SHYLOCK by Carol Naylor


O Shylock, where is thy spirit of wrath
To destroy thine enemy, Antonio?
Where lies the seed of revenge
That grew into baneful nothingness?
The unremitting suff'rance of your tribe
 Hath made a mockery out of thee.
Thy malice has destroyed thy faith,
Destroyed thee, stripped thee of all dignity.


Thy mangled heart hast been broken,
Stretched beyond recognition,
The umbilical cord frayed, discarded carelessly.
A despised pater, abandoned and rejected
By Jessica, ridiculed and tortured by thine own misery.
A lifetime punishment of scorn to endure,
Festering in a living hell, damned and then reborn
As a newly-baptised Christian. Mah?Chutzpah.



COPYRIGHT 2012. Permission to use this poem must be obtained from the writer.

Comments

  1. Carol Naylor17 April 2013 at 01:55

    The Merchant of Venice was one of the texts I used to teach.Shylock is the most important character in the play and he demands a pound of flesh if Antonio cannot repay his loan and the issue goes to court. Shylock inevitably loses everything he holds dear.

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