ZAP//Univers of Oxford/Wiquipedia
Rare manuscript was hiding in a poetry miscelain and was confused with a copy of Sonnet 116 all these years, but was actually “adapted.”
An Oxford University researcher discovered a rare handwritten copy of the famous Sonnet 116 of Shakespeare. It was hidden in a seventeenth -century poetry collection.
The “Treasure”, like the university this Monday, was found among the roles of Elias Ashmole (1617-1692)founder of Ashmolean Museum and a firm defender of the monarchy during the English Civil War. This is the second known manuscript copy of the sonnet to be discovered. Leah Veronesefrom the English School, made this discovery while investigating for his doctorate at the Bodleian Library.
The hidden copy of William Shakespeare’s famous sonnet, found by Leah Veronese.
The manuscript is part of a “miscellaneous”, A type of manuscript (a handwritten document instead of typed or printed) that contains a selection of texts from different authors on various topics. Initial modern poetry frequently circulated in miscelain. This manuscript also contains some original poetry of Elias Ashmole.
“As I looked at the manuscript, the poem seemed to me a strange version of Sonnet 116. When I looked at the catalog (originally compiled in the nineteenth century), the poem was described, not incorrectly, as“ about the constancy in love ”, but makes no mention of Shakespeare,” said Veronese in a statement.
“I believe the combination of the first additional verse ‘a self-blunt error takes over these minds’ and Shakespeare’s absence in the original description of the catalog may be the reason this poem went unnoticed as a copy of the Sonnet 116 during all these years”Explained Veronese in a statement.
Sonnet was adapted as a song
For the researcher, which makes this version “particularly fascinating … is the way the poem has been adapted.”
“The sonnet is among politically loaded works, for example, forbidden Christmas songs and satirical poems about the tumultuous events of the early 1640s. In this copy, the sonnet was adapted as a song with music by composer Henry Lawes. This copy includes only the text, but the music itself can be found in a Songbook in the New York Public Library”He detailed.
The composition of the song includes seven additional verses and changes in the original introduction of Shakespeare and the final dismstance. The introduction changes: “Don’t let me marry the real minds; Admit impediments; Love is not love; Which changes when you find changes ”to:“ A self-blunt error takes over all these minds; Who with false denominations call it love; That changes when you find changes ”.
A probable practical reason for additional lines is to create more verses. However, in the context of the English civil war, additional lines can also be read as an appeal to religious and political loyalty. Although the additional lines have a very ambiguous meaning, they have a more political tone when read in a realistic collection, surrounded by realistic poetry. Added verses potentially transform the sonnet of a meditation on romantic love into a powerful political statement.
Emma Smith, Shakespeare studies professor at Oxford University, points out that “this exciting discovery shows that centuries of search for evidence about Shakespeare and its initial reception have not exhausted the files.”
“Let me not to the marriage of True Minds” is now one of Shakespeare’s most famous sonnets, but it doesn’t seem to have been very popular in its time. While other sonnets were widely publicized and cited, only a reference prior to this was known.
