Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Miranda And Miranda And Miranda



Miranda is a moon
of the seventh planet
Uranus. Miranda
in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”
is Prospero’s daughter.

I’ve seen Uranus through
simple binoculars
and larger telescopes
but never anything
capable of seeing
the moons of Uranus
so I have never seen
its smallest, Miranda.

And I have never read
Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” but
I know it’s his last play
or his last major play.

I have seen a painting
of Prospero’s daughter
as she was imagined
by a British painter:


The most famous exchange
in “The Tempest” between
the father and daughter
probably is this one
though I can’t say for sure:



MIRANDA

O Wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here.
How beauteous mankind is. O brave new world
That has such people in’t!


PROSPERO

’Tis new to thee.



Maybe someday I’ll buy
a larger telescope.

Maybe someday I’ll read
“The Tempest” by Shakespeare.

Or maybe Miranda
will be a character
always just out of sight
though I know where to look.

And if I never see
Miranda though I know
where to look, then I hope
Miranda won’t hate me.
























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