Apologia
Admit me chorus to this history,
Who, prologue-like, your humble patience pray
Gently to hear, kindly to judge our play. →
ome academics scornAlliteration the plucking of these flowers from the gardens where they were planted.Metaphor Shakespeare wrote these words, after all, to advance a narrative, deepen the understanding of a character, explore the dimensions of a theme, Alliterationcompliment or contrast the colors, Alliterationthe music, the meanings of the lines that precede and follow them.Isocolon All true.Anapodoton And maybe I am guilty of false paradox when I say that a passage enriched by its reading in context is not diminished of its beauty in isolation.Paradox
Guilty or not, this is myShakespeare.me and these are the passages I choose to cherishAlliteration in my virtual commonplace book. Where appreciation might be enhanced by some context, I write Notes that are cross-referenced below the quotations. Enjoy these beauties, read the plays from which they are plucked, and, best of all, listen to them Alliterationperformed by professional actors whose voices infuse Shakespeare's language with a Alliterationmusic that makes his words more moving.Isocolon & Alliteration