Erasing Shakespeare

Erasing Shakespeare

Saucy and overbold beldam of death,
mistress of charms, spite and wrath
loves not you.
Vessels and spells provide
a dismal and a fatal end.
Upon the corner of the moon,
artificial sprites raise little spirit
in a foggy cloud.

Kim M. Russell, 2017

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My response to dVerse Poets Pub Meeting the Bar: Look What I Found! Erasure Poetry

Victoria is our host this Thursday. She says it’s time to go back to a poetic form that we last discussed in 2013: erasure, a form of found poetry or found art created by erasing words from an existing text in prose or verse and framing the result on the page as a poem. The words are there—all we need to do is reconstruct them. This evening, we are invited to share an erasure poem. Victoria suggests choosing a text that will work for us — prose or poetry — and mix it up a bit, for example create a Haibun from an existing poem or use a novel to write a sonnet – and a form isn’t necessary.

I erased parts of Hecate’s monologue from Macbeth Act 3 Scene 5 in anticipation of All Hallows Eve.

40 thoughts on “Erasing Shakespeare”

  1. Kim, this is just a perfect anticipation of the coming of the 31st. I must confess, my Shakespeare is way too weak–wasn’t taught it well in school–but MacBeth is one play I remember and your extraction is so accessible. On a side note, I do prefer “All hallows eve” to halloween, as we refer to it over here.

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  5. BEAUTIFUL erasure poem! I especially love these lines
    “Upon the corner of the moon,
    artificial sprites raise little spirit
    in a foggy cloud.”
    Very well done! The bard would be pleased 🙂

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