Shakespeare Challenge: 2B or not 2B (Hamlet)

It’s a little known fact that Shakespeare was a bit of a doodler. He’d always have a sketchbook and writing apparatus handy as he wandered the inns and drinking houses late at night, seeking inspiration.

He originally wanted to be an artist but he was absolutely rubbish at drawing; his biggest handicap was that he could never decide what sort of pencil to use. So he turned to writing instead, because quills were easier to use and he was less inclined to chew the end.

But he never forgot his early experiences with pencils; indeed – one such remembrance became the inspiration for what many regard as his most famous soliloquy. Below are his original notes for the play Pencils.

For Scribbler; (writer and poet)

The coffee’s on
The desk is clear
The page is blank
No words appear

I polish, buff and sharpen them
A point fine as a tarpon – then
I place one on the paper
I see one word – more later?

2B or not 2B? – that is the question
whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer ....
... or to take up slings and arms
pencils against a Sea of Troubles ....
Out! damn quill! Out! I say......

My point – though sharp – doth often quibble
No word, no dot, no dash, no scribble

And then the words come -
Mumbling
Stumbling
Out onto the paper
Roughing-and-tumbling
The point now crumbling

The coffee’s gone
The desk is clear
The mind is blank
No words appear