A Midsummer Nights Dream
“This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle… This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.” - William Shakespeare
It is only fitting to quote Shakespeare as we make our way across England towards Stratford on Avon to pay homage to the Bard. We discussed the war of the roses on our drive and talked about Richard the III who stood accused of murdering his nephews in the tower even as he lost it at Bosworth field to give rise to the Tudor dynasty. White roses, red roses, white boars and blue boars all made it to our discussion such that we felt steeped in history when we finally came to the River Avon and admired some of the Tudor architecture around the town and made our way to William Shakespeare’s birthplace.
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language, and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. I can certainly attest to that having grown up in India reading Shakespeare and watching plays performed by the Shakespeare company as well as acting in a few school plays written by the bard.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18 he married Anne Hathaway, who bore him three children. Between 1585 and 1592 he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of the playing company the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. After a successful career in London he came back to Stratford on Avon to retire and eventually died here as well.
The statue of the jester is a popular meeting place. From there we made our way to Shakespeare’s home where he was born and wandered through the museum, the home and garden, poked into the gift shop before exploring the pedestrian street where the house is located and made time for a pot of tea with a scone before heading back to our hotel. Coincidentally dinner was at a local pub called the Blue Boar.
The backdoor exit from the house that leads into the garden and ultimately the gift shop and exit. The house is beautifully staged showcasing what it must have been to have lived and grown up here in Shakespeare’s time.
Imagine my surprise to see a bust of Rabindranath Tagore the Bengali poet and Indian Bard holding pride of place in the garden. It turns out that the great Indian poet had written a poem for the Tercentenary of Shakespeare’s death which was immortalized on an ivory tablet at the Shakespeare Center Library in Calcutta India.
When this tablet was seen by the Indian High Commissioner to London Dr. LM Singhvi, he conceived the idea of a permanent monument to Tagore that could be enjoyed by the people of the Indian sub continent who come to Stratford on Avon. Thus the bust came to find a home in the birthplace garden to be viewed and enjoyed by wandering Veena just as was intended.
As I wondered inside the museum part of the birthplace, this first edition book of Shakespeare’s work preserved under glass open to one of my favorite plays ~ The Tempest.
Our hotel the Swans Nest was right on banks of the River Avon where the Stratford eye was visible as was the area where one can rent boats to kayak or paddle down the river and enjoy the cool summer breezes during this heatwave that has England in its grip.
This Shakespeare bridge is somewhat different than the Shakespeare bridge in Los Angeles that was featured in one of my posts some time back.
After a delightful evening spent at the Blue Boar Pub we called it a day.
The next day, off we were again, this time in search of a “A host of golden daffodils beside the lake, beneath the trees, fluttering and dancing in the breeze”. Yes we were headed to Grasmere and the beautiful Lake district to visit the grave of the most famous of the Lakes poets William Wordsworth.
I couldn’t help but reflect my love for poetry that was inspired in middle school by poets like William Wordsworth, William Blake and Sir Walter Scott.
After visiting the grave we walked along the little village street enjoying the beauty and ambiance even as we tasted gingerbread, mint cakes and other treats with our morning tea. Morning tea became quite the habit on this trip where we tasted our way through some of the sweet local baked codes in every region that we stopped at.
Beatrix Potter of the Peter Rabbit fame also made her home here in the lakes and in fact after her death has gifted much of her property to the British Trust which makes it available for visitors like us to continue to enjoy this beauty.
While Peter Rabbit is not super popular amongst American children like my grandchildren today I did stop into the store to pick up a few gifts for them as a memento of my visit here. I fondly remember my childhood which did consist of Beatrix Potter and Enid Blyton.
Even as a heatwave has Britain sweltering and folks complaining about yellow fields and lack of rain this area was still lush and green and a dream to look upon.
The hillsides were alive with flowers nodding their heads and swaying in the breeze. I began to understand the inspiration of the lake poets and felt that given a bit of time I might be able to spout some verse too.
As we left Grasmere on our way towards Scotland there was an accident on the motorway that necessitated us taking narrow roads and lanes and riding along the lake seeing the locals enjoying all that this area has to offer from a recreation viewpoint. Apparently there is an air force base around here because we saw fighter jets doing maneuvers in the sky. Reminds me a bit about driving to San Diego from Los Angeles and passing Camp Pendleton and seeing similar exercises and training.
What a beautiful part of England this is. Perhaps someday my steps will lead me back to enjoy this beauty but for now the road is calling and we are heading to York onward to Scotland and the Edinburgh Tattoo.