An Audio Guide to Poetry Recitation - 11. Conveying emotion, wit

An Audio Guide to Poetry Recitation - 11. Conveying emotion, with excerpts from Hamlet


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Any effective actor or speaker learns hwo to infuse language with emotion. The same words spoken with different emotional tones have very different effect on the listener. In learning to recite poetry, you need to choose the emotion or emotions you want ot convey. Listen to these three versions of a few lines from William Shakespeare's Hamlet. First you will actor James Earl Jones, then Michael York, and finally Mel Gibson.

[voice of James Earl Jones]
To be, or not to be, that is the question—
Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing, end them?

[Voice of Michael York]
To be, or not to be, that is the question—
Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing, end them?

[Voice of Mel Gibson]
To be, or not to be, that is the question—
Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing, end them?

Notice how different the same words sounded in each version. Actors do the same things as singers, they color their words with emotion. Sometimes you will want to color a single line,
sometimes the entire poem.