Sonnet 141: A Poem Full of Hate

In preparation for The Taming of the Shrew directed by Ed Sylvanus Iskandar running from May 17 to June 26, STC hosted a Taming of the Shrew Movie Marathon this past weekend. As part of the event, audience members participated in “Kate-themed” activities, one of which included re-writing Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 141” much like Kat does in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You. Their poems—written in less than 15 minutes—dazzled us so much that we couldn’t help but share them. Below are just a few of the poems composed at the event. Please, enjoy them, and consider joining STC at one of the many other events in association with Iskandar’s grand production. For more information on make-and-take and life hack workshops at the Padua Finishing School, our artisan market and events and the show itself, please visit ShakespeareTheatre.org/Shrew.

 

 

A patron reading her poem aloud at the “open-mic.” Photo by Katie Atkinson.

Fake Hate Sonnet
by Dan R.

Oh, wretched dog-faced dame who bid me speak
I loathe the moment first you frowned at me
Your drab and filthy clothes always reek
Of garlic oil and spoiled horse’s pee
I wish a moment’s rest from screeching sounds
Your voice its cry is like a bat
The music which you make abounds
With false shrieks like an injured cat
Your skin like barnacles on a ship
Is rough and raw, a painful thing to feel
It smells of dung and makes me want to flip
I’ve got a moment left – I can’t be real
Yet now it’s over I’ll abate
It’s fun to write a poem full of hate.

Haiku 141
by Rebecca G. and Joan C.

I do not like you
But I burn with desire
Soothe me cure my pain

I can’t help it
by Julia H.

I can’t help but love you
Even if it doesn’t make sense to anyone
I love you with all my heart

 

I do not love you for you looks…
by Anonymous

I do not love you
for your looks
but I love you with my
heart

Ignore my senses, it
is my heart that loves you
(even if I am foolish.)

I love you beyond the logic…
by Desiree L. and Ari L.

I love you beyond the logic of
my senses. My heart sees beyond them
to the life that could be.

I can hope, at most to serve you
and, at the very least by giving you my
love, open myself to pain.

Meet me in Padua.

 

To my Love
by Julia W.

Some say you’re not “hot”
But I care not.
My heart sees you and
It opens doors—theirs don’t see
Your voice sweet only to me
Your smell is yours alone
For that none can atone
For all I try to escape your charms
I long only for your wit, your arms.
You bring me to my best
and put my soul at rest.