So is it not with me as with that Muse,
Stirred by a painted beauty to his verse,
Who heaven itself for ornament doth use
And every fair with his fair doth rehearse,
Making a couplement of proud compare
With sun and moon, with earth and sea’s rich gems,
With April’s first-born flowers, and all things rare,
That heaven’s air in this huge rondure hems.
O! let me, true in love, but truly write,
And then believe me, my love is as fair
As any mother’s child, though not so bright
As those gold candles fixed in heaven’s air:
     Let them say more that like of hearsay well;
     I will not praise that purpose not to sell.

Analysis

Sonnet 21 is largely in praise of understating praise– even if your lover warrants it.

Instead of praising the young man, Bill talks about what he might or might not say of his beloved. He does not wish to follow the example of those poets who force comparisons with everything that is fair, beautiful, strange or rare. Instead he wishes to emphasize the beauty of truthfulness. Since his love is indeed beautiful, what need is there of overdoing it? Why not say at the outset that, quite simply, you, my love, are yourself, you outshine all praise. Billy chooses instead to avoid pandering. The young man is certainly fair, and deserves better than hyperbolic and ludicrous comparisons.

Will’s Wordplay

The Muses were ancient Greek goddesses of artistic inspiration, the one Will references here is the Muse of poetry. “Muse” can be used symbolically for the poet themselves, or for a poem, or for a style of writing.

Historic Richmond Town, Staten Island

Historic Richmond Town is a living history village and museum complex in the neighborhood of Richmondtown, Staten Island. It is located near the geographical center of the island, at the junction of Richmond Road and Arthur Kill Road.

It was formerly a county seat and commercial center which included the former courthouse of Richmond County, coterminous with the borough of Staten Island. The site also contains other former commercial and governmental buildings, as well as farm buildings and homes, some of which were relocated from other parts of Staten Island. Historic Richmond Town is a village comprising over 30 historic buildings and sites dating from the late 17th to the early 20th Century. Decker Farm, located about one mile from the center of Historic Richmond Town, features a farm stand and seasonal activities such as pumpkin picking.

The village area occupies 25 acres of a 100-acre site, with 15 restored buildings. Anyone who comes to Historic Richmond Town has an opportunity to experience the lifestyle of a 300-year old colonial-era community. The two churches located outside the village are St. Andrew’s Episcopal and St. Patrick’s RC. A third church, the Reformed Dutch Church of Richmond, was demolished.

The creation of Historic Richmond Town was the joint effort of many Staten Islanders, led by the vision of local historians and preservationists: Loring McMillen, William T. Davis and local banker David L Decker. Fueled by the same depression-era passion for historic preservation which resulted in the creation of Colonial Williamsburg, these men helped create a testament to Staten Island’s rich history in an era of rapid development and urban sprawl.

Established in 1958, Historic Richmond Town is a joint project of the Staten Island Historical Society, an independent nonprofit cultural organization, and the City of New York, which owns the land and the buildings and supports part of its operations with public funds from the Department of Cultural Affairs. The purpose of this museum village is to make visitors feel as if they are living in the 19th century. Visitors are able to have a first hand experience of what Historic Richmond Town once was.

ACTOR – Shubhra Prakash

Shubhra has lived in Kolkata, New Delhi, San Francisco Bay Area and now resides in New York City. Shubhra has acted and sung on stage ever since her school days in India. Arriving in US, to begin high school, it was in theatre where she found her comfort zone at the time of transition. Now, living in NYC since 2012, she has acted in USA Network’s Royal Pains, on stage in Columbia University’s Vagina Monologues, sung in Brooklyn Community Theater’s musical Once on this Island and acted in Marcus Yi’s, The Procedure as part of the Planet Connections Festival 13′. Her short film Three Dates, which she wrote, directed and produced was screened at New York Indian Film Festival 13′ and WilliFest 13′.

She is thankful to her director Nikhil Kamkolkar and The Sonnet Project NYC for starting her year with Shakespeare, the journey continues as she acts with The Tempest Ladies LLC in their production of Taming of the Shrew at American Theatre for Actors this Feb 19 – 23, is also the Off-Broadway debut.

DIRECTOR – Harry Taylor

Harry Taylor, born in Houston, Texas my mother from Colombia my father from America. The youngest of three siblings, after living a few months in Texas my family traveled a lot from Colombia to New Jersey. My love for film came at the age of thirteen; my stepfather during the time bought the movie “Gladiator” it was a life changing experience. Never got to see an R rated movie before so this was my first time seeing all the violence up close. It was epic and my mouth was completely open, never seen anything with that much scope from the battlefields to the story line, I was captured by the whole film which got me thinking after watching it how did they make it? After that I rented so many films and try to understand movies. Growing up I lived in a lot of towns in New Jersey, coming to Bayonne and going to high school I enrolled in TV production class. “House 2 House” was the first real first hand experience I got for the school understanding how to shoot, a live game show. It was the first step in learning how any type of work is done behind the scenes, it really changed my how outlook on how much preparation and practice goes into shooting a live event or a short film for class. After high school I took some down time to start shooting some live bands from “Wolf-Face” to “Grimus” and helped with a few low budget music videos, until I enrolled in Full Sail University at Orlando, Florida for Film Studies as well as learning Cinematography. Can find me, of course, on youtube and vimeo.
Link:
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CAMERA OPERATOR – Thomas Palmero

Thomas Palmero went to Bayonne High School and graduated in 2007. He did two years in TV production under the studies of Sal Ianncai. After high school he enrolled in Digital Film Academy in New York where he received his associates in Film. Starting his own company called Lokosoul Productions.
Link:
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