Prospero:
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd tow'rs, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
The Tempest Act 4, scene 1, 148–158
Anticipating his daughter's wedding to the Prince of Naples, Prospero has staged a short entertainment, with spirits taking the parts of Roman gods. But he abruptly cuts the fun short when he remembers some pressing business. He tries to calm the startled couple by explaining, somewhat off the point, that the "revels" (performance) they've witnessed were simply an illusion, bound sooner or later to melt into "thin air"—a phrase he coins.
Prospero's metaphor applies not just to the pageant he's created on his fictional island, but also to the pageant Shakespeare presents in his Globe Theater—the "great globe itself." Dramatic illusion in turn becomes a metaphor for the "real" world outside the Globe, which is equally fleeting. Towers, palaces, temples, the Globe theater, the Earth—all will crumble and dissolve, leaving not even a wisp of cloud (a "rack") behind. Prospero's "pageant" is the innermost Chinese box: a play within a play (The Tempest) within a play (the so-called "real" world).
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream, and people are the "stuff" dreams are "made on" (built of)—just as characters might be called the "stuff' plays are "built on." "Our little life" is like a brief dream in some divine mind, "rounded with a sleep"—that is, either "surrounded" by sleep or "rounded off" (completed) by sleep ...
Why do they rant and rave over Shakespeare?
the man who could not write English I hear,
soldiers they speak as though not understanding
is it not drivel hidden by the facts, not standing.
Blow Shakespeare, his facts, story and fantasies
that belay the story as true, and it be best by sea,
floating away and be it lost, out of sight indeed,
no more Shakespeare, a place for rich to posture, to read.
Shakespeare - by noirua
"The one-l lama, he's a beast.
The two-l llama, he's a priest.
But I will bet a silk pyjama,
you've never seen a three-l lllama."
To the bloke whose hindsight is clear
And a propensity for Obama to cheer
Will you hang your head in shame
When the sea level is the same
In the future, when you look to the rear
A POSY FOR A GRANDMOTHER WHO LOVED FLOWERS - AT HER FUNERAL SERVICE
If I were to arrange the perfect posy, to remember my Gran, it would comprise of :-
* a background of roses, pink roses to represent happiness,
* and red to represent love,
* I’d add some lily of the valley because they are my favourite and so is she,
* they also mean fun and happiness which is appropriate for Gran
* I’d add an orchid, because they mean beautiful lady
* and a chrysanthemum to say you’re a beautiful friend
* one pink carnation which means I'll never forget you
* ferns would fill the gaps and complete the balance, because they represent magic.
So there you are Gran, you taught me well.
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