It has been 450 years since William Shakespeare was born – a very long time.
It has been 20 years since I saw ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ performed in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens with my wise Aunt Jan Marie – a long time.
I fell in love & his words have adorned the margins of every notebook I have scrawled in since.
So happy birthday Mr Shakespeare, you understood me then & you understand me now…
“Oh, when she’s angry, she is keen & shrewd!
She was a vixen when she went to school.
& though she be but little, she is fierce.”
— Helena in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by William Shakespeare, 1590-5196
Oil on canvas by Joseph Mallord William Turner ‘Queen Mab’s Cave’ inspired by ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ & exhibited in 1846:
Violet Ashes 