire” – which gives hope to all of us with poetry aflame in our hearts and gnawing at our bones. Thank you very much indeed, from a simple kid from Kent!
Susan: finely wrought but dearly bought, these salad days are keto and kale.
Lady and Gentlemen: Sonnets today are overly fraught, and lectures are to no avail.
Let us revisit George Henry Boker’s advice to R H Stoddard: “Read Chaucer for strength, read Spenser for ease and sweetness, read Milton for sublimity and thought, read Shakespeare for all these things, and for something else which is alone. Get out of your age as far as you can.” (Letter dated 07 JAN 1850).
And remember as you walk along the arbor’s rose-soaked scent this morning under Marian skies, that Shakespeare & Company (gratuitous allusion alert) loved rhetoric and its uses to vary meter and rhythm. Throw some spondees into the iambic sauce for piquancy!
And remember this: many of us are of an age that we remember attending college and university to study those men and women of science, politics, literature, engineering, philosophy and Faith who did NOT attend college or university.
Or workshops. Or Writer-In-Residence events. No, Anne Bradstreet, Emily Dickinson (America’s greatest), Longfellow, Poe, Frost, Millay, Moore, Ransom and a myriad motley of others, read and wrote and read and wrote and rewrote within the Tradition. And Tradition, of course, is the individual talent.
Give our quirky poets a chance and we just might stumble upon our “our Shakespeare these days.”
Jonathan, thank you for this breathtakingly beautiful, informative, and highly entertaining comment. I love the “keto and kale” observation. But much more than that, my heart is warmed to read this:
And remember this: many of us are of an age that we remember attending college and university to study those men and women of science, politics, literature, engineering, philosophy and Faith who did NOT attend college or university.
And that myriad of motley poets who remind us to “give our quirky poets a chance…” – it’s about time voices sang and rang freely, without the overbearing interference from starchy arbiters of truth and beauty.
Susan, what a beautiful Shakespearean sonnet!! …my favorite kind. You highlight everything that people love about his work — the cauldrons, the conjuring, that moon-licked darkness… none of it is window dressing. It is that fictive creativity that Doctor Salemi talks about. Shakespeare didn’t tame the imagination — he turned it loose and let it run wild.
Tolkien was like that, too. He made myths, built worlds, and filled dark woods with old shadows, pagan creatures, and enough darkness to make the light worth a damn. He was creating… the holiest thing a person can do. Not in spite of the darkness but through it.
He would’ve read The Swan’s Song and known exactly what he was looking at — not a poem that needs saving, but a poem that already is the redemptive act. That bardic blaze burning against muzzled days? That’s sacred fire.
What Tolkien feared most wasn’t pagan symbols, darkness, or boiling cauldrons. It was the muzzling of art and imagination with “approved” messages.
And he knew exactly how dead that road gets.
Thank you, biggest fan! For me, Shakespeare offers us the full sprawl of the human condition, warts and all – literally. Shakespeare offers much more than piety. He offers a broader view that embraces human contradiction, where light only gains meaning because the dark is permitted to speak creatively, starkly, and beautifully, which is one of the many reasons I celebrate his literary genius. Tolkien appreciated this as you rightly point out.
My English Master once told the class that Shakespeare appears in every TV soap opera, and if we wanted to understand his works, we could simply trace these characters and plots back to his plays. I did just that and found that Shakespeare’s success lies in the fact that he holds a mirror up to a swathe of timeless and relatable traits… and there’s something very humbling and spiritual in understanding the human condition. I would like to add, Shakespeare’s plays are far richer and far more rewarding than any soap opera, but these trite TV shows set me on the path to appreciating true greatness.
IMO, the closest thing to a genuine modern-day ‘Shakespeare’ is the one-of-a-kind bard who penned this phenomenal birthday-honoring sonnet. Susan has penned as many or more outstanding ‘classical’ poems than any lifelong ‘classical’ poet I’ve come across in the past 30 years. At poetry of this sort she is unsurpassed and is equaled by but a handful of comparables, attracting dozens of top quality poets world wide, and is easily one of the SCP’s very finest. Tell ya’ what, Susie – I’ll pen a sonnet for your birthday if you’ll pen one for mine! 🙂
“Hi” to Mike…
I’ve got your ‘birthday-tribute’ ready to send, young lady, all I need is your birthday! Mine is 2-15-50, so you’ve got oodles of time 🙂 (I could use a kind word about the dozens of narratives on the flash-drive-book I sent you guys, they’re my specialty.) Be well…
Hey Mark! I gotta tell ya, as Susan’s biggest fan, she only writes birthday poems for me!
I do make occasional exceptions… Shakespeare’s death qualified him… barely.
Sounds appropriate, Mike, I only wish Connie would reciprocate with me someday -. However, having already penned it, U 2 might as well see her ‘birthday present’ from us early – take care, M & C
A Birthday Tribute to Shakespeare-Protégé, Susan J. Bryant
I’ve surfed the finest poetry sites for more than fifty years
In search of what, to me at least’s, the ‘best’ among ‘The Best’.
One who towers, again – for me – above her countless peers,
And now, at last, have found a Bard who ‘aces’ every test.
Alliteration superstars are few and far between,
But when it comes to trimming verse with words that ‘sound the same’
And utilizing perfect terms and metaphors to preen
Her every composition – she but fortifies her fame.
Many a poet’s chased their tail attempting ‘classic verse’,
Learning, after many tries, for most, it can’t be done.
It takes a very special Bard to mimic guys like Willie,
But of the few who’ve pulled it off — Susan Bryant’s one.
I, myself, am quite convinced that Susan has no equal
And, as her many fans, am keen for each and every sequel!
Mark, thank you very much, indeed! What wonderfully encouraging words. I am now in insufferable-diva mode and will be strutting, fluffing my boa feathers, and gloating all afternoon… and perhaps tonight as well. Poor Mike!
Mark, thank you so much for reading my humble nod to the Bard, and thank you for your kind and encouraging words. It’s lovely to know my poetry is appreciated. I adore writing and simply cannot stop… but to know others enjoy the end result gives my Muse an extra zing in her poetic step, and for that I am most grateful.
Well done, Susan. What a concise and delightful tour de force.
T.M., thank you very much for reading my poem and for your beautiful words of appreciation. I am thrilled you enjoyed it.
A wonderful poem, to be sure, honoring one who absolutely deserves honor. The images spring to life again–a sure and vital testament in fourteen lines that “bardic blaze” was real and is real. This graceful homage, too, sheds light and encouragement. In a saddened age grandeur is still possible.
Bhikkhu, thank you very much for your kind and beautiful words. I too believe “in this saddened age grandeur is still possible” thanks to this site and poets like your good self. Keep writing, sharing, and smiling. Beautiful poetry is what it means to be human.
Lovely Susan – the ambiguity, or is it the litany of double-entendres, starting with Swan song, that makes this so Shakespearean in itself! A joy to read.
Coming from someone who understands Shakespeare’s works more than most, someone who has helped many scholars appreciate his wonder, this comment is dear to me. James, thank you!
An entertaining and evocative tour through the Shakespearian canon, Susan. Enjoyed it hugely. Thank you.
I am thrilled to hear this from an accomplished penner of sonnets. Martin, I’m over the moon you enjoyed the poem. Thank you!
This was a joy to read, Susan, and it was fun to pick out the numerous references to Shakespeare’s plays contained within your sonnet.
Morrison, thank you very much indeed. Thank goodness I chose the sonnet form. There are so many marvelous plays, I could have gone on… and on… and on…
Such an enjoyable and inspiring read, Susan, with a timeless quality that will make it a joy to return to.
Jan, thank you for your beautiful words of appreciation and encouragement. I’m glad you enjoyed the poem.
I very much enjoyed this. Commemorative verse is hard to achieve and sound sincere. You give a fine tribute through a patchwork of allusions, each of them giving just enough of a hint to pinpoint a specific play. You end – appropriately – with a lamentation framing your praise squarely within the context of an age that fails to appreciate art and talent. This was a pleasure to read.
Adam, I’m thrilled you enjoyed my poem and I’m over the moon I hit the right note for you. Your words have made my Sunday morning much sunnier.
Susan, thanks for this tribute to our Bard. I love the way you get in so many nods to his plays!
They used to say that Americans can’t do Shakespeare. But now, they probably do it better than our modern stages. A few years back, I went to a local production of “Julius Caesar.” (I live in Blackpool.) For some reason, the part of Brutus, and a few other male roles, were given to women. It was confusing and unnecessary. It seems that nowadays, on the stage or on TV, it’s against the rules to show what the writer actually put down. And of course diversity must always be accommodated. Rant over! I liked your poem.
David, it’s always lovely to hear from you. I’m thrilled you enjoyed the poem. You make a very important point on the extreme liberties taken with interpretation. Some years ago, I attended a lecture on The Tempest delivered with colonialism in mind. Shakespeare’s island was named Uluru in a blatant attempt to stoke guilt. I also saw a production of Hamlet that portrayed Ophelia as visibly insane. She leaned so far into madness that it reduced Shakespeare’s layered balance of grief to hilarity. These were both in the UK, sadly.
I believe, any interpretation of Shakespeare that distorts rather than illuminates is theft. When text is bent to fit present sensibilities, audiences are robbed of the intent that made his work endure. This diminishes the inheritance of future generations. Misreading is one thing. Willfully manipulating text to suit an ideology is another. That goes for any text.
David, thank you for your appreciation, and for your rant, which allowed me to have a good old rant of my own. I haven’t seen a Shakespeare play here in Texas… my entertainment extends only as far as birdwatching. I was going to say I prefer peaceful pursuits in the warm arms on Mother Nature these days… but then I remembered the alligators lurking on the periphery.