Detached by Korinne Arenas

Affluence is but a trait of mine,

Inherited from the womb of which I was birthed

It is within the air I breathe,

intoxicated by the wealth surrounding me

Tis I the noble man,

whom shall never dream of sleeping cold

Never deign to serve those

ten floors below

Yet Tis I who find it strange

within the meer reflection of my standings

That a false reality catches mine eye

For it is but a single grey hair upon this royal head

That wakes the old fool inside

These roots are ancient,

And mine soul hath roamed the earth for decades

Naked in all its fashions

Empty hands and bare souls made for trudging

Yet here I stand, goblet in hand,

Crown upon my head

For I am a lord, and lord alone

And the ghost of the beggar is dead

Explanation: This poem depicts the detached reality that Christopher Sly faces when he is told that he is a mighty lord. He is forced to believe that he is a lord and would be considered a lunatic otherwise, causing Sly to dissemble his true self as a beggar and espouse the role of a lord. While he is surrounded by nothing but wealth, he sometimes is haunted by his past in remembrance of his life as a beggar, however he pushes these thoughts aside, thinking he must be lunatic and goes back to believing that he is, in fact, just a mighty lord.

In accordance with one of Shakespeare’s most infamous sayings, “To be or not to be, that is the question,” these lines reveal the common theme that Shakespeare utilizes in his greatest works: The theme of becoming the actor and playing another role. In the context of Taming of The Shrew, the Lord is putting the role of a mighty lord upon Christopher Sly’s shoulders, making him believe that he is truly something that he is not. He is unintentionally playing the part of someone of high status, when in actuality, he is nothing more than a beggar. In comparison to this, Shakespeare’s work, Hamlet, also incorporates the idea of playing a part. The protagonist Hamlet plays the role of a mad man on a mission to discover the truths of his father’s death, that the ghost of his father had insinuated. Through this concept of playing a part that is not one’s own, Shakespeare is spreading the message that we never truly know our own identity and are constantly trying to find ourselves in this game of life.