Rom.
O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear-
Beauty too rich for use , for earth too dear!
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows
As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows
The measure done , I'll watch her place of stand
And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand
Did my heart love till now? Foreswear it , sight!
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night .
( Do native speakers of English read Shakespeare's poetries and plays without difficulties ,or does it also get confusing sometimes as you haven't learned the particular vocabulary he used? )
(And how would you translate it into your language if you're non-native but an advanced learner of English balancing both its meanings and its rhymes ? / Do you think it's a good idea to 'translate' it into plain English so that everyone could understand it ?)
Hi, English native speaker here. Lots of natives find Shakespeare confusing, especially when you're in school. There are copies of his plays with footnotes saying what certain words or expressions mean because we don't use them today. However, anyone can at least get the gist of what is being said - in the passage above, the character (Romeo?) is saying Juliet is beautiful. In longer passages like this one, the rhyming couplets at the end offer a summary.
That said, I think once you get into reading it, you get used to the style, and you can understand what is going on unless you don't understand a key word/phrase because it's not used anymore. Shakespeare did come up with loads of words and expressions we use today, though, so he really did help expand the English language. Some examples are: eyeball, good riddance, dawn, truth will out, gossip, gallantry... the list is massive. There's a full list here: http://www.pathguy.com/shakeswo.htm
In the United States, in many places it's customary to read Shakespeare's plays in high school. It's hard work.
Native speakers find the language very difficult.
It was hard when I was in high school in the 1960s. It is harder today, because the language of Shakespeare is about the same as that of the "King James version" of the Bible, and when I was in high school people customarily read that version and thus got practice in year-1611 English, whereas nowadays many churches use more modern translations. Yes, there are now versions of Shakespeare that have been "translated" into modern English.
Of course, Shakespeare is meant to be seen on the stage, not read, and good actors do a very good job of clarifying the meaning with their actions and gestures.
Thanks a lot G.K. !!!!!!! So native speakers also need notes for a better understanding of it ! It's like Classic Chinese which is in the education curriculum ,that we students find to be rather confusing. some 'weird' words ,and some different grammar Actually it was two years ago that I first tried to read Shakespeare's works.Not being at a high language level, I did struggle a lot. I was surprisingly patient enough to read the tragedy of R&J ,though I had to look up hundreds of words in the dictionary hahaha. But yes,indeed! It begins to make sense once you've got used to his language ,and in fact it is quite compelling and engaging ! (Girls won't be able to resist the way he made Romeo talk .haha:P)
Is Shakespeare said to be the person with the largest vocabulary? I guess I've heard that statement somewhere.
Thank you for sharing that website with me :D
