While Yellow Pencils was on vacation, I saw a production of William Shakespeare's play "Macbeth" at Door Shakespeare in Door County, Wisconsin. (Funny that my last post was about doors.)
I didn't read Shakespeare until I was in high school, and I think that's too bad. Shakespeare's plays can be complicated and even violent, but they also contain wonderfully playful and inventive language.
In "Macbeth," the three "weyard" sisters recite this spell:
Double, double, toil and trouble:
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
Into the pot goes "adder's fork and blindworm's sting, lizard's leg and howlet's wing."
It's okay if you don't understand what all the words mean. They're still fun to say out loud.
Try finding a Shakespeare play adapted for young people in your library. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a great play to start with, with fairies and other fantastic characters.
For a writing prompt, copy out a short passage into your journal and say it out loud.
Then try writing something with a similar pattern, but using your own words.
For example, for the "double, double" spell above:
Four, four, fox, bear, wolf, and boar:
Scour the woods, and search for gore.
Will Shakespeare lived 400 years ago, but his words last forever. Every writer--even young ones--can have fun exploring his language. Don't wait till high school to discover him!
