The discovery of an unpublished manuscript with a modified version of the ‘Sonnet 116’ William Shakespeare has shaken the academic and literary world. This finding, made at the University of Oxford by researcher Leah Veronese, provides a new perspective on the … Dissemination and reinterpretation of the work of the Bardo in the seventeenth century.
Hidden among the papers of Elias Ashmole, founder of the Ashmolean Museum and defender of the monarchy during the English Civil War, the manuscript offers a fascinating testimony of how poetry could be reused for political purposes In a convulsive time.
Veronese’s investigation began at Bodleian Library, where he examined a seventeenth century miscellaneous. These manuscripts collected texts from various authors without a clear attribution and circulated widely at the time. In one of these collections, he found a poem described in the 19th -century catalog simply as “On constancy in love”. However, when analyzing its structure and content, it realized that it was an altered version of the ‘Sonnet 116’one of Shakespeare’s most famous compositions.
The ‘sonnet 116’ has long been a symbol of unwavering love and commitment, so much so that it is still commonly used in marriage ceremonies. However, the version found in the manuscript presented significant changes. The first line had been transformed with a modification that alters the tone and intention of the poem. In addition, the latest verses also presented variations, suggesting that this text It was intervened with a specific purpose.
“When I was leafing through the manuscript, it caught my attention that the poem was a strange version of the ‘sonnet 116’,” Veronese explained. «When I checked the catalog, I was correctly described as a poem about the constancy in love, but without any reference to Shakespeare. I think the additional line and the lack of attribution In the 19th century catalog they explain why this poem has gone unnoticed so much.
The context in which the manuscript was found adds a layer of complexity to this finding. Elias Ashmole, whose collection was discovered, was a firm supporter of the monarchy during the English Civil War. The miscellaneous in which the sonnet appeared also contained other political load texts, including prohibited carols and satires about the events of the 1640s, a context that suggests that the poem could have been reinterpreted in political codeinstead of its traditional romantic reading.
Renewed version
Another fascinating aspect of the finding is that the sonnet’s version was adapted as a song by the composer Henry Lawesa loyal musician to the realistic cause, the movement that supported the monarchy and the divine law of the kings during the conflict. Although the manuscript found in Oxford only contains the text, the musical score of this version is preserved in the New York Public Library. The musicalization of the poem included seven additional verseswhich could have served to adapt it better to vocal interpretation. However, in the context of the civil war, these added verses can be read as an appeal to the political and religious loyalty.
Professor Emma Smith, an expert in Shakesperian studies at the University of Oxford, commented that “this exciting finding shows that, despite centuries of search, the files still keep surprises about Shakespeare and their early reception. ‘Let me not to the brown of True Minds’ (do not leave me to the marriage of true minds, title in English of the poem) is today one of its best known sonnets, but It does not seem to have been popular in his time».
In his opinion, “while other sonnets circulated widely, so far only a reference prior to this was known” and “what Dr. Veronese has demonstrated with this investigation is that the sonnet was understood within a realistic contextfar from their role in modern weddings ».
This discovery offers a renewed vision of how Shakespeare was read and reinterpreted in his time. In times of political agitation, literature not only served as a means of personal expression, but also as an instrument of propaganda, resistance and ideological reaffirmation, and the fact that a poem originally on eternal love has been transformed into a possible piece of realistic propaganda underlines the ability to adapt the Shakesperian work to different historical moments and political purposes.
Dr. Veronese’s article has been published in ‘The Review of English Studies’, where it offers a detailed analysis of the manuscript and its meaning. His work reinforces the idea that Shakespeare’s work is not static, but has been “reinterpreted, reformulated and reused” throughout the centuries depending on the circumstances.
#discover #Oxford #unpublished #manuscript #famous #Shakespeare #poem
