# Arrrr, Could This be the End of Pirate Shakespeare, Mateys? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrrr-could-this-be-the-end-of-pirate-shakespeare-mateys/192212 "2003-07-31T20:26:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrrr-could-this-be-the-end-of-pirate-shakespeare-mateys/192212/21 "2003-08-02T01:10:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by A wizard song for thee \* > \*\*'Course, he had to make some changes to get it into _Richard II_. \*\* Okay, **A wizard song for thee** wins. šŸ˜‰ (And I really needed the laugh, too. Thanks! :D) ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrrr-could-this-be-the-end-of-pirate-shakespeare-mateys/192212/22 "2003-08-02T01:24:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\* > Iā€™m too tired right now, but Iā€™ll bet some of you can come up with some great Pirate Shakespeare plays and quotes! \*\* Well, according to my _Riverside Shakespeare_, we have: \*The Two Pirates Of Verona Othello The Pirate The Pirate Of Venice Shakespeareā€™s Sonnets To The Dark Pirate A Pirateā€™s Complaint The Pirate And Turtle Pirate Lear\* He is also believed to have written a scene of 3 pages for: _Sir Thomas Moore: The Story Of A Pirate_ ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrrr-could-this-be-the-end-of-pirate-shakespeare-mateys/192212/23 "2003-08-02T01:33:18Z")
How about _Blackbeard and Juliet_, and _A Midsummer Nightā€™s Arrrr_? ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrrr-could-this-be-the-end-of-pirate-shakespeare-mateys/192212/24 "2003-08-02T01:41:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*How about _Blackbeard and Juliet_, and _A Midsummer Nightā€™s Arrrr_? \*\* Sadly, neither of those are Shakespearian. _Blackbeard and Juliet_ was by the Earl of Oxford (as determined by such great poetry as ā€œGreat googa mooga/Canā€™t you hear me talkinā€™ to you?ā€), and _A Midsummer Nightā€™s Arrr_ was written by Ben Jonson, using a fragment by Christopher Marlowe (as I recall, the fragment starts at what is now I.II.243, and ends after Puck sings ā€œThe Pirateā€™s Songā€)\> ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrrr-could-this-be-the-end-of-pirate-shakespeare-mateys/192212/25 "2003-08-02T03:06:26Z")
Good heavens, I killed another thread! The Dread Governor Quinn ---
**Author:** ![Shemem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Shemem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shemem)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrrr-could-this-be-the-end-of-pirate-shakespeare-mateys/192212/26 "2003-08-02T03:13:23Z")
But _wherefore_ art the rum gone? ---
**Author:** ![A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_wizard_song_for_thee)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrrr-could-this-be-the-end-of-pirate-shakespeare-mateys/192212/27 "2003-08-02T08:08:50Z")
Of course, Shakespeare wasnā€™t the only pirate back in ye daye. Joh Donne had a share of the booty, as well (His ā€œSong: Goe, and Catch a Falling Starā€ works practically without modification as a pirateā€™s ode), and Ben Jonson lived a life fit for a pirate. T. S. Eliot came along after the fad of ear piercing, but was a pirate nonetheless, as this fragment from his ā€œThe Pirate Menā€ (later revised and expanded for the mainstream as ā€œThe Hollow Menā€) shows: We are the pirate men We are the brigadiers Sailing together Heads all filled with greed. Avast! Our deep voices, when We chanty together Are loud and boisterous As wind in a sea squall Or virginsā€™ screams that break glass In their dry cellar Fun without law, greed without reason, Unstoppable force, looting without manners; Those who have crossed With direct eyes, to deathā€™s other Kingdom Remember us ā€“ because we sent them ā€“ not as lost Violent souls, but only As the pirate men The bandit men. But, in the end, as in all things literary, our buddy William Shakespeare (I believe he preferred the pseudonym ā€œTrimsaileā€ but got stuck with his birthname by a lazy editor) did it best: No, my dread boatswain: If yon crew is to live, we are enow To do our captain shame; and if to die, The fewer men, the greater share of booty. Zounds! I pray thee, wish not one pirate more. By Neptune, I am covetous for gold, And care greatly who doth feed on my cost; It yearns me much if men my garments wear; Such outward things dwell high in my desires: But if it be a sin to murder Spainiards, I am the most offending soul alive. . . . . Arrr, and proclaim it, scurvy dog, through my crew That he which hath no stomach to this fight, Let him depart; his plank-walk shall be short And crowns for trouble robbĆ©d from his purse: We would not die in that manā€™s company That fears his fellowship to die with us. This day is called the feast of Jack Sparrow: He that outlives this day, and sails safe 'way, Will stand a sea-leggā€™d when the day is named, And rouse him at the name of Jack Sparrow. He that shall live this day, and see old age, Will yearly on the eve pillage his neighbours, And say ā€˜To-morrow is Capā€™n Jack Sparrow:ā€™ Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars. And say ā€˜These wounds I had on Sparrowā€™s day.ā€™ Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot, But heā€™ll remember with advantages What feats he did that day: . . . . This shall the pirate teach his cabin boy; And Captain Jack Sparrow shall neā€™er go by, From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be rememberā€™d; We few, we happy few, we brood of bandits; For he to-day that sheds their blood with me Shall be my brother; be he neā€™er so pure, This day shall sully his condition: And pillagers on shore leave now a-bed Shall think themselves accursed they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Jack Sparrowā€™s day. Hee! This is fun! I could probably remake all of _Henry V_ as a pirate movie. I mean, it practically is, anyway, with a few kings and stuff mixed inā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrrr-could-this-be-the-end-of-pirate-shakespeare-mateys/192212/28 "2003-08-02T17:37:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by A wizard song for thee \* > \*\*and Ben Jonson lived a life fit for a pirate. > \*\* As did Christopher Marlowe (Marrrrrrlowe, maybe?)ā€¦ šŸ˜‰ And pirate _Henry V_ is awesome. Obviously you share my taste in Shakespeare plays, only with more pirates and stuff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrrr-could-this-be-the-end-of-pirate-shakespeare-mateys/192212.md?page=1)