A Muse of Fire

Merle McClung compiled "A Muse of Fire" from the works of Shakespeare in 1965 as a Rhodes Scholar at Trinity College, Oxford. The play gathered dust on Mr. McClung's library shelves until 2014 when failing health convinced him to publish it before it ended up in a landfill. Reading some of Shakespeare's most beloved poetry in a different context has obvious drawbacks, but also enables Shakespeare lovers to appreciate him in a new light. Prince Hal, Falstaff, Hotspur, Hamlet, and other luminaries come together in surprising symmetry as the play transitions from comic fantasy to the historic tragedy of war. The "Use Muse" section suggests challenging tests and stimulating games for literary-inclined adults to identify the source of selections from "A Muse of Fire."