The Merchant of Venice- A Poem

A poetic synopsis of one of Shakespeare's best plays...

There was once a merchant
Who borrowed from a crook;
Money, greed, and riches
Are main themes in this book.

Our man Bassanio is broke
And heavily in debt;
Fell in love with an heiress,
And thought he was set.

"I'll woo her," he thought
"With help from my cousin;
I've borrowed from him before-
One time out of a dozen."

So he calls up Antonio,
Who was glad to help him out
"You'll pay me back someday-
I know without a doubt."

"But, I have no money on hand
Could you wait awhile?
I know a moneylender in town,
But he's not a Gentile."

So off they went to the moneylender
Who could help them from a bind;
But the moneylender hates Antonio
As we will come to find.

"3,000 Ducats you want-
With no interest you say?
If not in my hands in 3 months' time,
A pound of flesh you pay."

So with the money Bassanio set off
To win a lady fair
Little did he know what awaited him
When he would finally get there.

A simple game, or so it seemed
With caskets gold, silver and lead
Find the portrait in the right casket
And do as it read.

Needless to say, our man Bassanio
Has gotten his prize,
Now he has to race back
To save his best friends life.

For 3 months have past, and
The moneylender grew restless
He was out- not for the money
But for bittersweet justice.

Antonio, afeared for his life
Petitioned to the court-
He didn't think the moneylender
Was doing this for mere sport.

So as the Proceedings go on
We come to find
A surprise guest witness
Right in the nick of time.

But, while the wicked moneylender
Was looking for revenge,
The surprise guest witness turns around
And helps Antonio avenge.

Bassanio's lady dressed in drag
Had helped to save the day
But not before testing her husband
To see what he had to say.

Betrays his wife to help a friend
His wife was very surprised;
As she was dressed in a costume,
She would catch him in his lies.

And in the end, all is well
As she found him tried and true;
They all lived happily ever after
(Except the moneylender)
And so can you.

Author's Note

I wrote this in high school, circa 10th grade (2000)