"Sweet Swan of Avon"

[@rodehovededelux3066]

Thank you! Please don't make them shorter! I love listening to all the details.

[@rfisher79]

"My Shakespeare, rise, I will not lodge thee by Chauser, or Spencer, or bid Beaumont lye A little further, to make thee a roome: Thou art a Monument without a Tomb" Seriously..... No decoding involved here. I've been watching All Your Videos! I had an English Teacher in Highschool that went to Stratford Upon Avon in the 90's and She stated that she was amazed at the Commercialization of Shakespeare. Thank You Sir for Tearing Apart the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. I Truely Enjoy Your Work!

[@Aspasia2929]

Hi Alexander… I don’t think you go on too long at all. I’m grateful to have these passages explained to me. I find reading Middle English difficult enough, but add in all these hidden codes and double entendres it’s as if it was written with an Enigma! Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge with me!

[@angela6722]

Just caught all these. Brilliant. This seems to be the only one on which comments aren’t disabled. Presentation is terrific - analysis excellent - viewed and presented from the Elizabethan aspect which in my opinion is the only way. No point in looking at this issue from a modern mindset.

[@alexanderwaugh7036]

Thank you angela6722, comments are now 'abled' on all my videos, Alexander

[@waxeye6488]

Well done! No, I wasn't bored but it must be said, you are the master of digression.

[@peppis2003]

Just the fact that the stratford shakespeare didn't learn his daughters to write is proof enugh for me. and the comparison between oxfords life and the plays tells me he is the real thing!!

[@joecurran2811]

Also the knowledge of tennis and falconry, literally royal sports at the time.

[@egverlander]

A pleasure and edification, indeed!

[@ronroffel1462]

I have reinterpreted the phrase "Sweet Swan of Avon" (23:49) as an oath, not a description of the poet. Back in 1609 King James I issued an order to writers, particularly playwrights, to stop using religious oaths in their work. Jonson had already been in trouble a few times over his writing, so he would have been acutely aware that if he did anything more scandalous, it would have meant prison. There is proof in the Folio that religious oaths were removed from plays which suggests that Jonson coined "Sweet Swan of Avon" as an ambiguous oath which could double as a form of praise. The quarto of The Merry Wives of WIndsor, for example, had more than 60 religious oaths which were either removed or changed to less offensive forms in the Folio. W. W. Greg provides a chart of those oaths in page liv of the preface to the 1910 Oxford (how ironic) Press facsimile of The Merry Wives of WIndsor. So why would Jonson use an oath? If you look at the long-s in "sight" later on in the same line, it looks almost identical to the f in "true-filed lines" a mere 3 lines above. When I first read the poem, I saw the long-s as an f, transforming the word into fight. This is what I believe Jonson wanted readers to do because he uses what we would call a proper upper-case s in "Swan" when he could have used the lower-case long-s form. Therefore, readers at the time may have done the same as I did and misread the letter as an f. The "fight" Jonson alludes to is the fight to get the Folio into print. The fight was to collect the unpublished plays, to get investors involved, to include dozens of allusions and puzzles in the book, and to publish it during the Spanish Marriage Crisis where the threat that Prince Charles was about to marry the Spanish Infanta disrupted the lives of so many nobles. Indeed, Henry de Vere was in prison during most of the time the Folio was being prepared for print for his opposition to the marriage. So Ithink Jonson's oath was a sigh of relief that the Folio had finally seen the light of day. One more authorship clue is in the position of the third name Shakespeare: it is on the 34th left-indented line from the beginning, or 17 x 2 lines. And finally, 40 words are in non-italic letters in the poem, not counting the name in brackets since it can be seen as optional. Just some additional discoveries I made for people to ponder.

[@iancameron4535]

this wonderful critique of the stratfordian shakespear narrative gives us an insight in to the modern mans infinant potential to prefer myth over reality.

[@Aspasia2929]

Like most things in life it’s all about the $$$$! These people have tens of thousands of dollars in student loans studying the Stratfordian narrative; some would lose their royalties from books they published with the Stratfordian narrative; and Stratford upon Avon’s economy would collapse if they lost their lucrative Shakespeare tourism!

[@SiriusDraconis]

Really enjoying the videos, Sir. The swan to me is, of course, the constellation Cygnus. My knowledge of Shakespeare is limited but I'm learning. My love for history and specifically the knight templar has surprisingly brought me to Shakespeare. This is the most exciting story of the last 2000 years. I believe stories like the tempest are loose accounts of times in Bacon's life. The tempest is about when john Dee sent him away to an island to practice is magic and alchemy. He was the secret son of Queen Elizabeth. The earl of oxford might have been another one of her bastard children. And I think they both had a bog roll in this as well as sir henry Neille. I think that most of the claims or authorship whoever they maybe are true. If there is anything to tie that person to the Rosicrucian movement then they probably had a hand in Shakespeare. If someone were to come to Bacon and say I want to book in code to also show that they were a part of this, Bacon would have said yes. As long as it did not affect his own codes that were more important and not just about authorship. Bacon codes are star maps. The secret longitude and circumnavigation.

[@markhughes7927]

I would be interested to know how the Templar route took you to this study? Is it because the 17th Earl was one - or something else? Are you suggesting - also - that several people had inputs to the plays even if they were homogenised and masterminded by the Earl?

[@willsirotak]

Isn't the swan also an esoteric symbol of Lancastrians?

[@duderama6750]

I'm guessing you came by Norway, and landed like a fly in an elephant's eye.

[@mrb7094]

@@duderama6750 I understand the Norwegian reference. And isn't it fascinating how much 'evidence' both schools can find? I saw one of Alexander's videos yesterday, on the Wilton House Shakespeare Monument. In one phrase 'Shadow Player' he found, I can't remember, six different Oxfordian references. Maybe more. Worth watching. Imagine being clever enough to put six or more subtle clues in one phrase all at the same time? It strains credibility. No? And yet, seemingly, there they all are. Whilst, let's call it the Norwegian school, can find many, many other pieces of evidence, like all those spherical stones on that island in New England. Amazing! Yet, they can't both be true can they? They cancel each other out. I must confess, I worry. Is it possible, in fact, isn't it more likely, that we are reading far, far, far more into much of this than is really there? Are there really six different references in one phrase? Or are we painting them in, as it were, later on because we so want them to be there?

[@duderama6750]

@@mrb7094 Oak Island is in New Scotland. I have found "codes" in my own work that I did not intend. Was it something Jungian, or a little more up Freud's alley, by way of Bernays? Well Dude, we just don't know, but I concur with your dogged decryption, Shakespeare was not a man, but a society. All the best people playing with words. Just say these to enter, By will I am Shakespeare.

[@marclayne9261]

I have the book, 'Ben Johnson of Westminster'....Marchette Chute.....1953....A splendid book indeed.....

[@markhughes7927]

That district of London - running west to Hampton Court and Kingston on the south side of the river - it kept (and even keeps) its spirits to near these times.

[@neilwilkes]

I wonder if Johnson is saying more than we realise with the now infamous quotation 'Sweet Swan of Avon: What a sight it were to see thee in our waters yet appear, And make those flights upon the bank of Thames' It seems to me that he is blatantly stating that the 'Avon' in question is 'upon the bank of Thames', not 'upon the bank of Avon' This has to be Hampden Court, as Alexander states.

[@paulderby2117]

Thank You AW.

[@screaminbetty1]

Linking Shakespeare to lying with Chaucer, Spenser and Beaumont as in the monument inscription.

[@milzner641]

That last line there, "Shine forth, thou starre of poets" contains "forth t"...

[@Kadath_Gaming]

Are the arrows in the bows of the archers in the head piece directing our attention to any points in it's centre piece I wonder?

[@ermbokwenzer4533]

Could it be that the bright shining of his mind be due to his having mystically become Apollo the sun? (As in Tibetan tantra a person might become an emanation of a deity) The swan associated with Apollo. If de Vere was involved with initiatic traditions, this identification with deity may have been involved. "You have surpassed yourself..." Do the plays then carry the shining brightness of Apollo? Also that brightness being "the cause of wit in others"?

[@truthlove1114]

Very enjoyable

[@johnbeattie5014]

Belief in Stratford man as true Shakespeare ≈ SANTA CLAUS

[@advancedfaces]

Reviewed the John Dee video again, noted Hamlet O,0,0,0 = 40. Thoughts on the engraving and all of the 0000 on his clothing design. I also see a 4 on the shoulder, when viewing its the the right side. I also see X's everywhere.

[@padraigosuilleabhain6511]

Hi all, hi Alexander, I need your help!...Bryan Willenthall (surname may not be correct) mentions in a video that he will email a lresentayion of his to interested people. I emailed him twice but got no reply. Is there an issue with this? Thank you. Padraig

[@onefeather2]

Love these talks, refreshing and thanks for all the research, But I do believe it was Frances Bacon and his colleagues who wrote the plays.

[@jomurphy1654]

How then do you account for the extraordinary plethora of autobiographical details of De Vere's life evidenced in the plays?

[@johnbeattie5014]

And how do you account for the 1609 dedication of the sonnets "BY OUR.EVERLIVING.POET" five years after de Vere's passing whereas Bacon lived until 1626? And the title "SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS" implying no more would ever appear - as opposed to, say, "Sonnets by Shakespeare" or similar.

[@justsoification]

Florio was also tutor to the earl of Southampton not to mention Pembroke. Explain that coincidence Mr Waugh

[@duncanmckeown1292]

I should point out the very mysterious reference to Page's (Burghley's) "fallow greyhound" in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Fallow here can have a double meaning. First a pale yellow deer connection...deer and greyhounds? Yes! The calygreyhound has antlers! Secondly a reference to fallow meaning out of use...either a comment on Oxford's retirement OR to the supporter role having been dropped by de Vere in favour of the harpy and boar. Significantly Shallow (Leicester) then goes on to say..."a fair dog; can there be more said? He is good and fair." "Vere" and "fair" would have been pronounced at the time to rhyme.

[@QIgorecki]

missed the third, pointing down arrow

[@simonstergaard]

I have seen the : several times in texts you present... what does it mean when its presented like "Ben: Ionson."....tried to google it, but did not get any answers.

[@alexanderwaugh7036]

I think I have seen this orthography elsewhere so I am not sure if it is significant or conventional. An interesting question worth looking into.

[@simonstergaard]

@@alexanderwaugh7036 orthography, that was the secret word i needed to find out more. thankyou. so its the syntax for non-programming written languages.

[@StarShippCaptain]

Dear Master Waugh, What do you think of this artists evaluation of the Shakespeare First Folio picture of Shakespeare? I think he is onto something. Would surely like your opinion of his analysis of the picture. THANKS @

[@justsoification]

If de vere is the sweet swan of Avon surely John Florio has a stronger case since he was the Groom of the Privy Chamber and Personal Secretary to the Queen whose main residence was Hampton Court.

[@advancedfaces]

The double VV, first V tilted and it happens to represent Vero (truth). Since it is here, it is not a mistake on the Title Page.

[@paddys57]

Diminished triads on lines 234 in the Bass Clef, lines 345 in the Treble and on BDF around middle C. Middle C is Do for Domine (God). Extend the middle C line on both sides, and music is now written on 11 lines with 10 spaces. The G clef and the F clef are keys, staves, staffs, keys to understanding like the triple tau in ellipse O in capital Omicron. Put in your triple-tau key and step into infinity. Two elliptical semibreves kissing on the same line for the symbol of infinity, the end of mensural time. Faire Phyllis is by De Vere. It’s a funny madrigal about shepherds chasing each other up and down, but when they kiss, their two elliptical semibreves for the symbol of INFINITY. Phyl-Lis Et A-MIn-TAS/Taus. PALMET. Templa Sollem(p)nia. Solemn Temples. E is for Enigma. Palmet, to imprint your hand, to tie up with vines. The Droeshout doublet has chain embroidery. The figure is also Prometheus bound. He has stolen Lux from the Gods. He is chained, frozen in time, cannot speak, shines light from his neck. Piquets, pica have the same etymological root. There is so much symbolism in these two pages. PALMET anagram TEMPLA. Kap.-(H)Eta-THETA(Tau). Say CAPITA in Latin. Robert Grossteste. BIG HEAD IN CAPITAL LETTERS. John Dee De Luce, De Clue, Dee Cul (Fool, joke). Please listen to me. Look, see, hear, understand.

[@Aspasia2929]

I don’t know if you answer questions but is there any evidence that Ben Johnson was in contact with the man from Stratford after he left London? He writes about Shakespeare admiration and affection; surely he would have stayed in touch with him.

[@alexanderwaugh7036]

Jonson writes of his ‘beloved the AVTHOR’ before explaining why he refuses to praise Shakespeare’s name in 16 lines, beginning his poem on line 17 - “I therefore will begin” - a classic example of the Horatian ‘recusatio’ (refusal). Ben Jonson’s acquaintance with Stratford Shakspere is far from certain on the evidence we have.

[@anonymous-rj6ok]

VV ALIAS A SHEEP MILKER is an anagram of William Shakespeare if you swap the W with VV for Edward De Vere.

[@vetstadiumastroturf5756]

If you swap the W for a VU you get I VER, ALIAS SHAKE-PLUME AND PHI! (fie) VILE (or EVIL) EARL USE A MASK and HA! I SEE A VAMPIRE SKULL and there's also an X rated anagram that describes what he does to Queen Elizabeth if you keep the W you get a poem where each line is an anagram WAKE SERAPHIM ALLIES HEAR ME AS I WILL SPEAK AWAKE IMPS, RAISE HELL AS A EMPIRE WILL SHAKE

[@justsoification]

Also first folio was just year before Florio s death a good time publish not decades after.

[@Gerundo58]

All that is known for sure about Mr. William Shaksper is that he was born in Stratford Upon-Avon, married and had children, went to London, where he began acting under the stage name Shakespeare, returned to Stratford, made his will, died and was buried. The rest of his life is a blank sheet of paper, not a pen or a book was found in his house. A semi-literate man who could not write his own name could not have written immortal works, so who was the real author of Shakespeare's plays? The first to identify Shakespeare with Giovanni Florio was his enemy Thomas Nashe, who in one thousand five hundred eighty-nine, published in clear letters in the Metaphon that "an Italian pen puts eternity in an actor's mouth.'' What do we know instead about John Florio? About John Florio his whole life and countless works are known, he had a huge culture in all fields, he spoke countless languages and dialects, he translated into English many Italian, Latin Greek, French, and Spanish works bringing much erudition to a country where culture was very scarce. John Florio was a valiant writer; in addition to the works of Shakespeare, he introduced over a thousand new learned words into the English language and produced a dictionary with over one hundred and fifty thousand English terms. No English scholar was equal to such a feat.

[@alexanderwaugh7036]

Dear Gerundo58, the Shakespeare authorship case is complicated enough without your needing to invent quotations from Thomas Nashe’s famous letter in Menaphon (not ‘Metaphon’) to boost the indefensible case of John Florio. No more of this kind of thing please.

[@Gerundo58]

@@alexanderwaugh7036 Thank you for your kind reply, I apologize for my bad English but I am not a scholar but merely an amateur of the theater. Here I report only what eminent scholars have discovered in their careful research by authoritative researchers such as Frances A. Yates, Saul Gerevini, Michael Delahoyde of the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship and many other members whose names I cannot remember all. The story begins around the 1920s when a researcher finds in an Italian library a book entitled "Tutti Frutti." In this book there are endless locutions that the actor Shakespeare later re-enacts on stage. It could not be plagiarism because the book had been written fifty years before Shakespeare's birth. This discovery prompted the search for the book's author-Michelangelo Florio. Among the researchers was John Harding and then his daughter Julia. The studies ended due to the catastrophic events that followed that period. In Brief: Today we know with certainty that Michelangelo Florio was born in Tuscany in 1518, a man of encyclopedic and linguistic learning. Unfortunately, his ideas conflicted with those of the Catholic Church, and he was imprisoned as a heretic, but in 1550 he escaped by taking refuge in London. Because of his great learning he was immediately hired at the court of King Edward VI as tutor to English noble scions, including the future Queen Victoria. Michelangelo marries and Giovanni (John) is born in 1553. In 1554 with the accession to the throne of Mary the Bloody, the family fled to Soglio, a village in the Chiavenna Valley. His father educates him and his mother teaches him English. John studies at many Italian and foreign universities, learning many languages and dialects. Queen Elizabeth I comes to the throne and the Florio family returns to London. Giovanni becomes the right-hand man and secretary to Queen Elizabeth. On the other hand, the fact that he was Italian, his enormous culture, his literary background, his social intelligence, and his friendships of the highest order aroused resentment among many. Thomas Nashe also made ruthless attacks on him because Florio promoted, to the Earl of Southampton, the protection of a young man from Stratford-on-Avon, County Warwick, rather than that of Nashe himself. This young man would become "Shakespeare" in everyone's eyes. It is interesting that Florio favored, at the Earl of Southampton, an unknown man with no university training, even uncultured (as his contemporary and friend Ben Jonson), rather than a "Wit" like Nashe. One finds corpulent traces of what I say in some of Thomas Nashe's writings and in Florio's writings, as well as in other writings. The story goes on but it is much longer and space is short here. Cordially Danilo Rossetti

[@drymant]

So, you state all the supposed facts known about this person William Shakspere, say the rest of his life is a blank sheet of paper, yet seem to be completely assured that he was "semi-literate" and "could not write his own name." Is there invisible ink being cunningly used on this "blank sheet of paper" where you have uncovered these completely true and verifiable insights?!

[@danilorossetti9179]

@@drymant Thanks for your kind reply, I apologize for my bad English but I am not a literate but only a theater lover. I report only what eminent scholars have discovered in their careful research; researchers like Frances A. Yates, Saul Gerevini, Michael Delahoyd, Umberto Tassinari and many other members whose names I cannot remember. The story begins around the 1920s when a researcher finds a book entitled "Tutti Frutti" in an Italian library. In this book there are infinite locutions that the actor Shakespeare then proposes again on stage. It couldn't be a plagiarism because the book was written fifty years before Shakespeare was born. From this discovery started the search for the author of the book: Michelangelo Florio. Among the researchers there was also John Harding and then his daughter Giulia. The studies ended due to the catastrophic events that followed that period. In short: today we know with certainty that Michelangelo Florio was born in Tuscany in 1518, a man with an encyclopaedic and linguistic culture. Unfortunately his ideas contrasted with those of the Catholic Church, he was imprisoned as a heretic but in 1550 he fled taking refuge in London. Due to his great culture, he was immediately hired at the court of King Edward VI as tutor to the noble English offspring, including the future Queen Victoria. Michelangelo marries and Giovanni is born in 1553. In 1554, with the accession to the throne of Mary the bloodthirsty, the family fled to Soglio, a village in Val Chiavenna. His father educated him and his mother taught him English. Giovanni studies in many Italian and foreign universities, learns many languages and dialects. Queen Elizabeth I ascends the throne and the Florio family returns to London. John becomes Queen Elizabeth's right-hand man and secretary. At that time racism was strong and the fact of being Italian, his enormous culture, his literary preparation, his social intelligence, his friendships of the highest order, aroused resentment in many of him. Thomas Nashe moved ruthless attacks against him also because Florio promoted, to the Earl of Southampton, the protection of a young man from Stratford-on-Avon, in the County of Warwick, rather than that of Nashe himself. This young William Shaksper, will later become "Shakespeare", in the eyes of all. It is interesting that Florio favored, with the Earl of Southampton, a stranger without university preparation, even uncultured (as his contemporary e friend Ben Jonson), rather than a “Wit” like Nashe. There are substantial traces of what I say in some writings by Thomas Nashe and in the writings of Florio, as well as other authors from 1600 to today. The story continues but it is much longer and there is little space here. cordially

[@drymant]

@@danilorossetti9179 yeah, that about sums it up right there.

[@arnemeyer3047]

Avon and Avalon link?

[@permaveg]

Avalon in old Welsh or possibly Cornish Breton meant 'fruit tree or apple tree' whereas Avon means 'river', don't think they are linked.

[@padraigosuilleabhain6511]

presentation

[@SamitaSarkar]

shade

[@danielafreedman]

For a time I was of the opinion that Edward DeVere was the true author of the Shakespeare plays. One day I asked the drama coach Michael Cadmon what he thought. He was of the opinion that Edward DeVere, though an excellent poet, was not of Shakespeare's caliber. After that my research led me to the Sir Thomas Moore play and Hand D. You can clearly see that there is a close similarity between the Shakespeare signatures and Hand D. When you look at the handwriting of Edward DeVere, which was so beautiful, there is no similarity whatsoever. There are undoubtedly many clues about the hand behind the hand namely Edward DeVere. He started the first theatre in London at Blackfriars and was so supportive, perhaps at the behest and 1000 pound sterling, of Queen Elizabeth. How much he influenced the plays at this point in time is very difficult to say. Perhaps he proferred his own experiences in Italy or his library to Shakespeare. Also we now believe, from computer analysis that Shakespeare worked cooperatively with other playrights, like Marlowe. I can certainly see where the confusion lies when the original plays themselves have disappeared. Ben Johnson offered us a peek behind the curtain at the man who created a wonderment for the ages.

[@the17thearlofoxford38]

The six signatures of William Shaksper don't match each other. Even if they did, and you could prove from them that his is Hand D, which you can't, you still could not prove that he composed what was written. Hand D is pretty much desperation for those who are trying to explain away the fact that there are no letters or papers or anything in the hand of Shakespeare, much less anyone who actually claimed to know him during his lifetime.

[@roberts3784]

Daniel, you will want to look more thoroughly at the recent analysis and commentary of Hand D; it does not point to Shakespeare. Devere was acclaimed by contemporaries as among the best for comedies (though mysteriously none are available in his name), and the earlier poetry during his youth before his pen-name is in line of development with his later more mature poetry.

[@danielafreedman]

@@roberts3784 In reference to Hand D of the Sir Thomas Moore play by Anthony Munday and Henry Chettle: In 1916 the paleographer Sir Edward Maunde Thompson published a minute analysis of the three page addition and judged it to be Shakespeare's. A second book of essays by the Shakespeare Association of America was published in Oregon in 1983. Eight authors stated their opinion that it is very likely Shakespeare was Hand D. The handwriting is similar to Shakespeare, the spelling is similar to Shakespeare and the stylistic elements are similar to Shakespeare's prose. It is CLEARLY not Edward DeVere especially the handwriting! Though he was a very accomplished poet: I love his: "It is not he who beats the bush, but he who holds the net" phrase, poem about tennis etc. CLEARLY not Shakespeare.

[@adkmts46er]

I find Diana Price's analysis and explanation of the weakness of the Hand D case to be more persuasive. And, it stands oddly alone for a man without books who retired to Stratford, supposedly at the height of his fame, to pursue moneylending and hoarding grain.

[@danielafreedman]

@@adkmts46er I don't find it at all strange that a man at the end of his career might go back to his home town and try to get a substantial retirement income. As a matter of fact I am going through the exact same thing at the age of 68! My creative output for the stage has dwindled and yes I visited my hometown of New London last year and it was wonderful to see old friends etc. Everyone is looking for that last great work, but with some rare exceptions they are early in life or midlife.

[@harkviewcinema]

9:30 wheeee!!!

[@willsirotak]

Don't make your videos, on my account! All that does is force me to binge watch more videos at a time.

[@dreznik]

with "my gentle", "my beloved", "sweet swan", jonson may be outing the author as effeminate. The "shaker of lances" (whence the pseudonym) rings as an allusion to something lewd. is the whole pseudonym a lewd joke?

[@alexanderwaugh7036]

...or not?

[@michaelrowsell1160]

De Vere didn't have the talent. Marlow was the only contemporary genius.