Here is a
little something to remind us of the power of performance writing:
|
B. Levin |
In his book Enthusiasms
(Jonathan Cape, 1983), British journalist Bernard Levin reflected on the pleasures
offered by Shakespeare's language, including "those Shakespearean phrases
that have been worn away almost to dust." Many of today's clichés, he observed,
"remain alive in his mouth even if they do not in ours."
If you
cannot understand my argument, and declare "It's Greek to me," you
are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning,
you are quoting Shakespeare; if you recall your salad days, you are quoting
Shakespeare; if you act more in sorrow than in anger, if your wish is father to
the thought, if your lost property has vanished into thin air, you are quoting
Shakespeare; if you have ever refused to budge an inch or suffered from
green-eyed jealousy, if you have played fast and loose, if you have been
tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle, if you have
knitted your brows, made a virtue of necessity, insisted on fair play, slept
not one wink, stood on ceremony, danced attendance (on your lord and master),
laughed yourself into stitches, had short shrift, cold comfort or too much of a
good thing, if you have seen better days or lived in a fool's paradise--why, be
that as it may, the more fool you, for it is a foregone conclusion that you are
(as good luck would have it) quoting Shakespeare; if you think it is early days
and clear out bag and baggage, if you think it is high time and that that is
the long and short of it, if you believe that the game is up and that truth
will out even if it involves your own flesh and blood, if you lie low till the
crack of doom because you suspect foul play, if you have your teeth set on edge
(at one fell swoop) without rhyme or reason, then--to give the devil his due--if
the truth were known (for surely you have a tongue in your head) you are
quoting Shakespeare; even if you bid me good riddance and send me packing, if
you wish I was dead as a doornail, if you think I am an eyesore, a laughing
stock, the devil incarnate, a stony-hearted villain, bloody-minded or a
blinking idiot, then--by Jove! O Lord! Tut, tut! for goodness' sake! what the
dickens! But me no buts--it is all one to me, for you are quoting Shakespeare.
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