LostPrincess13
03-30-2009, 01:30 AM
I don't know what came over me, but I decided to clean-up my email inbox last week. My laziness amounted to a mountain of old emails, some of which I hadn't bothered to read. From 500+ emails, I have cleared it out to 32. (Yey me!:D) Digging through them, I happened to come across an old high school English assignment. As I recall, my teacher asked us to come up with a presentation that involves the poems we've chosen in a previous assignment. I thought of making a little play using the lines from the poems of my group mates as lines for the play. I really had a laugh reading this again, remembering how I did this in a rush again, being the true-blue procrastinator that I am.:lol: I thought I might share this with you guys. Hope you have fun!:D
A Sound Victory: The Adventures of Captain Jack in Search for El Dorado
(An Attempt at Theater Plays Using Poetry)
NARRATOR:
Come! Come one, come all! Gather all around
All you listen closely, make not a sound.
For I have a tale to tell of great things
Love, adventure, friendship, dreams that take wings!
Our story begins with brave Captain Jack
Hero of the seas, triumphs he brings back
Seeking adventure, new places to go
He now quests to find lost El Dorado.
So he gathers his crew, all the best men
Men who fear not the dangers that threaten!
With him he brought a first mate, his dear friend
And an engineer who’s skill none transcend.
Together they sailed the deep black waters
With goal in mind, nothing else did mattered!
They dared themselves against the hands of Fate
In search of the elusive land’s shore gate.
But suddenly there came a cruel tempest!
Fierce winds, vicious waves! The crew aghast!
The ship was beaten, bruised and blown away
The people in it all started to pray.
When the skies fin’lly cleared and all was calm
The Captain came to and saw a great palm
He looked around. They were shipwrecked on shore!
On some land he has never seen before.
He called out to his companions and said,
“We’re lost my friends, but thank God we’re not dead!
Let’s explore the place and see what we’ll find
Stay close, make sure no one gets left behind.”
So off into the dense jungle they went
They tripped, fell, and ducked under branches bent
They were exhausted, weak, and hungry.
Still they went on, unwilling to tarry.
Then a melody reached the Captain’s ears.
A beautiful song that moves one to tears
They approached the source behind the bushes
And lo! They find a girl picking roses.
CAPTAIN:
Please wait! Please don’t run! We mean you no harm.
You who have enchanted us with your charm?
We’re but travelers lost and alone.
With nothing to eat, nothing to call home.
FIRST MATE:
Where is your village, Miss? Where do you stay?
We have been shipwrecked and lost our way.
We so humbly ask that you take us in.
To refuse our request would be a sin!
ROSE: Poor dears! Come with me to my home kind sirs.
Where you’ll be protected from Nature’s curse
There my friends will give you food and shelter
And then we'll nurse you till you get better!
CAPTAIN: Many thanks beautiful maiden!
Lovely angel, what name are you given?
ROSE: They call me Rose, like the blossom. And you?
CAPTAIN: Captain Jack. But call me Jack. Please do.
NARRATOR:
So she led them to a small settlement
Where tiny huts made of twigs were present
They were greeted by the great wise council
Men and women of wisdom and strong will.
COUNCIL MAN: So what brings thee to our little village?
COUNCIL WOMAN: Does thou have a sacred pilgrimage?
CAPTAIN: We journeyed to find lost El Dorado
It’s location do you happen to know?
COUNCIL MAN:
This land of El Dorado?
Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,
If you seek for El Dorado!
(—Edgar Allan Poe, El Dorado)
ROSE: I’m sorry. Please don’t look so crestfallen.
I too am with misfortune befallen
I too was shipwrecked here three years ago
Oh Camberwell! My home! I miss you so!
Wall upon wall are between us: life
And song should away from heart to heart!
I — prison-bird, with a ruddy strife
At breast, and lip whence storm notes start
(—Robert Frost, A Wall)
CAPTAIN: Then come with us! We’ll go home together
We’ll build another ship! Something better!
ENGINEER: But we’ll need sturdy materials; tools too!
My dear Captain, that may be hard to do.
Might of the roaring boiler,
Force of the engine’s thrust,
Strength of the sweating toiler —
Greatly in these we trust.
(—Berton Braley, The Thinker)
COUNCIL WOMAN: Fret not young one; we have a solution!
An answer to your little situation
We know a place where you’ll find all you need
But to get there is perilous indeed.
I once happen to come across that place
In my travels during my younger days.
So listen caref’lly to me all of you
Listen well so you’ll know just what to do.
NARRATOR:
The wise council women told her story
On how to begin their diff’cult journey
ENGINEER: How do we know we’ve fin’lly found it?
NARRATOR: Thus a native replies with this small quip:
NATIVE 1:
The grass divides as with a comb —
As spotted shaft is seen —
And then it does at your feet
And opens further on —
(—Emily Dickenson, A Narrow Fellow in the Grass)
FIRST MATE: But then, how do we know which way to take?
COUNCIL WOMAN:
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference.
(—Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken)
NARRATOR:
And so they labored through the cold and heat
After ten days the vessel was complete.
They made merry but in the end they sighed.
It was time to leave, time to say goodbye.
NATIVE 2:
Stay, stay,
Until the hasting day
Has run
But to the evensong ;
And, having prayed together, we
Will go with you along.
(—Robert Herrick, To Daffodils)
ROSE:
In my heart you’ll remain, my dearest friends.
You’ll always be with me till my time ends.
NARRATOR:
And they set out on their new destination
Back to London, to civilization
But cruel Fate yet again intervened
Another storm He brewed, that awful fiend!
The swayed and lurched in the rickety craft
They shook and shivered ‘gainst the freezing draft!
But perhaps pity for them Fate did have
For they were washed up on London’s shores, saved!
FIRST MATE:
Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring
(—Walt Whitman, O Captain! My Captain!)
ROSE: Are you alright my darling?
CAPTAIN:
So since I'm still here livin',
I guess I will live on.
I could've died for love--
But for livin' I was born
Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry--
I'll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.
(—Langston Hughes, Life is Fine)
NARRATOR:
Now here my friends, is where my story ends.
Hope you see the message it tries to send
Of chasing dreams and never giving up
To see the joys of drinking from life’s cup.
Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
(—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, A Psalm of Life)
~~~The End~~~
A Sound Victory: The Adventures of Captain Jack in Search for El Dorado
(An Attempt at Theater Plays Using Poetry)
NARRATOR:
Come! Come one, come all! Gather all around
All you listen closely, make not a sound.
For I have a tale to tell of great things
Love, adventure, friendship, dreams that take wings!
Our story begins with brave Captain Jack
Hero of the seas, triumphs he brings back
Seeking adventure, new places to go
He now quests to find lost El Dorado.
So he gathers his crew, all the best men
Men who fear not the dangers that threaten!
With him he brought a first mate, his dear friend
And an engineer who’s skill none transcend.
Together they sailed the deep black waters
With goal in mind, nothing else did mattered!
They dared themselves against the hands of Fate
In search of the elusive land’s shore gate.
But suddenly there came a cruel tempest!
Fierce winds, vicious waves! The crew aghast!
The ship was beaten, bruised and blown away
The people in it all started to pray.
When the skies fin’lly cleared and all was calm
The Captain came to and saw a great palm
He looked around. They were shipwrecked on shore!
On some land he has never seen before.
He called out to his companions and said,
“We’re lost my friends, but thank God we’re not dead!
Let’s explore the place and see what we’ll find
Stay close, make sure no one gets left behind.”
So off into the dense jungle they went
They tripped, fell, and ducked under branches bent
They were exhausted, weak, and hungry.
Still they went on, unwilling to tarry.
Then a melody reached the Captain’s ears.
A beautiful song that moves one to tears
They approached the source behind the bushes
And lo! They find a girl picking roses.
CAPTAIN:
Please wait! Please don’t run! We mean you no harm.
You who have enchanted us with your charm?
We’re but travelers lost and alone.
With nothing to eat, nothing to call home.
FIRST MATE:
Where is your village, Miss? Where do you stay?
We have been shipwrecked and lost our way.
We so humbly ask that you take us in.
To refuse our request would be a sin!
ROSE: Poor dears! Come with me to my home kind sirs.
Where you’ll be protected from Nature’s curse
There my friends will give you food and shelter
And then we'll nurse you till you get better!
CAPTAIN: Many thanks beautiful maiden!
Lovely angel, what name are you given?
ROSE: They call me Rose, like the blossom. And you?
CAPTAIN: Captain Jack. But call me Jack. Please do.
NARRATOR:
So she led them to a small settlement
Where tiny huts made of twigs were present
They were greeted by the great wise council
Men and women of wisdom and strong will.
COUNCIL MAN: So what brings thee to our little village?
COUNCIL WOMAN: Does thou have a sacred pilgrimage?
CAPTAIN: We journeyed to find lost El Dorado
It’s location do you happen to know?
COUNCIL MAN:
This land of El Dorado?
Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,
If you seek for El Dorado!
(—Edgar Allan Poe, El Dorado)
ROSE: I’m sorry. Please don’t look so crestfallen.
I too am with misfortune befallen
I too was shipwrecked here three years ago
Oh Camberwell! My home! I miss you so!
Wall upon wall are between us: life
And song should away from heart to heart!
I — prison-bird, with a ruddy strife
At breast, and lip whence storm notes start
(—Robert Frost, A Wall)
CAPTAIN: Then come with us! We’ll go home together
We’ll build another ship! Something better!
ENGINEER: But we’ll need sturdy materials; tools too!
My dear Captain, that may be hard to do.
Might of the roaring boiler,
Force of the engine’s thrust,
Strength of the sweating toiler —
Greatly in these we trust.
(—Berton Braley, The Thinker)
COUNCIL WOMAN: Fret not young one; we have a solution!
An answer to your little situation
We know a place where you’ll find all you need
But to get there is perilous indeed.
I once happen to come across that place
In my travels during my younger days.
So listen caref’lly to me all of you
Listen well so you’ll know just what to do.
NARRATOR:
The wise council women told her story
On how to begin their diff’cult journey
ENGINEER: How do we know we’ve fin’lly found it?
NARRATOR: Thus a native replies with this small quip:
NATIVE 1:
The grass divides as with a comb —
As spotted shaft is seen —
And then it does at your feet
And opens further on —
(—Emily Dickenson, A Narrow Fellow in the Grass)
FIRST MATE: But then, how do we know which way to take?
COUNCIL WOMAN:
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference.
(—Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken)
NARRATOR:
And so they labored through the cold and heat
After ten days the vessel was complete.
They made merry but in the end they sighed.
It was time to leave, time to say goodbye.
NATIVE 2:
Stay, stay,
Until the hasting day
Has run
But to the evensong ;
And, having prayed together, we
Will go with you along.
(—Robert Herrick, To Daffodils)
ROSE:
In my heart you’ll remain, my dearest friends.
You’ll always be with me till my time ends.
NARRATOR:
And they set out on their new destination
Back to London, to civilization
But cruel Fate yet again intervened
Another storm He brewed, that awful fiend!
The swayed and lurched in the rickety craft
They shook and shivered ‘gainst the freezing draft!
But perhaps pity for them Fate did have
For they were washed up on London’s shores, saved!
FIRST MATE:
Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring
(—Walt Whitman, O Captain! My Captain!)
ROSE: Are you alright my darling?
CAPTAIN:
So since I'm still here livin',
I guess I will live on.
I could've died for love--
But for livin' I was born
Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry--
I'll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.
(—Langston Hughes, Life is Fine)
NARRATOR:
Now here my friends, is where my story ends.
Hope you see the message it tries to send
Of chasing dreams and never giving up
To see the joys of drinking from life’s cup.
Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
(—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, A Psalm of Life)
~~~The End~~~