Hamlet: A Verse Translation

This complete, line-by-line translation of Hamlet makes the language of Shakespeare's play contemporary while preserving the metrical rhythm, complexity, and poetic qualities of the original.

The aim is to capture both sound and sense of Shakespeare's tragedy without the need for glosses or notes, to use contemporary language without simplifying or modernizing the play in any other way.

Readers experience Shakespeare's tale of murder, betrayal, espionage, and revenge with the challenge, comprehension, and delight of audiences 400 years ago, the way Shakespeare intended.

Features

• Line-by-line, not prose paraphrases.
• Complete. No lines deleted. No dumbing down.
• Accurate and authentic iambic pentameter.
• True to the feel and look of Shakespeare's original.
• Tone, complexity, and poetic devices preserved.
• Subtlety and richness revealed without the need of notes and glosses.
• Accessible introduction to classic drama.
• Attractive, uncluttered, easy-to-read layout.
• Stage-ready for an audience-pleasing theatrical.

"Too often, unless we read a Shakespeare play beforehand, we process the language as if it were coming from a poorly tuned-in radio station. Shakespeare didn't write his plays to be experienced impressionistically as 'poetry;' he assumed his language was readily comprehensible. At what point does a stage of a language become so different from the modern one as to make translation necessary? Mr. Richmond is brave enough to assert that, for Shakespeare, that time has come. The French have Moliere, the Russians have Chekhov and now, we can truly say that we have our Shakespeare."

John McWhorter, Manhattan Institute