The Lost Plays of Shakespeare; Soliloquy Extracts


Foreword, by Les Visible

A few years ago I was walking past a graveyard late at night. I heard a voice call my name and turned to find a man beckoning to me from among the gravestones. Without thinking I walked to where he stood. He had an old leather case in his hands. I could see it clearly in the light that fell from the streetlamp some several yards behind me. He extended it to me and said. "Here, this is yours from another time." I took it without thinking as the man turned without further comment and began to walk away into the darkness.

"Wait!" I cried. "What is this, where are you going? I don’t understand!" He turned and smiled at me. "We will talk again." Then he was gone. Upon reaching my destination, I opened the case and there found a large collection of vellum parchment inscribed upon in a spidery hand. Reading the text it became clear to me that these were plays. At some point in my reading I saw the name William Shakespeare signed at the bottom of a page. I cannot express the impact of the shudder that passed through my frame.

I have taken some few soliloquies from among these plays of which there are five; some complete but most not. I have no knowledge of whether this is real or some sort of hoax.

Time will surely tell.


Les Visible



The Lost Plays of Shakespeare;
Sample Soliloquy Extracts



I
'Arthur Pendragon'
Act II, Scene I
II
'Arthur Pendragon'
Act IV, Scene V


The Lost Plays of Shakespeare
I

From the play
‘Arthur Pendragon’, Act II, Scene I
Merlin shortly after the initial enchantment has set in.


I have never loved until now
I know this to be true
I have cared
By degrees
And shown friendship and salvation
As was sometimes in my power to grant



I have done good
If doing good means not having harmed
When the opportunity was in my hands
And I have been good
When it was before me
And not overly troublesome
Having always some excess of purse
And attendant stature



It seems that every heart
Penurious and unknown to itself
Remains asleep to the fire of its life
How are we made and maintained and do not know?
How do we breathe the stuff and remain blind?



Now
At last
Though it cost me all
I see that bright star rising in the East
It flowers into brilliance upon the darkness of the mind
And the heart thrills and vibrates with a thousand tongues of song
Exquisite beyond description
It repeats



The form may change or fall
What do I care of this?
For I go on and on
But not to sleep
Oh love the shimmer smoothes
But not to sleep.



The Lost Plays of Shakespeare


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II

From the play
‘Arthur Pendragon’, Act IV, Scene V
Merlin, after learning that he will now sleep for eight hundred years.


Methinks she has dined on scorpions and
Must drink blood by violence spilled
Into cups of treacherous thought
They hold their form but a moment and
Then dissolve with all remembrance
Into the bottomless stem



What dark and disturbed kin to love is this?
Affection of a sort-
Even base desire of simple love malformed-
Does motivate us all
To what dread understanding has she come,
That the thought of such deeds does inspire the act?
And still can laugh
And speak
And live
Outwardly, it seems
Like anyone.



I have watched her face in sleep,
No trouble nor horror there are sketched
Save for her beauty...
Ordinary as all the rest.



If I live a thousand years
I will never understand
This masquerade that gives to evil
Such a pretty face
Like sculptured milk
And roses flowing in fulsome grace



The world has many dangers
They await at every turn
But none there are so deadly
As that awful pit which yawns
Behind this woman’s eyes...



The Lost Plays of Shakespeare


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The Lost Plays of Shakespeare; Soliloquy Extracts


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The Lost Plays of Shakespeare; Soliloquy Extracts"

Published by Les Visible at lesvisible.com

No part of this book may be reproduced, or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher.

ASIN: B00OZ2HZ5M
All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2014 Les Visible


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