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Who do you consider the better poet? He who wrote " Shall I compare thee to a summer's day.....", or "Come away with me and be my love, and we will all the pleasures prove."

Shakespeare anyday...

Although Shakespeare has more name recognition, Marlowe's work seems to more me more.

Shakespeare, but Faust's soliloquy upon meeting Helen is forever ingrained in my mind:

Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships,
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss.
Her lips suck forth my soul: see where it flies!
Come, Helen, come, give me my soul again.
Here will I dwell, for heaven is in these lips,
And all is dross that is not Helena.
I will be Paris, and for love of thee,
Instead of Troy, shall Wittenberg be sack'd;
And I will combat with weak Menelaus,
And wear thy colours on my plumed crest;
Yea, I will wound Achilles in the heel,
And then return to Helen for a kiss.
O, thou art fairer than the evening air
Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars;
Brighter art thou than flaming Jupiter
When he appear'd to hapless Semele;
More lovely than the monarch of the sky
In wanton Arethusa's azur'd arms;
And none but thou shalt be my paramour!

-- 12 Dec 2013, 07:32 --

But really there is no comparison. Shakespeare is the greatest writer of all time; Marlowe was one of many great writers of his time. Shakespeare clearly borrows from Marlowe and in doing so surpasses him. Now, had Marlowe lived longer, who knows....

You know there's a theory that still floats around in some places that Marlowe was actually Shakespeare's pseudonym? I don't put a whole lot of stock into it, but, then, even if it were true, all I care about is the poetry itself... Who cares who wrote it, right? It exists and it's great. That's what matters, right?

I've heard of the pseudonym theory before, but I like to think, Shakespeare and Marlowe as contemporaries. The work The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus is one of the greats. A deal with the devil? What a play! I must confess I love the works of Shakespeare also. I am currently reading his complete works, in a facsimile of the first folio, quite a challenge, but well worth the effort.

I just got Shakespeare's complete works as a gift. Make sure you read his narrative poems if you haven't already. Which is your favorite play? Favorite work overall?

My favorite piece of Shakespeare, Hamlet and A Midsummer's Night's Dream. Overall, MacBeth, nothing better than a psychological thriller, in my opinion.

I like that... you heard the opera, "Macbeth?" It's fascinating. My favorite recording of it includes Shirley Verrett as the Lady and Piero Cappuccili as Macbeth. Claudio Abbado conducts. The sound is astounding and the performances are equal to the coldest critics' expectations. Try it out!

It's hard for me to choose my absolute favorite Shakespeare play because I'm such a fan overall of his work. Everything he does is in one way or another extraordinary. I have DVDs of most of his great plays. They capture his element perfectly. None of that modernist contamination for me!

I'm getting the feeling that this is a trick question, but I'll answer anyway. Shakespeare! Definitely Shakespeare! Taming of the shrew and Much Ado about nothing are my favorite comedies, but the best play out of them all, that I still cry on this very day, is Romeo and Juliet. "Two households, both a like in dignity. This story has been told before, a lot. But I still love it when it is told, again. For no story has more woe, than that of Juliet, and her Romeo."

Shakespeare's sonnets are always a great read, regardless of how many times, I've read them. Still, it's a little curious to me, to know to whom they are addressed to, I've read the theories, but still, it's interesting to wonder to whom they're addressed, I guess it gives a little insight into his character.

I little more than halfway through the sequence, I noticed he switched from addressing what was rather clearly specified in some verses to be a man to addressing a woman... Strange... I've read the theories, too. Maybe some of them could, MAYBE, have been true?

Shakespeare all the way people.

Shakespeare

Shakespeare, I find Marlowe very difficult to follow.