Doth Thy Protest Too Much or Too Little

Don’t protest my love
Let me love you true and real
Let not the word no, trip from your lips
To fall on my pleas
Remonstrations and arguments against me
Like arrows and darts thrown against my heart
Pierce and prick bleeding out my feelings upon the floor
Don’t protest but say yes
And in my arms you’ll find your desires


You can’t stay silent against the tyranny of injustice
Let not your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth
Let your feet march in solidarity with the down trodden
Stand tall and let your protest ring out
'Til the very foundations upon which their deceit stands
Shakes and trembles to fall in the dust pile of history

Hamlet
Madam, how like you this play?
Queen
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

     I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true

     meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men

     are created equal.” 

Hamlet
O, but she’ll keep her word.

     I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former

     slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together

     at the table of brotherhood.
King
Have you heard the argument? Is there no
offense in ’t?

     I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering

     with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be

     transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
Hamlet
No, no, they do but jest, poison in jest. No
offense i’ th’ world.

     I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where

      they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their

      character.
King
What do you call the play?

      I have a dream today!
Hamlet
“The Mousetrap.” Marry, how? Tropically.
This play is the image of a murder done in Vienna.
Gonzago is the duke’s name, his wife Baptista. You
shall see anon. ’Tis a knavish piece of work, but
what of that? Your Majesty and we that have free
souls, it touches us not. Let the galled jade wince;
our withers are unwrung.

Sources:HamletAct 3Scene 2Line 253 / Martin Luther King Jr. “I have a dream” speach

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This was in response to a dVerse prompt to use the word protest in a poem. The end is a scene from “Hamlet” by Shakespeare with part of Martin Luther King Jr’s :”I have a dream” speech. I wasn’t sure about using it so I hope it works. Hope you enjoy! 😊