How to Read Shakespeare for Pleasure by Emma Smith

In recent years the orthodoxy that Shakespeare can only be truly appreciated on stage has become widespread. But, as with many of our habits and assumptions, lockdown gives us a chance to think differently. Now could be the time to dust off the old collected works, and read some Shakespeare, just as people have been doing for more than 400 years. Many people have said they find reading Shakespeare a bit daunting, so here are five tips for how to make it simpler and more pleasurable. 1. Ignore the footnotes…

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Dandelions by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

Dandelions Welcome children of the Spring    In your garbs of green and gold Lifting up your sun-crowned heads    On the verdant plain and world   As a bright and joyous troop    From the breast of earth ye came Fair and lovely are your cheeks    With sun-kisses all aflame   In the dusty streets and lanes    Where the lowly children play There as gentle friends ye smile    Making brighter life’s highway   Dewdrops and the morning sun    Weave your garments fair and bright And…

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Spring Cleaning by Melvin Dixon

Spring Cleaning First goes floor dust, then newspapers stacked near the bed. Peanut shells swept out of  hiding between mattress and rug. Toenails clipped. Sprouts of a beard shaved off. With hourly glasses of Deer Park Water and the barest of food, the body sheds winter fat and filler The hair goes next, close to the gleaming, gleaming skull You are ready for the sun and the salt-tongued air You are someone new. I will be someone new, like you, and promise not to hear the rattle our bones make…

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فیض رسول فیضان ۔۔۔۔ سلام

سلام کیا جلوہ کربلا میں دکھایا حسینؓ نے سجدے میں جا کے سر کو کٹایا حسینؓ نے خوش بخت تھا کہ آپ کے قدموں پہ آگرا سویا نصیب حُر کا جگایا حسینؓ نے نیزے پہ سر تھا اور زباں پر تھیں آیتیں قرآن اِس طرح بھی سنایا حسینؓ نے ناناؐ کے پاک نام پہ ہر چیز وار دی کچھ بھی نہ اپنے پاس بچایا حسینؓ نے صدمے سے قدسیوں کی بھی چیخیں نکل گئیں اصغرؓ کو جب گلے سے لگایا حسینؓ نے راہِ خدا میں جان کی بازی لگا گئے…

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خیام ۔۔۔ رباعیات (الف، ب، ت، خ، د)

برخیز بتا بیا ز بهر دل ما حل کن به جمال خویشتن مشکل ما یک کوزه شراب تا به هم نوش کنیم زآن پیش که کوزه‌ها کنند از گل ما ۔۔۔ چون عهده نمی‌شود کسی فردا را حالی خوش دار این دل پر سودا را می نوش به ماهتاب ای ماه که ماه بسیار بتابد و نیابد ما را ۔۔۔۔ قرآن که مهین کلام خوانند آن را گهگاه نه بر دوام خوانند آن را بر گرد پیاله آیتی هست مقیم کاندر همه جا مدام خوانند آن را ۔۔۔ گر می…

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Letter to The Father by Ricardo Domeneck

LETTER TO THE FATHER Now that my lord more closely resembles a hunk of meat with two eyes turned toward the dark ceiling from the gurney where likely you will not die alone only because not even able to swallow your saliva yourself in the company of this tube alone that feeds you I ask myself if mother’s ban against confessing to my lord the amorous habits of my mucous membranes is still in place and if indeed you would love me the less you knew about how much rubbing…

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The Chance of You Asking My Name is Declining by the Second by Iduna Paalman

THE CHANCE OF YOU ASKING MY NAME IS DECLINING BY THE SECOND You can guarantee the police search your coat when you’ve got      nothing to say. Set your face to dead calm staying silent, your unloaded arms by your sides.      Being slammed to the ground can also be a way of satisfying certain physical needs. What I’ve stolen or been dealing, white or the colour of the      pavement, well you tell me. What I share, which parts of me provide you with a whole,…

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