Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Lull’d in these flowers with dances and delight;
And there the snake throws her enamell’d skin,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in.
(Oberon, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 2, scene 1)
Sometimes referred to simply as “The Bard,” William Shakespeare ranks supreme among writers of the English language, and among playwrights of all languages. If I could take only one book to a desert island, his Complete Works would be the one I’d take.
-Johnny
