SOLILOQUIES IN HAMLET
The soliloquy is a dramatic device which allows the speaker to
express his/her thoughts or emotions.
challenge
of
paraphrasing
these
This exercise presents the
thoughts
into
haiku
poetry.
Paraphrasing allows us to better examine the meaning of the
soliloquy.
HAMLET HAIKUS
‘Avenge me,’ Dad says
To be? Or not? I delay ...
Everybody dies.
Haiku poetry is a centuries-old form of Japanese poetry that is different from the kind of
rhythmic, rhyming poetry we're used to reading. Haiku is like a photo that captures the
essence of what's happening, often connecting two seemingly unrelated things.
A traditional Japanese haiku has a total of seventeen syllables divided into three lines:
(5) five syllables
(7)seven syllables
(5)five syllables
Hamlet has seven major soliloquies. For each one, answer the following:

What is the tone?

What does this reveal about Hamlet? Other characters? The plot?
Then write haikus for each of them.
"O that this too, too sullied flesh would melt" (1.2.129-159)
"O all you host of heaven! O earth! what else?" (1.5.92-111)
"O what a rogue and peasant slave am I!" (2.2.549-607)
"To be, or not to be, that is the question" (3.1.56-89)
"Tis now the very witching time of night" (3.2.380-392)
"Now might I do it pat, now a' is a-praying" (3.3.73-96)
"How all occasions do inform against me" (4.4.32-66)
SOLILOQUIES – HAMLET
The term tanka poetry refers to a Japanese five-line poem. Tanka, translated,
means “short song.” It is similar to haiku in that there are specific amounts of
syllables for each line of the poem and it utilizes the literary techniques of
personification, metaphor and simile to describe and create the ability for the reader
to visualize the author's descriptions.
What is the Structure of a Tanka Poem?
A tanka consists of 5 lines and 31 syllables.
Each line has a set number of syllables:
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
1
2
3
4
5
–
–
–
–
–
5
7
5
7
7
syllables
syllables
syllables
syllables
syllables
Example for “Macbeth”:
He is no challenge.
No man born of woman
Is harmful to me.
I will stay King of Scotland.
Lay on, MacDuff! Macbeth comes.
5
7
5
7
7
Hamlet has seven major soliloquies. Write tankas for each of them.
"O that this too, too sullied flesh would melt" (1.2.129-159)
"O all you host of heaven! O earth! what else?" (1.5.92-111)
"O what a rogue and peasant slave am I!" (2.2.549-607)
"To be, or not to be, that is the question" (3.1.56-89)
"Tis now the very witching time of night" (3.2.380-392)
"Now might I do it pat, now a' is a-praying" (3.3.73-96)
"How all occasions do inform against me" (4.4.32-66)