MacDeath
In theatre there lurks a superstition
Usurping Liberty with inhibition,
Presuming on an actors' erudition
And menacing the thespian tradition.
It is that saying "Macbeth" a cursing brings,
Tidings of doom and unpropitious things,
That utterance backstage or in the wings
Shall hurl and heap unlucky happenings.
Though Hecate and three sisters stir their pot
Of potent poisons to afflict and blot,
Unsex the Lady M. in hellish plot
'Till she cry out in torment "Out, damned spot!"
Myself of a more liberal disposition,
Defying augury
and prohibition
Imported by imposter imposition,
Would trample this tragedian interdiction
And quote the proverb that unearnèd spite,
No more than swallow in perpetual flight
Shall on the innocent elect alight,
For Christ banished the curse at Calvary's site.
Then, actors, heralds of an ancient age,
Sift out unsav'ry sayings in waxing sage,
Turn into flesh the word
on Shakespeare's page
And let sweet Mercy rule a poet's rage.
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