Shakespeare for Every Circumstance

I have a sick Small One home with me today. 
She’s already had tea, a bath, and all varieties of nasty-tasting tinctures.

But still, she’s feeling mad and powerless.
There are only seven days of school left, and she wants to be there for each one. 
(Cue the irony here regarding the many days of school that sounded, um, less than appealing to her…)

"What would you say to those germs if they could hear you?" I asked.
There was quite a pause.
She closed her eyes.
And when she opened them, she said, "Mistress, dispatch you with your safest haste and get you from our court!"

Really, all I could do was nod…

38 Responses to “Shakespeare for Every Circumstance”

  1. susanwrites

    What a girl, indeed. The right words for every occassion, not just like Shakespeare, just like her mama!

  2. Anonymous

    Wow, you just made this Shakespeare teacher very happy…!

    Lovely.

  3. cstromberger

    … and what’s really amazing is, that wasn’t even her line in the scene!

    Isn’t it uncanny how children know good writing when they hear it? Is that built into our genes somehow? (I find it very mysterious…!) That line just rolls off the tongue in perfect iambic pentameter, except for the first word, which hangs there for a moment after the comma, like a sword over Rosalind’s head…