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why does Shakespeare use words like thee and thou in his poems?

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Original post by karmacrunch
Thanks. Also, what's the difference between Old English and Middle English?


Well put it this way:
Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,
þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum,
5monegum mægþum, meodosetla ofteah,
egsode eorlas. Syððan ærest wearð
feasceaft funden, he þæs frofre gebad,
weox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þah,
oðþæt him æghwylc þara ymbsittendra
10ofer hronrade hyran scolde,
gomban gyldan. þæt wæs god cyning!

That's Old English. Middle English is a bit different.
Original post by King Max
Middle English.


Haha lol disregard that. I got middle and early modern confused silly me. Shakespere is early modern. Middle english is different.
Shakespeare is ****. :cool:

That's why.
he thought it made his poems comical
Original post by King Max
Well put it this way:
Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,
þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum,
5monegum mægþum, meodosetla ofteah,
egsode eorlas. Syððan ærest wearð
feasceaft funden, he þæs frofre gebad,
weox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þah,
oðþæt him æghwylc þara ymbsittendra
10ofer hronrade hyran scolde,
gomban gyldan. þæt wæs god cyning!

That's Old English. Middle English is a bit different.


Ah I understand. Just a 'bit' different to Middle English. Thanks! :tongue:

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Original post by karmacrunch
Ah I understand. Just a 'bit' different to Middle English. Thanks! :tongue:

Posted from TSR Mobile


Yeah middle english has more french influence
Reply 26
Original post by King Max
Haha lol disregard that. I got middle and early modern confused silly me. Shakespere is early modern. Middle english is different.


Yeah, middle English was more like Chaucer ​et al.
Original post by Comus
Yeah, middle English was more like Chaucer ​et al.


Chaucers a LAD.
Reply 28
Original post by King Max
Chaucers a LAD.


I haven't much of his work but I do know that he made some very amusing puns (which I probably can't post here).
Original post by Comus
I haven't much of his work but I do know that he made some very amusing puns (which I probably can't post here).


Yeah best not to risk it :wink:
Original post by Caedus
Shakespeare wrote in Middle English, not Old English. Many of the words he did use are, however, quite obsolete.


TIL Shakespeare is from Middle Earth, wonder why he didn't tell the tale of those damn hobbits.
Original post by Caedus
There's a huge authorship battle going on at the moment and I'm not convinced that Shakespeare actually wrote any of his work, there's very little evidence to prove that Shakespeare was educated to he degree required to write his sonnets, and there's a lot of conjecture surrounding his travels. Even the Stratfordians no longer believe he visited Italy despite writing 106 scenes set in Italy, 800 general references to Italy, 400 references to Rome, 52 to Venice, 34 to Naples, 25 to Milan, 23 to Florence, 22 to Padova, 20 to Verona, 9 to Mantua along with numerous smaller towns and settlements. Under close scrutiny, not a great deal of Shakespeare's life actually adds up. I honestly think Shakespeare was a nom de plume.


There's very little evidence (none, in fact) that proves Shakespeare couldn't have been educated to write sonnets. This is because his life was not documented as readily as people alive today are.

Forgive me if I'm incorrect, but I don't think J.K. Rowling visited Hogwarts either. Which must mean she couldn't have written Harry Potter either I suspect.
Original post by Comeback
There's very little evidence (none, in fact) that proves Shakespeare couldn't have been educated to write sonnets. This is because his life was not documented as readily as people alive today are.

Forgive me if I'm incorrect, but I don't think J.K. Rowling visited Hogwarts either. Which must mean she couldn't have written Harry Potter either I suspect.

I think Will was a nom de plume for a highly educated aristocrat. Play writing was considered really naff and downmarket so he didn't want to admit to it.
Reply 33
Original post by Comeback
There's very little evidence (none, in fact) that proves Shakespeare couldn't have been educated to write sonnets. This is because his life was not documented as readily as people alive today are.

Forgive me if I'm incorrect, but I don't think J.K. Rowling visited Hogwarts either. Which must mean she couldn't have written Harry Potter either I suspect.


The argument for imagination is one such argument which has been completely destroyed. Much of the information in his Italian based sonnets and plays are highly detailed, they could not have been written by someone who hadn't spent a substantial period of time there.
(edited 9 years ago)

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