Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE PLAYER, by PERCY MACKAYE Poet's Biography First Line: His wardrobe is the world, and day and night Last Line: Between the two he stands, timeless the poet-player. Alternate Author Name(s): Mackaye, Percy Wallace Subject(s): Dramatists; Play; Plays & Playwrights; Poetry & Poets; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Theater & Theaters | ||||||||
HIS wardrobe is the world, and day and night His many-mirror'd dressing room: At dawn He apes the elvish faun, Or, garbed in saffron hose and scarlet shoon, Mimics the madcap sprite Of ever-altering youth; at chime of noon He wears the azure mail and blazoned casque Of warring knighthood; till, at starry stroke Of dark, all pale he dons his "inky cloak" And meditates the waning moon his tragic mask. His theatre is the soul, and man and woman His infinite repertory: Age on age, Treading his fancy's stage, Ephemeral shadows of his master mind, We act our parts the human Players of scenes long since by him designed; And stars, that blaze in tinsel on our boards, Shine with a moment's immortality Because they are his understudies, free For one aspiring hour to sound his magic chords. For not with scholars and their brain-worn scripts, Nor there behind the footlights' fading glow Shakspere survives: ah, no! Deep in. the passionate reality Of raging life above the darkling crypts Of death, he meditates the awed "To be Or not to be" of millions, yet to whom His name is nothing; there, on countless quests, Unlettered Touchstones quibble with his jests, Unlaureled Hamlets yearn, and anguished Lears uploom. Leave, then, to Avon's spire and silver stream Their memory of ashes sung and sighed: Our Shakspere never died, Nor ever was born, save as the god is born From every soul that dares to doubt and dream. He dreams but is not mortal: eve and morn, Dirge and delight, float from his brow like prayer. Beside him, charmed Apollo lifts his lyre; Below, the heart of man smoulders in fire; Between the two he stands, timeless the poet-player. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SOUNDS OF THE RESURRECTED DEAD MAN'S FOOTSTEPS (#20): 1. SHAKESPEARE by MARVIN BELL SOUNDS OF THE RESURRECTED DEAD MAN'S FOOTSTEPS (#20): 2. SHAKESPEARE by MARVIN BELL ELEGY IN A THEATRICAL WAREHOUSE by KENNETH FEARING LOGIC AND 'THE MAGIC FLUTE' (IMPRESSIONS OF A PREMIERE) by MARIANNE MOORE DEPRESSION DAYS (2) by PAT MORA BOY AND MOM AT THE NUTCRACKER BALLET by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE THE SEITZ THEATER by MARTHA RONK A CHILD AT THE WICKET by PERCY MACKAYE |
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