Elegy of Fortinbras (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Zbigniew Herbert
- First Published: 1961
- Type of Work: Elegy
- Genres: Poetry, Elegy
- Subjects: Death or dying, Funeral rites or ceremonies, Soldiers, Scandinavia or Scandinavians, Shakespeare, William, or Shakespearean plays, Princes or princesses
The Poem
At the end of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet (c. 1600-1601), Fortinbras, the prince of Norway, arrives in Denmark just in time to witness the aftermath of the tragedy. The bodies of Hamlet, Laertes, Gertrude, and Claudius litter the stage; the sight, as Fortinbras says, may become the battlefield, “but here shows much amiss.” Fortinbras’s role in the play is small. The audience occasionally hears of him but only briefly sees him as he brings his army through Denmark to reclaim territories elsewhere. Hamlet, who glimpses Fortinbras as he traverses Denmark,...
[The entire page is 1441 words long]
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