Another result of Shakespeare's poetic thinking is that there was a revision necessary, purely on a rhythmic level, for every line written. The metrical considerations therefore put the words through another level of thought, which can lead to improvements not only on a sonic level but also in terms of content. In an earlier post (August 26), I discussed anastrophe, which refers to the unusual syntactical structures (or wording, if you prefer) - and the reasons for them - that are found in poetry. While anastrophe can make the initial reading more difficult, what it creates in terms of beauty, insight and original thought makes the extra effort more than worth it. The following passage occurs when Horatio is revealing the existence of the ghost to Hamlet. Its content is quite simple, or at least it could be phrased that way: Horatio tells Hamlet that the two guards, Marcellus and Bernardo, had seen the ghost the previous two nights, and had described what the ghost was wearing and how it moved. It scared them. They then decided to tell Horatio about it, and when he joined their watch, he saw it as well - just as they had described it. Horatio then closes by saying that the resemblance between the ghost and Hamlet's father is just as strong as the one between his two hands. All well and good, but when the restrictions imposed by writing in verse were applied, we got this:

Two nights together had these gentlemen

(Marcellus and Bernardo) on their watch

In the dead vast and middle of the night

Been thus encount'red. A figure like your father,

Armed at point exactly, cap-a-pe,

Appears before them and with solemn march

Goes slow and stately by them. Thrice he walk'd

By their oppress'd and fear-surprised eyes,

Within his truncheon's length; whilst they distill'd

Almost to jelly with the act of fear,

Stand dumb and speak not to him. This to me

In dreadful secrecy impart they did,

And I with them the third night kept the watch;

Where, as they had deliver'd, both in time,

Form of the thing, each word made true and good,

The apparition comes. I knew your father.

These hands are not more like.