ADVICE TO RECITERS

To say your Shakespeare sonnet winningly
There’s more than merely memory entailed:
Above all else, you’ll speak with clarity
So every sonorous syllable is nailed.

Then confidence is needed, perfect poise,
That puts your anxious audience at ease.
Then let emotion show—not that which cloys,
Is overdone, but subtle, if you please.

More than all else, you need to understand
Exactly what you’re saying, phrase by phrase,
So what flows from your tongue shows such command
The words seem yours, and that will win our praise.

     One thing remains: if to your words we’ll cleave,
     Then everything you say, you must believe.

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