Given we just observed Shakespeare’s possible birthday and also the day of his death (April 23rd), I decided to share a few utterances by the uber wordster – the Bard – which we still use today. And a few others we don’t use much, but still are cool enough to share here!

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Utterances of the Bard: The Uber Wordster!

Shakespeare was certainly not we could call “uninfluential,” a word I coined using ‘un’ in front of ‘influential’! Just like the Bard did with many words back in his day.

The Un-utterances

We still use some of these ‘un’ words, some with the same meaning as when he used them, others differently, and some others we don’t really use anymore or much.

I have included a random few below: (source: various including ShakespearesWords):

• undress(v): to remove clothes or other covering. From The Taming of the Shrew, Induction Scene 2
• unfool (v): make less of a fool. From The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 4, Scene 2
• unpregnant (adj): unresponsive to, unready, uninclined.
• unshapes (v): deform, disfigure. For both unpregnant and unshapes. Measure for Measure, Act 4, Scene 4

There are so many more but you should check out the source for them all! Though I do need to include one last one, which is unfriended! Indeed, Shakespeare coined the word way before social media was a thing!! He used it with the meaning of to be deprived of a friend or to be friendless. One usage is from Twelfth Night, Act 3, Scene 3

Longer Utterances aka Phrases

Here are some phrases used by the Bard (some attributed to him too)

• all that glitters is not gold (The Merchant of Venice)
• break the ice (The Taming of the Shrew)
• cruel to be kind (Hamlet)
• dog will have his day (Hamlet)
• eaten me out of house and home (Henry V)
• fair play (The Tempest)
• green eyed monster (Othello)
• heart of gold (Henry V)
• it’s Greek to me (Julius Caesar)
• laughing stock (The Merry Wives of Windsor)
• mum’s the word (Henry VI)
• neither here nor there (Othello)
• own flesh and blood (Hamlet)
• pound of flesh (The Merchant of Venice)
• send him packing (Henry IV)
• too much of a good thing (As You Like It)
• vanish into thin air (Othello)
• wild-goose chase (Romeo and Juliet)

source: various, including Shakespeare.org and yourdictionary.com

Uber – cool Read for U

Ubiquitous

Uber Upbeat Beats + Names + Verses

Versing

The NaPoWriMo prompt for Day 24 is to write a poem that begins with a line from another poem (not necessarily the first one), but then goes elsewhere with it. This will work best if you just start with a line of poetry you remember, but without looking up the whole original poem. Or you could find a poem that you haven’t read before and then use a line that interests you. The idea is for the original to furnish the backdrop for your work, but without influencing you so much that you feel as if you are just rewriting the original!

Also including dVerse’s Poetics prompt for this week: Choose one of the Louis Wain artworks contained in the post, and write a poem inspired by the artwork. Simple enough, right? There’s just one catch–you may not use the word cat anywhere in your poem, including the title. Other feline terminology is acceptable. Do let us know which work you have chosen in your post.

The poem(s) I picked: The first line is from T. S. Eliot’s Mr. Mistoffelees (You ought to know Mr. Mistoffelees!) while the second line is part of a line from another poem in the book – Macavity (He’s broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.) Both poems are from Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. You can read it here.

The image I used is below:

My UnAttempt

Unruly Upending
You ought to know Mr. Mistoffelees!
… he breaks the law of gravity.
When we saw him that night, you see
He was flying high over the ancient oak tree.

The oak tree – it looked up, up to the sky
Twisted and turned its head, till, oh my!
There was a crack, a bang, a boom, a roar!
And the oak tree, it lost its head, for sure.

Soon there was a silence of owls in the air
And darkness spread for an instant right there.
The silence clouding the moon and all signs
Of Mr. Mistoffelees, our gravity defying feline!

That silence was sure loud with a steady stare
All fixed on that tabby who disturbed their
parliament-ary session on that oak-tree fair.
Now that familiar tabby has owlish nightmares.
~ Vidya tiru @ ladyinreadwrites

Note: silence, stare, and parliament are all terms for a group of owls!!

Names and Beats

The names for the letter U that I bring to you are Udit meaning sunrise and Uma (another name for the goddess Parvati) and can also mean “tranquility,” “splendor,” “fame,” and “night” (source).

Ude Jab Jab Zulfen Teri from Naya Daur (1957). A catchy upbeat tune with lyrics that you will love too

Uff Teri Ada from Karthik Calling Karthik (20. ). One of my favorite numbers from recent years. I have to sing along and dance to it every time I hear it, every single time!

And Now, the End of This Terrific Post!

Dear reader, do let me know if you have read any of the books listed today? Which book would you pick first? Will you attempt a poem today? What about the songs? Did you have a listen? And which Indian name appealed to you? Do share any book recommendations, poetry you loved or wrote, and of course, all and any thoughts on this post.

I am linking up to A-Z, Blogchatter, UBC, NaPoWriMo

And you can find all my A-Z posts (this year and previous years’ as well) here:

A to Z Challenge Posts