SHAKESPEARE

by Marin Sorescu


Shakespeare created the world in seven days.
On the first day he moulded the sky, the mountains
and the abysses of the soul.
On the second day he created the rivers, seas and oceans
and the other sentiments
and gave them to Hamlet, Julius Caesar and Anthony,
to Cleopatra and Ophelia,
to Othello and to the others,
so as to be for eternity owned by them and their descendants.
On the third day he gathered all the people
and taught them tastes:
the taste of happiness, of love and despair,
the taste of jealousy, glory and so on,
till he shared them all.
Then some fellows came late.
The Creator caressed their heads sympathetically and told them
that nothing else was left for them but to become
literary critics
and deny his work.
The fourth and fifth days were granted to laughter.
He let the clowns
cut capers,
and let the kings and emperors
and other unfortunate ones to have fun.
On the sixth day he cleared up some administrative issues:
he brought about a storm
and taught King Lear
how to wear a straw-crown.
There still remained some residues from the world's creation
and out of them he moulded Richard III.
On the seventh day he checked up if there was anything else left to do.
The theater managers had already filled the world with posters,
and Shakespeare thought that after so much effort
it would be worth watching a performance.
But first, as he was too tired,
he went away to die for a while.



(Translated from Romanian by Brigitta Daniela Buda)