Shakespeare

Aristide Demetriade in Hamlet
o creatie a carei faima a trecut fruntariile tarii
the fame of Demetriade's creation in Hamlet passed Romania's frontiers

I have this book, the History of Bucharest National Theater, an edition from 1939, and I keep it as a beloved treasure for my soul. The book belonged to my uncle,whose name was also Pierre. He passed away in 1944, victim of a robbery made by military from the Soviet occupation troupes. I was born in 1945, and my mother gave me his name, to appease the tragedy that had struck our family.

On the cover of this book it is a photo from 1916: Aristide Demetriade, one of the greatest artists in the history of Bucharest National Theater, playing Hamlet, a creation whose fame has passed Romania's frontiers. It was my fist encounter with the name of Shakespeare.

I didn't have, so far, the audacity to write on this blog about Shakespeare. There are titans that overwhelm any attempt to comment. Only once I brought a small poem by Eminescu, meditating his love for the English bard. Two titans in a dialog throughout the centuries:

Shakespeare, adesea te gândesc cu jale,
Prieten bun al sufletului meu,
Ecoul viu al versurilor tale
Îmi sare-n gând, şi le repet mereu.

De-aş fi trăit când tu trăiai pe lume,
Te-aş fi iubit atât cât te iubesc?
Căci tot ce simt - tot ție-ți multumesc,
Tu mi-ai deschis a ochilor lumină,
M-ai invățat ca lumea s-o citesc.

It's an impiety for me to adventure and give a rendering of these lines in another language, but, also, everybody should taste a bit of their beauty, and I will dare:

Shakespeare, I often build you in my mind with sorrow,
Good friend of my soul,
The living echo of your lines
Is jumping in my thought, and I repeat them always.

Were I to live when you were living on this world,
Would I have loved you as much as I now love you?
For all I feel - it's thanks to you,
You are the one to open my eyes' light
And teach me read this universe.

I found this video on youTube, you'll consider it maybe a bit crazy, but it speaks also about someone's unconditional love for the English bard. Are Shakespeare's plays encoded within a number with infinite digits? Has the bard as measure the endless of eternity?

are Shakespeare's plays encoded within Pi?
(video by Vihart)

• The Happy Few
• Goethe und Schiller (the monument of Shakespeare in Weimar)
• Gândindu-l pe Shakespeare: Eminesciene
• There Is No Third 
• Did They Meet in Valladolid?

(A Life in Books)