Page 207

By Jack Joseph Smith

Sweet As sickie Shakespeare: Is there blood my friend,. of seeing lost Will I see mountains and rivers change, on purpose before the sea, all for the nature of man; even a kingdoms gradifieation especially im death; the one who put the fire: in and not out; will I take yours, family that is,, and will I let you kiss me, or should I kiss you; of course you mentioned your daughter in the cup,. or was it mine you worship, excuse me sir, I ment adore, then your wife could be young again Forever it is now,. think not, travel so much less Books have seeped away all your sons In if you like, a pure stream, none the less, a stream gone away,. real that is, they went away,. the exactness of the touch, when they turned and were gone; the kings and queens and princes, at least you know you tought them not to bow, not that you did know to act, and not think

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

"Sweet As sickie" / "Shakespeare" addresses tragedy as a matter of blood, family, kingship, and vanished children, asking what art and touch can still hold after everything has gone away.

The handwritten opening gives the page a sour, intimate preface before the formal address to Shakespeare begins. The speaker moves through daughters, wives, sons, cups, kisses, and worship with the unstable intimacy of someone speaking to both a dramatist and a rival patriarch. "Books have seeped away all your sons" is one of the harshest lines, making literature feel like a solvent that drains lineage and inheritance. The ending admires having taught kings and princes not to bow, but it also suspects that action itself can become a refusal to think.

Claude

Under the handwritten preface 'Sweet As sickie,' this 'Shakespeare' is a dense, intimate address to the dramatist as both master and rival patriarch. Blood, mountains and rivers changing 'before the sea,' 'a kingdoms gradifieation / especially im death,' and 'the one who put the fire: / in and not out' crowd together as the speaker oscillates between worship and intrusion - 'will I let you kiss me, or should I kiss / you,' 'your daughter in the / cup,. or was it mine you worship.' Its harshest claim is that 'Books have seeped away all your sons,' literature as a solvent draining lineage, leaving kings and queens taught 'not to bow' yet warned that action can become a refusal to think.