08.06.00
12been from Somewhere, CA

read it very slow
Then if you get stuck at that line with "princes," start over like I did and pretend that someone you like a lot is reading it.
Then you will hear it.
He had nothing to prove. Look at his masterpieces, written with love, hate, ecstasy and all the wonders of man.
He had off days too. Like many poets.
Will our work survive as long?

08.03.00
Martin Michaels from Davis, California

What fancy words?
People who complain about fancy words are wimps. The point is not that the words are fancy, the point is they were fresh and new at the time. Plus the only word i see in this entire poem that might trouble the dull-minded is prognosticate. Does prognosticate even sound fancy?

07.20.00
ally from baltimore, MD

Why does it seem that nobody appreciates Shakespeare?
I'll tell you one thing. I never really liked the yucky love stuff. Maybe because...no, we won't get into my personal problems today. Maybe later.
Even though I've never always liked the yucky love stuff, I've loved Shakespeare for years. I mean, the guy could manipulate language like nobody else. I aspire to be like that. Of course, Romeo and Juliet was a little too depressing even for me, but the sonnets are beautiful. I just don't understand that in a world such as ours, why someone doesn't appreciate the beauty that to me, is so rare.

05.15.00
*rue avis from independence, ky

good rhythm; overdone taste
This has a good rhythm, after you read it 500 + times . . . but its meaning is overdone, and it could be more interesting than it is . . . definitely not shakespeare's best.

05.04.00
Joe Bangert from University Park, PA

Read it twice.
I read this once, hated it. Read it twice, slower, loved it. This always happens with this guy. He uses such big words which I hate, and arranges them in a strange way which I also generally disdain but then he totally redeems himself because the second time I read him I am able to notice the meaning behind the big words and the freaky arrangements. He seems like a promising young talent and I wish him the best.

03.19.00
Diona Poff from Council Bluffs, Iowa

Even Great Poets Have Bad Days
Boy, this sucks. I'm a little curious how this Willie-bashing idea came about- did someone read this sonnet and say "Wow, I found BAD Shakespeare, I gotta show someone," or did they actually have to read a bunch of his good stuff to find one suitable for public ridicule? Thank God I'll never be famous. I prefer contemporary sonnets anyway- much as I admire Elizebethan garments, I've never had occasion to wear them.
my latest favorite sonnet; "The Barometric Prescience of Hermit Crabs" by Jerry Jenkins

02.11.00
Alan DeNiro ([email protected]) from Minnesota

You just can't beat Wild Bill
We need Gumball Poetry in Minnesota, badly.
--Alan DeNiro, Editor
Taverner's Koans

02.11.00
Suzanne Sigafoos from Portland, OR

Stressor Stress
I venture thus without the urge to flame/nor praise, indeed, but wonder, wander 'round/regards: the 5-stressed lines in legion! Sound/and fury! Let me write without this game!

10-4-99
c.star ([email protected]) from San Diego

If Leonardo DiCaprio would read it to me in bed
Five stars if I get to be in a luxurious silky bed with naked Leo while he speaketh to me, otherwise, this thing's kind of a non-flowing mutilator of language. Obviously I'm no A+ know it all (or anything) poetry major, but maybe mixed with actual sex this poetry could be worth something. Bummer is, though, Leo is gay and I'm not.

Amy from NYC

blah blah blah
yeah yeah yeah

Edward Roschen from Seattle, WA

Fancy words get you nowhere.
Yeah, he's the bard, the master, the prince of words. Whatever. If you mix bathroom humor, death and sex you'll always appeal to the masses. I mean, sure, he's good. But come on, all that rhyming junk? Who needs it.

Kirscha T. from Sacramento, CA

This is a test. This is only a test. In the event of
a real emergency you would have been squirming in your chair long ago. Things would have fallen from the sky. Like rabbits. Rabbits would have fallen and you would have been hit with them by now. Which would have hurt you. Hurt significantly. Plus all the noise that they make, rabbits make a terrible, terrible noise. Have you experienced this before? It's loud. And unpleasant. And it shatters your stereotype of a rabbit as a soft, pleasant, quiet thing that gets eaten by wolves and mountain lions and falls from the sky. Which is depressing, having your stereotypes let down like that. Which is why this is a real emergency. Walk slowly to your basement, without looking back. Count your en-hordement of canned goods. Pray.

Adam Kinsey ([email protected]) from San Francisco, CA

While author has word power, they appear to be dislexic.
There are some fine moments in this poem--the rhyme of "pluck" and "evil luck," the concrete listing of weathers, the apparent juxtaposition of the universe into the beloved's eyes.

But "apparent" is the key word here. While there is word power and musicality to this, the habit--one that can only be seen as dislexic--of putting the verbs at the end of the sentences makes this piece difficult to parse.

I would recommend that the author become clear about what it is that they are trying to say, and only then work out the rhyme scheme. "Clarity before pyrotechnics" should be this person's bylaw.

Ryan "Rhino" Jones ([email protected]) from Portland, OR

Who is this wonderful word weary writer....?
Gumball Phreaks - Where did you uncover this bubble-worthy young scribe? This William Shakespeare may have a bright future as a romance novelist or catalog writer if he can dodge the toils, troubles and bubbling cauldrons of contemporary nomenclature narratives. His work seems to resonate of an era long gone. When spritely wood nymphs dotted our forests with waif minstrels and motorized toadstools. He seems to have a visceral sense of the stench of life. (He either watches a lot of soap operas, or is a great fan of Steve Martin) As for his poem I have given it a glowing review simply because 5 is my favorite number.

Liliana ([email protected]) from Connecticut, USA

Sadly unrespected in modern times
Nowadays Shakespeare seems to be more appreciated by the fact that his name has gotten into a text book then by his sonnets or plays, etc. Personally I love the way Shakespeare has played with words and his sonnets (or anything else for that matter) should not be stated as unliked by the fact that he uses different words. I think that is very sad. In this modern time poets have dropped rhyming and rhythm to move on to something else. I can respect that, but really... was rhyming poetry with defined rhythms just too HARD for these poets? I'm sorry but it saddens me that the respect that Shakespeare deserves as a writer has sunken so low.

Paul Bogen ([email protected]) from San Antonio, TX

Glorious Shakespeare
Dactylic hexameter perfection! Shakespeare is one the greatest poets of all time. His work was able to pass a meaning and appeal to all classes of people with all range of education!

A Reader from the Heart of the bluegrass

Shakespeare wrote many many better sonnets, in my opinion. This one is relatively straightforward and I prefer the complex, multilayered bard productions.

Evie from Durham, NC

rhyme is not dead (or shouldn't be)!
I agree that this isn't Shakespeare at his best. But I do not agree that rhyme is some skeleton in the closet of poetry's past. Poetry that doesn't make use of rhyme (not just end-rhymes, but internal rhyme within a line or a stanza, and not just full rhymes, but also slant rhymes and off-rhymes and alliteration and consonance -- all the music that language has to offer) is poetry that is not doing its job as well as it could. My opinion....

To the creators of Gumball Poetry, I just want to say, nice first effort. I've subscribed to your newsletter and look forward to seeing how the site develops. Anything that makes good poetry more accessible is a good thing! I will pass the word to my friends....

Diana from Allentown, PA

Neil Simon
Shakespeare was the Neil Simon of his day.