What was especially notable about the series was that the “hero” of the story was a Japanese akita dog called “Gin” (which is the Japanese word for “silver”).

The akita dog, from Akita Prefecture in northern Honshu, Japan, is a versatile hunting dog that is ideal for hunting deer, bear and game. It is also the national dog of Japan.

Yoshihiro Takahashi, who was born in Akita Prefecture, is said to have been inspired to create a manga series with an akita dog as the hero after reading a news article about stray dogs that turned wild, formed dog packs and lived in the mountains.

“Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin” is set in the Ohu mountains in the remote north eastern region of Honshu, an area populated by Japanese black bears.

The story gradually shifts its focus from a hunting community, with man and dog responding to the menace of giant bears, to the animal world and the visceral conflict between bears and dogs.

Each group, humans, dogs and bears, consists of various characters, breeds or types, which adds variety and deepens the interest and complexity of the story.

The story opens with an account of how an akita puppy, Gin, loses his father, Riki, when Riki is thrown over a cliff during a fight with a gigantic bear called Akakabuto. Thinking that Riki is dead, his master, Gohe, abandons him.

Gin, and his young master, Daisuke, head off to hunt down and kill the giant bear. But the bear they succeed in killing turns out not to be Akakabuto. Worse still, Akakabuto has gathered a whole gang of bears.

Eventually, Gin leaves Daisuke and joins a dog pack that has formed to fight the bears. It transpires that the dogs are able to talk to each other, just as humans are, although the humans think the dogs are simply barking and yelping.

The leader of the dog pack is Riki, Gin’s father, a charismatic leader. Unfortunately, however, he has lost his memory as a result of his fall during his fight with Akakabuto, so he does not recognize his son when Gin joins the dog pack…

The story involves a lot of violence but it proved to be popular enough for it to be turned into a ten volume manga book series.

In 1987, Yoshihiro Takahashi’s achievement was recognized and “Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin” received a Shogakukan Manga Award.

In 1999, Yoshihiro Takahashi brought out a sequel called “Ginga Nagareboshi Weed”, telling the story of Gins son, Weed. The series is still running today.

He also wrote a prequel series, which was combined in a single six-chapter volume called “Ginga Densetsu Riki”.

The manga was turned into a television animation by Toei Animation and broadcast in Japan in 1986.

It was released in the West as a video series dubbed into English and other languages, but because of the brutality of the fighting scenes it was considered too violent for children in its uncensored form and quite severely cut in several places.

As well as being very popular in Japan, this manga series was a big hit in Scandinavia, and the biggest English language websites on the animation series are run from that part of the world, where it is also now possible to get uncut DVD versions of the original Japanese anime series.

The four humours were the choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic and melancholic. The melancholic, being cold and dry, was associated with earth. The phlegmatic humour was cold and moist and associated with water. The sanguine humour was located in the blood, which was hot and moist, and the choleric humour was associated with fire and was hot and dry.

• Fire = Choleric = Hot and Dry = Bile
• Air = Sanguine = Hot and Moist = Blood
• Water = Phlegmatic = Cold and Moist = Phlegm
• Earth = Melancholic = Cold and Dry = Black Bile

It was the particular mixture or combination of these humours, or elements as they were also called, that informed each individual human being with a particular temperament or “complexion”.

The ideal man would consist of a perfect mixture of the four elements. In Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, Anthony describes Brutus as having been just such a man:

His life was gentle, and the elements
So mixed up in him that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world ‘This was a man!’

Few people are blessed with such an ideal mixture and most exhibit a predominant humour or combination of humours.

For example, if someone was said to be of a choleric temperament it was because his character reflected the predominate tendency of that humour; in other words, he was a quick tempered, impatient, bilious sort of chap.

A phlegmatic character was placid and rather indolent, lacking in feelings and tending towards imbecility.

A sanguine character was ruddy of countenance, of a cheerful disposition and a lover of the pleasures of the flesh. Many considered this the best of all the humours.

Finally, the melancholic type was moody, sensitive, reflective, and given to bouts of mania or world-weary sadness or chagrin, like Antonio in The Merchant of Venice:

In sooth I know not why I am so sad,
It wearies me…

It was the melancholic humour that was given the most attention in the Renaissance period because it was the humour that could bring on bouts of madness, ecstasy, fury, and was even linked to divine inspiration.

Socrates and Plato were said to have been melancholic types whose philosophical insights were divinely inspired.

Poets and artists were also thought to have melancholic temperaments, and an attitude of “tristezza” became fashionable among young intellectuals in Shakespeare’s day.

In his Anatomy of Melancholy, Burton remarks that melancholia “advanceth men’s conceits more than any other humour” - in other words, the melancholic type is given to witticisms and has a swift and fertile imagination.

Michel De Montaigne (1533-1592), who popularized the essay as a literary genre, described his natural complexion as being a stable mixture of the sanguine and melancholic, the former keeping the latter in check.

However, when he relinquished his business affairs and retired to his country estate to live the life of a gentleman of leisure, a sudden bereavement threw him into a profound melancholic depression which he feared might develop into full-blown madness. His spirit, usually tempered by the sanguine humour and therefore free of sadness, suddenly “bolted off like a runaway horse” and gave birth to “chimeras and fantastic monstrosities, one after another” (Essays I:8).

If melancholia or any of the other humours takes on excess it corrupts and burns up to become “melancholy adust” and if one’s predominate humour is melancholia, then madness is a real danger.

Montaigne’s solution was to write about himself in the light of classical history, personal experience and anecdotes he picked up here and there. He analyzed and questioned everything that interested him (except the doctrines of the Catholic faith) with the sceptical eye of a student of Sextus Empiricus.

Montaigne’s melancholic humour and his intellectual scepticism are thought to have influenced Shakespeare in his creation of Hamlet, who is the image of a sceptical prince par excellence. Much of the play revolves around Hamlet’s search for evidence that Claudius did indeed murder Hamlet’s father.

Hamlet grieves over the loss of his father and is horrified by his mother’s hasty marriage with his uncle, Claudius, the new king. Hamlet’s melancholy humour is clearly conveyed in his first soliloquy:

How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world!

Hamlet’s melancholy has become corrupted and “burnt” with excessive heat, and during the course of the play we see him take on various roles or undergo experiences that might be linked to “melancholy adust”.

He sees a ghost, just as Montaigne reported seeing chimeras; his language is full of poetic conceit and witty inspiration; he apes a lover’s ecstacies; he kills Polonius in a moment of fury and ultimately kills Claudius in a frenzied assault hastened by his knowledge that he too is dying.

And of course, Hamlet feigns madness. But he does it so convincingly that we wonder whether or not he has actually gone mad, or at least whether one would have to be mad in order to choose to feign madness.

Whatever the truth behind the claims that Shakespeare was influenced by Montaigne when he was writing Hamlet, one thing is certain, and that is that Hamlet is for much of the play an excellent model of melancholia.

For every smart girl who’s maxed out her credit card on an irresistible pair of shoes, a few (ok, a lot) of expensive coffees and a new duvet - just because, there’s a little bit of Becky Bloomwood inside of her.

Sophie Kinsella, one of New York Times bestselling authors, has given every woman with a head on her shoulders the opportunity to enjoy an over indulgence of impulse shopping without the guilt-inducing credit statement that follows. By following the misadventures of her quirky and opportunistic shopaholic, Becky Bloomwood, in the series of ‘Shopaholic’ novels that is being devoured by legions of fans, you can shop from London to Manhattan, from the top shops to the behind-the-scenes sales, without breaking the bank.

Sophie Kinsella has created a heroine with problems. A financial writer, turned financial consultant on TV, Becky is enjoying the fame of financial wizardry while hiding her dark secret - shopping debt! Good intentions aside, there always seems to be a way to rationalize a little spending - whether it’s a Starbucks coffee or another pair of shoes. Even cutting back and getting a second job seems to lead to more trouble instead of more cash.

If following Becky’s first person account of the struggles of maintaining her lifestyle despite the cost is not enough to engage you, her antics trying to cover her spending trail will have you in stitches; antics described by USA Today as “worthy of classic ‘I Love Lucy’ episodes”. Sophie’s creation is begging for the same cinematic turn as fictional English neurotic, Bridget Jones, and according to her website Disney already has one in the works.

If you are looking for a captivating tale that will leave you flushed with the excitement of a spring sale you must start reading the ‘Shopaholic’ series this summer and share them with your friends. And if Sophie Kinsella’s books really capture your interest, you can join her fans on the official Random House website for a chat in the forums, join the newsletter, read more about the author or look for her new books coming up for release.

Epic Poems

The oldest poetic form is the epic, sometimes called the heroic poem. An epic poem is a long narrative that concentrates on heroic deeds and events that are significant to a particular culture. Mythology is often expressed in the form of an epic poem. Many epics existed in oral form only and have not survived.

Examples of epic poems that have survived in written form include “Gilgamesh,” which was recorded about 2000 B.C. on clay tablets. Much of Greek mythology was recorded as epic poems by numerous authors, including Homer’s “Iliad” and his “Odyssey.” Virgil’s “Aeneid” and Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” are famous epics which cover Roman mythology. Written during the medieval period, “Beowulf” relates numerous Anglo-Saxon legends. More recent examples of popular epic poems include Dante’s “The Divine Comedy,” John Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” Lord Byron’s “Don Juan,” Longfellow’s “The Song of Hiawatha,” and Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass.”

Characteristics of an epic poem include an imposing, significant hero; a vast setting; courageous, even superhuman actions; supernatural forces, such as demons or gods; and an objective point of view surveying the whole story.

Lyrical Poems

Lyric poetry originally referred to the Greek practice of delivering verse to the accompaniment of the lyre. A lyric poem generally is a short poem, often expressing personal deep feelings, having a musical quality that might be set to music and performed to an audience.

Some familiar lyric poets include the Greeks, Sappho and Pindar, and the Romans, Catullus and Horace. During the middle ages the Persian Omar Khayyam wrote memorable lyric verses. During later centuries John Donne, Ben Jonson, John Milton, Robert Burns, Goethe, and Schiller were famous for their lyric poems. The 19th and 20th centuries were filled with lyric poets. Some of the most familiar include Wordsworth, Keats, Byron, Shelley, Tennyson, Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams, and Robert Frost.

Lyric poems typically depend on rhythm and rhyme. Rhythm is often called meter and is composed of several feet or beats. Two syllable feet and three syllable feet are the most common, and a lyric verse normally has a small number of lines, each divided into a recognizable pattern of feet. A verse may contain a definite rhyme pattern or may be left without rhyme and called blank verse.

Dramatic Poems

Dramatic poetry is meant to be spoken or sung to an audience. It derives from theatrical drama and is generally written in the form of a dialogue or a monologue.

Examples of dramatic poetry can be found in Greek tragedies, Indian drama, Chinese opera, and Japanese Noh theatre.

Fixed Forms

Sonnets, ballads, odes, elegies, epigrams, limericks, and haiku are popular fixed forms of poetry. Each form follows a definite model.

The most famous sonnets are those of Shakespeare, also called English sonnets. English sonnets are 14 lines in length and consist of 3 quatrains (four lines) and a couplet (two lines). The rhyme pattern is generally characterized by abab, cdcd, efef, gg. Shakespeare’s lines employ an iambic pentameter rhythm, five two-syllable feet.

Another popular sonnet form is the Petrarchan or Italian sonnet, named after Francesco Petrarch. This form also has 14 lines broken into an 8 line octave with a rhyme pattern of abbaabba and a 6 line sestet with a rhyme pattern of xyzxyz.

Sonnets are often written about love and affection and employ skillful imagery. Their length allows the poet to create complications in the body of the sonnet and then to resolve the conflicts in the closing lines.

A ballad is a form of verse meant to be sung or recited and usually presents a dramatic or exciting episode from real life.

The traditional ballad form includes four lines per stanza and, often, a refrain. The four lines in each ballad verse consist of four two-syllable feet in the first and third lines and three two-syllable feet in the second and fourth lines. The rhyme pattern is often abab.

An ode is generally a lengthy lyric poem with a serious subject matter, and elevated style, and an elaborate structure. One form is modeled after the Roman poet, Horatio, and uses uniform stanzas and a regular rhythm pattern. The stanzas are often divided into three sections. The first section describes the scene or situation. The second section presents the problem, and the third section presents an insight, a vision, a decision, or a revelation.

Elegies are a form of lyric poetry used for mourning a death, reflecting on something sorrowful, or considering something strange or mysterious. Many elegies are set to music. Some paintings are also titled as elegies.

Epigrams are usually short poems ending with a twist or a clever, witty point. In the Greek tradition they were inscribed on statues or sanctuaries. In the Roman tradition the epigram became a witty gift given to entertain a patron or a loved one, and not something to be inscribed. In the English tradition the epigram became a witty rhymed couplet with Coleridge, Pope, Dryden, and even Benjamin Franklin becoming its master.

Limericks are funny poems often containing hyperbole, puns, and idioms. The last line of the limerick is usually the punch line, a witty conclusion. The form of the limerick consists of five lines, three rhyming each other, and the remaining two lines also rhyming. The rhyme pattern is aabba with lines 1, 2, and 5 containing three two-syllable feet and lines 3 and 4 containing two two-syllable feet.

Haiku is a form of traditional Japanese poetry. Haiku is a 17-syllable verse form which consists of three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. The traditional subject of a haiku is a revealing moment in nature that is conveyed directly to the reader without judgment. One or two words indicate the season of the year to which the Haiku relates. The traditional Haiku is considered complete in itself and is not titled.

Conclusion

There are a few other identifiable poetic forms in addition to the ones listed above. Certainly, there will be additional forms invented by insightful poets in the future. Understanding and appreciating the many different forms of poetry will help the reader to more greatly appreciate the creative work of the poet.

This classic Jane Austen tale should have been under my literary belt years and years ago. I was about to read the novel when I was in college but I fell ill and had to leave the campus before I could commit to the text. Now that it’s years later, I finally have taken in the story through the Pride and Prejudice audio book.

You may be wondering why on earth I don’t have time to read. Actually, that’s pretty much all that I do at work. By the time I get home from a day of editing and proofreading, I’m beat. The last thing I want to do is look at another page of print. This is where my passion falls to the wayside.

However, I have rekindled my love affair for the all time classic novels. My newest adventure is the Pride and Prejudice audio book. I can relax with a nice glass of wine and listen to the beautiful story unfold. The process is quite different from reading and it is entirely different from watching a film.

The Pride and Prejudice audio book has afforded me a viable way to unwind while hearing all 61 magnificent chapters of this story without demanding any more time dedicated to reading text. These classic stories are extremely important and they should be enjoyed whatever way we can enjoy them.

I also find that my teenage niece is pretty interested in the Jane Austen tale. She likes the idea of borrowing the Pride and Prejudice audio book for her long ride to her college campus. Funny how these things come full circle. I once lost an opportunity to read the novel when I was about her age. Now I’m providing her a means to get a head start by hearing the story while driving to school.

Since the experience with the Pride and Prejudice audio book has been so wonderful; I am going to take on some more classics in the near future. Once I retire from editing I will probably crack open another text. Until then, I’m absorbing the novels thorough my ears.

Poetic meter consists of units known as “feet.” Of course, regular everyday speech also consists of “feet.” A “foot” is made up of one or two lightly stressed syllables and one heavily stressed syllable. English and American poetry has four basic combinations of “feet.”

Maybe they’re called feet because people beat out a pattern or rhythm with their feet when clogging or tap dancing. Some steps are heavy and others are light. Some are soft and others sharp. Such beats create the rhythm of the dance. Poetry is the same; the beats can be carefully counted to achieve the overall rhythm. You can tap out the beats of a poem with your fingers to figure out the meter.

The first of the four basic combinations of feet is called the “iamb” and its pattern is light-heavy, or short-long. This means it’s an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, and it sounds like “da-DUM.” An example of an iamb would be a word such as without, believe or decay, and this kind of meter is called “iambic.”

The opposite of an iamb is known as a “trochee” and it’s called “trochaic meter.” The trochaic foot pattern is heavy-light, or long-short, which means it has one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable, so it goes DUM-da. Some examples are turtle, starlight and whisper.

The next kind of foot is an “anapest” with three syllables, and a pattern of light-light-heavy, or short-short-long. Anapests have two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable and they sound like “da-da-DUM.” Anapestic meter includes phrases such as “to the sea,” and “And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold.”

The fourth basic foot is called a “dactyl” and it’s known as “dactylic meter.” It’s the opposite of an anapest, having three syllables with a pattern of heavy-light-light, or long-short-short. It has a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables and sounds like “DUM-da-da.” An example would be “out of the,” or “This is the forest pri -meval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks” (from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem Evangeline.)

Another example of internal poetic structure is the number of feet in each line of poetry. One foot is known as monometer; two as dimeter, three trimeter, four tetrameter, five pentameter, and so on.

The iamb is the most common foot in American and English poetry because its pattern is the most similar to ordinary speech. The meter Shakespeare wrote in, iambic pentameter, is the most common verse line in English and American poetry, with five iambs per line. “To be, or not to be, that is the question,” is a good example.

Although the four meters described above are the most basic meters, there are others such as the “spondee,” long-long and the “pyrrhus,” short-short. In addition there’s a “tribrach,” short-short-short, an “amphibrach,” short-long-short, a “bacchius,” short-long-long, a “cretic,” long-short-long, an “antibacchius,” long-long-short, and a “molossus,” long-long-long. The names themselves are wonderful!

Mave Binchy is the author of ‘Circle of Friends’. The book was made into a movie starring Minnie Driver and the author has won many of fans by involving them with her tales of Irish citizens and the twists and turns that create fascinating stories out of ordinary lives.

If you relish the emotion and intricacies of relationships and the madness of triumph and tragedies that inflict themselves on everyday lives, you will find yourself captivated as she spins a story of average people of whom you truly feel could be your best friend or neighbor.

Her books have been called “Mesmerizing”, “Remarkably moving” and “Compulsively readable” by reviewers.

In many of her novels, ‘The Glass Lake’, ‘Evening Class’, ‘Copper Beech’ and others, the stories of the lives of the characters emerge and become intertwined. As you become intimately involved with one character you will meet the other individuals in his or her life - at the restaurant, down the street and even during a foreign escapade.

As you travel their lives you will feel you have not only met this individual but understand their longings and place in this world based on your intimate knowledge of their past and their experiences.

When you read another novel, you will again meet these old friends as they are known to the current character. You will have the familiar feeling that you’ve known this town and it’s occupants for years. In fact, you may well wonder if Mave Binchy knows them herself. The stories have such a ring of truth and the mixing of individuals so well thought out you believe she could indefinitely create this town of people with history, lives and futures as if they existed in the real world.

You will not come to the end of a novel with the feeling of regret as we so often do when enjoying an engaging tale because you will actually visit these characters again, at another time in their life. Just as moving away from your hometown can be painful, it is wonderfully reassuring to hear news or make a visit and see how life is progressing for these dear ones.

It is an understatement to say that Mave Binchy weaves a fine yarn - the truth is that when you close the book you will sense you’ve had a long talk over a cup of coffee with an acquaintance and after listening to their life story come away with a new friend. You will become enraptured with the details of their lives and surprised or moved by the trials and tribulations they’ve encountered. They will in fact become a piece of your memory in much the same way as friends from your youth and from far away have become a small piece of you.

It would be easy to pass Harry Potter off as a fad, something people got carried away with, like the pet rock or disco. Doing so however would be a mistake because there is something very deep and lasting in Harry Potter that his fans connect with, something more than just a fleeting attachment to that which is popular.

Understanding the appeal of Harry Potter starts with understanding where Harry came from. Most people know that Harry lived in a cupboard under the stairs with an aunt and uncle who despised him and a cousin who pummeled him - and then he realized he was a wizard, and a famous wizard at that.

The books then go on to describe how Harry then went to Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, where he had many adventures and made two very good friends. All of this is sure to appeal to children who feel left out or left behind. Who wouldn’t fall in love with a story like that?

What is interesting is that Jane Eyre, the lead character in the famous Bronte novel, lived with an aunt and uncle who despised her and a cousin who pummeled her, and when she stood up to her cousin, she was sent off to school. It turned out to be a fairly horrible school, and her life was not as exotic as Harry’s, but the connection is there.

Those who want to call Harry Potter “too fanciful” or “just a bunch of silliness” would do well to think about what this series really means to its readers. They are not just books. They are stories about the Boy Who Lived. The boy who lived through a terrible childhood, the boy who made friends when he had never had a friend, the boy who became a hero in spite of feeling very ordinary, the boy who mattered to people when he thought he did not matter at all.

And the magic does not really happen because someone flicks a wand. It is not about charms and transfiguration and expelliarmus and all the wizard talk. If they try to, even the hardest-hearted Muggle can relate to the idea that Harry Potter is a very real boy, in a very real situation, and he is doing the very best he can.

That is what appeals not only to young boys and girls, but also to adults of all ages - the idea that anyone who does the best they can is bound to end up on top, eventually. Everyone wants to live a life in which, in time, all is well.

The Stratfordian Case

The abundant historical evidence shows that William Shakespeare (recorded as Shakespeare at his baptism) was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. He moved to London, becoming a writer, an actor, and a part owner of the acting company, the King’s Men, which owned the Globe Theatre and the Blackfriars Theatre. He spent time in both London and Stratford, where he died in 1616.

Shakespeare was probably educated in Stratford at The King’s New School, though there are no surviving records of his early education. At the school he would have received an excellent education, and he would have learned Latin and studied some Roman playwrights. There is no evidence or suggestion that Shakespeare received further formal education at a university. It is likely that he was self-educated during his years in London, much as fellow dramatist and friend Ben Jonson, and fellow writers John Webster, Thomas Dekker, and Edmund Spenser.

In addition to the historical evidence referenced above, there is abundant written evidence that William Shakespeare was a poet and a playwright. For one, a couple of narrative poems, “Venus and Adonis” and also “The Rape of Lucrece” were published with a dedication to the Earl of Southampton, his patron, and were signed by William Shakespeare. Also, Thomas Thorpe published the volume, “Shake-speares Sonnets”. Though it is not known whether the publication of the volume was authorized, it is clearly attributed to be the work of Shakespeare. Also, many of his plays, including “Hamlet” and “King Lear,” were published during his lifetime and attributed to William Shakespeare.

Further, the First Folio of 1623, the posthumous collection of Shakespeare’s plays published by his friends and fellow King’s Men actors, Heminges and Condell, is dedicated to Shakespeare. The Folio is titled, “Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies,” and Heminges and Condell dedicated the volume to Shakespeare.

Finally, Shakespeare’s death was noted and mourned. William Basse wrote a famous elegy, copies of which still exist, where he says that Shakespeare deserves to be buried in Westminster Abbey next to Chaucer, Beaumont, and Spenser. A few years after his death a monument was erected in Stratford depicting Shakespeare as a writer sitting at his desk, pen in hand.

The Anti-Stratfordians - The Oxfordian Case

The anti-Stratfordians, those who believe that someone other than Shakespeare of Stratford wrote the plays and sonnets attributed to him, make some strong arguments. They point to Shakespeare’s modest education and his lack of travel outside of Stratford and London. Scholars question how he could have written plays that required considerable geographical and political knowledge, and which required knowledge of French, Spanish, and Italian sources, languages that Shakespeare could not read. The vocabulary in his plays seems to be far greater than the modestly educated Shakespeare could have possessed.

Also, the anti-Stratfordians point out that Shakespeare’s will did not mention any books, manuscripts, or a library. The will dealt in depth with household items but did not mention anything of literary importance. Numerous plays were unpublished and unperformed at the time of his death, and scholars believe it reasonable that the author would have made mention of them if they were truly his.

The Oxfordians believe that Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, is more likely to have been the true author of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets. For one, Edward de Vere was a talented and well-recognized poet and playwright whose word choices and phrases resembled those of Shakespeare. He was well enough educated, a Cambridge graduate at age 14, and widely enough traveled to have the knowledge to write the historical plays of Shakespeare. In many of the sonnets and plays are references to events that parallel de Vere’s own life. In fact, some consider the play “Hamlet” to be a near autobiography of de Vere’s life.

It is true that Edward de Vere died in 1604, before eleven of Shakespeare’s works have traditionally been dated. The Oxfordians point out errors in the traditional dating of Shakespeare’s later plays and make convincing arguments that the plays were written before de Vere’s death and then published posthumously, not an unusual occurrence.

The Nevillian Case

Recently a strong case has been made for the idea that Sir Thomas Neville is the most likely author of Shakespeare’s works. Neville was educated at Merton College, Oxford, and was fluent in many languages. He traveled for four years on the continent of Europe directly after graduation and in the company of an Oxford scholar. He was the Ambassador to France for two years, and then he became involved with the Essex conspiracy to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I. Neville and his friend, Lord Southampton, were convicted, fined, and confined to the Tower of London.

The Tower, for the rich like Neville, was more like a hotel than a prison. There is evidence to suggest that Neville wrote many of the Sonnets, including the ones that were addressed to Lord Southampton, while confined to the Tower. It is also here that Neville wrote the play, “Hamlet.” Later, he published “Shake-speares Sonnets” and wrote the dedication himself. He dedicated the sonnets to Lord Southampton. A notebook kept by Neville while in the Tower contained detailed notes that ended up as part of the play, “Henry VIII.”

The Tower experience also explains the shift in the focus of Shakespeare’s plays from histories and comedies to the great tragedies, all of which were written after Neville was released from the Tower when James I became the king.

Other evidence that Neville may have been the author of Shakespeare’s works includes a statistical correlation of word frequency between Neville’s private and diplomatic letters and the works of Shakespeare. Also, a document was discovered in 1867 that shows that Neville practiced writing William Shakespeare’s name. The document shows 17 attempts at duplicating the famous signature.

Some scholars suggest that Sir Neville used the actor Shakespeare as a front man for the plays and sonnets. Neville and Shakespeare were distant relatives and knew each other, probably through Lord Southampton, Shakespeare’s patron and Neville’s good friend. The suggestion is that Neville needed a pseudonym for his plays and sonnets because some of the plays were politically too sensitive. Neville was descended from rivals of the Tudors and Henry VIII had executed his grandfather, so he was concerned that his plays would be seen as seditious.

Scholars also suggest that Ben Jonson, who was employed at Gresham College, which was owned by the Neville family, knew of the front man arrangement. Since Jonson was involved with putting Shakespeare’s name on the First Folio, it is suggested that he did so at the request of the Neville family. The argument is that Shakespeare had agreed to the front man arrangement many years earlier, also at the request of Sir Neville and his family.

The debate about the authorship of Shakespeare’s works continues without a resolution in sight. There are numerous other candidates, including the idea that the plays were written by a group of people. Perhaps someday the discovery of an original manuscript will be found and the question will be answered once and for all.

Many poems make use of recognizable and accepted poetic conventions, though many poems break away from conventions. Familiarity with and understanding of many of the different poetic conventions can help a person to more fully appreciate the meanings and memories that are embedded in a poem.

Poetic Elements

The most common elements found in poetry are rhythm, rhyme, meter, and sound. These elements are what make poetry recognizably different from prose.

The rhythm in a poem comes from the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables and from the number of syllables in a line. Rhythm gives the lines of the poem movement and conveys a musical design.

The basic unit of meter is called a “foot.” Most commonly, a foot consists of two syllables or three syllables. In a two syllable foot, one syllable is stressed and the other is unstressed. In a three syllable foot, generally either the last syllable is stressed or the first one is stressed.

Here are the names and examples of some common meters.

Iambic meter has the two syllable pattern of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. For example: “That time of year thou mayest in me behold.”

Trochaic meter is the opposite of iambic meter. A trochaic foot stresses the first syllable. For example: “Twinkle, twinkle little star.”

Anapestic meter is a three syllable pattern with the third syllable receiving the stress. For example: “And the sound of a voice that is still.”

Dactylic meter is a three syllable pattern where the first syllable is stressed. For example: “This is the forest primeval, the murmuring pines and the hemlock.”

When the meter of a poetic line contains three feet, it is called a trimeter. If the line contains 4 feet, it is called a tetrameter, which is very common. Another common meter is the line that contains 5 feet, called a pentameter. A line with 6 feet is called a hexameter; a line with 7 feet is called a heptameter; and so on.

Putting meter and rhythm together, here is an example of a beautiful line of iambic pentameter from Shakespeare. “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?” By the way, Shakespeare often used iambic pentameter in his plays. Here is an example of trochaic tetrameter. “Tell me not in mournful numbers.” Or think of “Twinkle, twinkle little star.” Here is an example of anapestic trimeter. “And the sound of a voice that is still.”

Rhyme in a poem is the sound pattern produced by the regular repetition of consonant and vowel sounds. Most commonly, lines of a poem will rhyme at the end of the lines. When a rhyme occurs within a single line, it is called an internal rhyme. The sound pattern created by rhyming lines in a poem is called the rhyme scheme. A rhyme scheme is typically denoted with alphabetic letters, such as ABAB, or AABBCC. Not all poems exhibit a rhyme scheme, and those that do not are generally called free verse.

The sound of a poem often is created by the use of alliteration, assonance, or consonance. Alliteration is the most common of the sound elements. Alliteration is a pattern where there is repetition of the first consonant sound in two or more words in a line. Here’s a good example from William Blake. “Tyger, Tyger burning bright.” By the way, that line is also a good example of trochaic tetrameter.

Assonance generally involves the repetition of middle vowel sounds such as the use of “nine” and “white” in a line of poetry. Consonance involves the close repetition of similar consonant sounds following differing vowel sounds, such as the use of “head” and “bird” in a line of a poem.

Poetic Devices

Among the poetic devices commonly found in good poetry are simile, metaphor, and symbols. These devices, when well used, help to create a picture in the mind of the reader.

A simile is a definite and explicit comparison between two objects or concepts, usually linked with the words, “like,” “as,” or “than.” A good simile is often surprising as it links two unlikely things. The simile creates a concrete image. Here’s a great example from Robert Burns. “My love is like a red, red rose.”

A metaphor differs from a simile in that it is an implied comparison between two objects or concepts. A metaphor does not have the linking words that a simile has, and it represents one thing in terms of another. Here’s an example. “My love is a red rose of the heart.” Notice how different this metaphor is from the preceding simile.

Lastly, the poet often uses symbols in their poem. A symbol is a concrete item which represents an idea or feeling. The use of a symbol gives the symbolic item a deeper meaning and creates another type of picture in the reader’s mind. In Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken,” the forked road represents choices in life and is an easily understood symbol.

Conclusion

Understanding the most common elements and devices used in poetry helps the reader to more greatly appreciate the work of the poet. Understanding the elements and devices also helps the poet to be able to convey their meanings and memories to the reader in wonderful, poetic ways.