Famous Poet ~ House-poet 🫂

William Shakespeare

“To be, or not to be, that is the question. 
To be, or not to be, that is the question: 
Whether it is nobler in the mind to endure 
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, 
Or to take action against a sea of troubles 
And, by opposing, end them. To die—to sleep, 
No more, and by that sleep to say we end 
The heartache and the myriad of natural shocks 
To which flesh is the heir: it is a consummation 
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep; 
To sleep, perhaps to dream—ah, therein lies the challenge: 
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come, 
When we have cast off this mortal coil, 
It must give us pause—this is the respect 
That makes calamity of such a long life. 
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, 
The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s disdain, 
The pangs of unrequited love, the delays of law, 
The insolence of those in power, 
And the contempt that patient merit receives from the unworthy, 
When one could, with a mere dagger, take one’s leave? 
Who would bear burdens, 
To toil and strain under a weary existence, 
Except for the dread of something after death, 
The undiscovered country from whose border 
traveler returns, which puzzles the will 
And compels us to endure those ills we have 
Rather than flee to others we know not of? 
Thus, conscience doth make cowards of us all; 
Thus, the natural hue of resolution 
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought, 
And undertakings of great substance and moment 
With this regard, their currents turn awry 
And lose the name of action.