Longtime readers will know that I try to keep my finger on the pulse of modern literature that relates to Shakespeare.
Sometimes, that takes the form of poetry, as in the volume In a Fine Frenzy: Poets Respond to Shakespeare (q.v. for a representative example).
I don't remember where in my vast and copious reading this book came up, but I do know that I requested it, waited for it, checked it out, and put it in the pile for later. While it sat there, my mind placed it in the "plays to read" category.
But it's a collection of poems written from Hamlet's point of view.
And this Hamlet is a very angry one.
The collection as a whole doesn't altogether work. It's a bit too one-note, and that note is an uncomfortable one to hear. That's likely the intention, but it does get fairly old fairly quickly.
Nonetheless, I'd like to call our collective attention to three poems that stand out. The first is highly critical of the 1990 Zeffirelli film version of Hamlet—the one with Mel Gibson in the title role:
I like the play of sounds there, and the final line is good (though I don't know that I agree with its sentiment).
Next, we have a play on the character T. S. Eliot created who said, "No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be":
The advice is clear: Don't be like Prufrock. Whether Hamlet is able to follow that advice is uncertain.
Last, we have one where the poet uses all the different names for Hamlet that have been developing throughout the series:
That one is of primary interest in the way the multitude of names reflects the variety of perspectives on Hamlet.
One of these three may make its way into the syllabus when next I teach my Modern Shakespearean Fiction course, but the entirely collection won't.
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(and to support Bardfilm as you do so).
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