I went to see Merchant of Venice a few weeks ago. I did not realize this famous stanza came from it:
The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
---
NOw nobody can exactly explain why that is poetry, and great poetry, but so it is. If you analyze it a little you can see that "rain" in echoing "strained" proves what it says, i.e., gentle rain...both in sound and image, proves it is not strained.
You could also say that by repeating the word "bless" (blest, blesseth) and emphasizing the image of twice blest (him that gives and him that takes), it once again, is poetry because it makes us feel that blessing as it walks us through the lines carefully.
Then also, the cadences--it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven--
and you pause to get to the next line, where shall it drop? And you get, "Upon the place beneath." WHich has a beautiful rhythm, and is so gentle in describing earth, this crazy world, where in this play one person is about to cut out another's heart. "Upon the place beneath." Very gentle--"not strained."
Even so, it's also the original nature of the first sentence. "The quality of mercy is not strained." Someone else might simply write, "Mercy is natural." And that has no poetry in it. There is a certain suspense as you begin reading. "The quality of mercy"--so what comes next, you wonder? "Is not strained." Very unusual image. In the film, she recited it beautifully.
There is really nobody of Shakespeare's stature--his poetry is magnificently great, his characters are magnificently great, his plots also, and his wit and humour. |
