Timeline for Shakespeare and the tenses
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
10 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 29, 2015 at 11:38 | vote | accept | Ricky | ||
| Oct 21, 2015 at 4:01 | answer | added | chasly - supports Monica | timeline score: 3 | |
| Oct 17, 2015 at 17:18 | comment | added | deadrat | Less poetic, you say. That should provide a clue. | |
| Oct 17, 2015 at 12:50 | comment | added | TimR | Caesar's reputation is the subject of the speech. "The evil that men do lives after them; /The good is oft interred with their bones;/So let it be with Caesar. " Reputation lives on after death, and so Caesar's weeping is viewed from the point of view of the present besmirching of that reputation, by Brutus, namely, that Caesar was "ambitious". Caesar has wept when the poor have cried. Ambition should be made of sterner stuff. | |
| Oct 17, 2015 at 10:58 | comment | added | Ricky | ))) Ah! Thank you. Makes sense now. I guess the combination of "When" and "have" confused me. | |
| Oct 17, 2015 at 10:54 | comment | added | Peter Shor | I wouldn't use the present perfect in the Shakespeare example today, but it would be perfectly fine if Shakespeare were still alive. At Shakespeare's funeral? It might be acceptable. | |
| Oct 17, 2015 at 10:52 | comment | added | Ricky | Because "He wept each time the poor shed bitter tears" appears to be less poetic yet more, uh, natural-sounding. I don't know. | |
| Oct 17, 2015 at 10:48 | comment | added | Ricky | Hmm. According to this logic, the following sentence, written today, would be correct: "When his actors have asked him to write a new play, Shakespeare has always obliged." What am I missing? | |
| Oct 17, 2015 at 10:48 | comment | added | Peter Shor | Why do you think it should be the simple past? See this webpage: use 1: present perfect used for an unspecified time before now; and use 5: multiple actions at different times in the past. I would guess that it's use 5—Caesar has wept several times when the poor have cried. | |
| Oct 17, 2015 at 10:37 | history | asked | Ricky | CC BY-SA 3.0 |