"Thy crown doth sear mine eyeballs and thy hair, Thou other gold-round brow, is like the first. A third is like the former. Filthy hags! Why do you show me this? A fourth. Start, eyes. What, will the line stretch out to the crack of doom?" - The parade of ghostly Kings before Macbeth #BookWormSat

#BookWormSat “How extraordinary the vigilance and activity of the king and duke was, ever labouring in person, and being present to command, order, reward and encourage workmen ...” John Evelyn Diary Entry 1666 - King Charles II & Duke of York help tackle the Great Fire of London 🎨Unknown Artist

“I am a spirit of no common rate, The summer still doth tend upon my state” Titania, queen of the fairies, asserts her authority over her otherwordly court (and everywhere else) 👑 'Midsummer Night's Dream' (1594-1596) #BookWormSat

There's a popular story about a staging of 'Antony & Cleopatra' at the Lyceum in the 19th C. During an Act 2 scene of bacchanalian excess in Cleopatra's court, an old lady in the front row was heard to comment: 'Dear! Dear! What a contrast to the home life of our own dear Queen.' #BookWormSat

For #BookWormSat "Eight centuries ago on the edge of the marsh men had built the huge cathedral, or it may have been seven centuries ago, or perhaps nine—it was all one to the Wild Things." Lord Dunsany-Kith of the Elf Folk. (artwork mine)

After some unknown tiff between dandy supreme Beau Brummell and the Prince of Wales, they met again at a society event in 1813 hosted by Lord Alvanley. The Prince Regent pointedly snubbed Brummell, who responded by asking: 'Alvanley, who's your fat friend?' His days at court were over. #BookWormSat

"High above all a cloth of State was spred, & a rich throne, as bright as sunny day, On whiche sate most brave embellished With royall robes & gorgeous array, A mayden queene, that shone as Titans ray, In glistring gold & peerelesse pretious stones" Edmund Spenser 'The Faerie Queene' #BookWormSat

‘I died as a mineral and became a plant, I died as plant and rose to animal, I died as animal and I was Man. Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?’ — Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rumi #BookWormSat 🎨 Hossein Behzad, ‘Rumi’ (1957)

"The ill-wishing eye, may it be torn out, Sees only defects in his virtue. But if thou possessest one virtue and seventy faults, A friend sees nothing except that virtue." - From 'The Gulistan' of Saadi (translated by Edward Rehatsek) #BookWormSat #Persia

"I carry seeds in my mouth. Plant turmeric, cardamom, and tiny aromatic cucumbers in this garden. Water them with rain I wring from my grandmother’s songs. They will grow, I know, against these blackthorn walls. They can push through anything, uncut". Contemporary poet Sholeh Wolpé #BookWormSat