The Sonnet Man comes to NMU

Devon Glover, also known as “The Sonnet Man” has a special way of getting students interested in Shakespeare.

“When students hear Shakespeare, they are like,’Oh, oh my gosh’, so I like to tell students immediately, we are gonna read some Shakespeare, then once the music aspect comes you see the students eyes light up, they want to write their own work,” Glover said.  “Just to compare Shakespeare to hip–hop, that inspiration that their work can be studies 400 years from now just like his.”

Glover performs Shakepeare’s sonnets by rapping them to students:

“Shall I compare thee to a summers day, thou art more lovely and temperant.  Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May.   And summer leafs have all to short a day.  Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shine and often is his gold complexion dim and every fear from fear sometime decline.  By chance of natures changing course untrimmed. With thy eternal summer shall not fade or lose possession of that fear thou owest.  Nor shall thou brag thou wanders in his shade.  With any eternal lines, two times thou growest.  So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long lives this and this gives life to thee.”

The “Sonnet Man” has three performances Wednesday at North Michigan University.  A private workshop is at 9 a.m., and two public showcases are at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in the University Center.

For more information, you can visit NMU’s website, or Glover’s website.