Sonnet 76; Was Shakespeare HIGH when he wrote his works?

Was Shakespeare HIGH when he wrote his works? New chemical analysis of tobacco pipes found in the Bard's garden suggests he had a taste for cannabis

• Researchers tested fragments of pipe found in writer's garden in Stratford
• Chemical analysis showed they had been used to smoke cannabis
• Shakespeare's neighbours also took cocaine which had recently been introduced into England for the first time
• Academics suggest his plays could have performed in a smoky haze

By HUGO GYE FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 14:22 GMT, 9 August 2015 | UPDATED: 14:30 GMT, 9 August 2015

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Drug fiend? Shakespeare has been accused of smoking cannabis by modern-day researchers

William Shakespeare could have written his plays under the influence of drugs, according to researchers who have identified traces of cannabis in pipes found in the author's garden.

South African scientists carried out a chemical analysis on broken pieces of pipe found in Shakespeare's garden in Stratford-upon-Avon, as well as in the grounds of his neighbours' homes.

They discovered that four of the pipes from the playwright's house had traces of cannabis on them - implying that Shakespeare himself may have enjoyed the drug.

Two pipes found nearby had apparently been used to smoke coca leaves, but the researchers suggest that the great writer deliberately rejected the more potent narcotic.

Francis Thackeray, of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, says that both cannabis and coca were considered variants of 'tobacco' during the Elizabethan period.

Cannabis had been known in Europe for centuries by Shakespeare's time, while coca is native to South America and came to the Old World thanks to explorers such as Francis Drake.

Writing in the South African Journal of Science, Professor Thackeray describes how he obtained the pipe fragments from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and submitted them to scientific analysis.

He used a technique called gas chromatography mass spectrometry, which involves separating out different chemicals to discern the make-up of a particular residue.

菸斗有大麻 莎翁寫作嗑嗨了

2015年08月10日

【李寧怡╱綜合外電報導】英國《獨立報》前天報導，南非科學家利用先進科技檢驗發現，英國文豪莎士比亞（William Shakespeare）故居花園中遺留的菸斗，殘留有大麻物質。莎翁十四行詩中曾疑似提及大麻與古柯鹼，分析家懷疑，400多年前他寫下動人的戲劇與詩歌時，可能嗑了大麻。
莎士比亞1564年出生於英國亞文河畔斯特拉福，1616年逝世。《獨立報》指出，莎士比亞故居信託基金會出借在當地發現的24枚菸斗殘片，南非科學家在其中8枚驗出大麻，4片來自莎士比亞花園。
科學家也在2枚菸斗殘片中驗出古柯鹼，不過這兩個菸斗非出自莎士比亞花園。另1個菸斗中則驗出尼古丁。
莎翁十四行詩第76首中，出現「在昭顯菸草中創作」（invention in a noted weed）字句，分析家認為，「weed」應指大麻，可能表示莎翁希望用大麻激發寫作靈感。
莎翁的同一首詩中也提到他不願使用「奇特的化合物」（Compounds strange），可能正是指古柯鹼。不過weeds也可指紡織品，compounds亦可解作合併詞語。 


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet_76

Sonnet 76
Why is my verse so barren of new pride, So far from variation or quick change? Why with the time do I not glance aside To new-found methods, and to compounds strange? Why write I still all one, ever the same, And keep invention in a noted weed, That every word doth almost tell my name, Showing their birth, and where they did proceed? O know, sweet love, I always write of you, And you and love are still my argument; So all my best is dressing old words new, Spending again what is already spent: For as the sun is daily new and old, So is my love still telling what is told.
–William Shakespeare

This poem repeats the theme of Sonnet 38, which examines the issue of the poet's obsession with the Youth as the repeated and sole theme of his poetry.

The poet expresses frustration with his poetry; that it is repetitive and he can't find inspiration. He ponders finding inspiration from other artists. He ends the poem justifying the endless, uninspired, repetition of his love poetry to the endless repetition to the rising and setting sun.

Controversial interpretation[edit]

"Noted weed" is usually glossed to mean familiar clothing. The Norton Shakespeare annotates "and keep invention in a noted weed" thus: And keep literary creativity in such familiar clothing. This conforms with the Oxford English Dictionary's definition of Weed, sb²:1: an article of apparel; a garment, and is consistent with the theme of mending, re-using, etc. ("all my best is dressing old words new").^[1]

Although no academics concur, it has been suggested that Shakespeare is referring to the influence of drugs in poetry creation.,^[2]with the subject phrase "Noted weed" referring to the use of cannabis, which was common in England at the time.^[3] In this interpretation, "Compounds strange" is taken to be a reference to strange chemicals (i.e. drugs), instead of a use of inverted construction, a common poetical device common to Shakespeare. One could argue the poet is thinking he could use drugs to be inspired. He then states he decides not to use such inspiration. (The poet does not "glance aside". Also, he decides to keep the inspirational in the "noted weed" rather than use it.)^{[citation needed]}

The colloquialism "weed" was not used in reference to the drug cannabis in the USA until the 1920s.^[4] However, the term could have been used as a reference to the commonplace plant, which was mass-produced for fiber.

Interpretations[edit]

• Diana Rigg, for the 2002 compilation album, When Love Speaks (EMI Classics)

In Music[edit]

Poeterra recorded a pop rock version of Sonnet 76 on their album "When in Disgrace" (2014).

References[edit]

1. Jump up^ Norton Shakespeare, ed. Stephen Greenblatt. NY: Norton, 1997.
2. Jump up^ CNN Online
3. Jump up^ Harvard Magazine Sep-Oct 2001.
4. Jump up^ "Dictionary.com". Retrieved 30 September 2012.