Drench

(Sonnet to Shakespeare on his birthday, April 23, 2005)

O William, what a world of war and woe
Since you in youth, tasting the Golden Age,
Learned of Drake's victory against the foe
Philip of Spain unleashed in christian rage.
That doomed Armada seemed a mighty force
Embarked to quell a smaller nation state,
Setting its sails to steer an easy course,
'Till, pinned to shoals, it met its deadly fate.
Fruit of imperial hubris, ill-prepared,
The grand flotilla fled that were not burned,
Nor was the washed-up Spanish sailor spared,
And, in the end, scarce half the ships returned.
Witness, Shakespeare, the stamp of History's seal
That scorns the folly of religious zeal.

April 2005