“Mount, eagle, to my palace crystalline.”
Cymbeline Act 5, Scene 4
There are very few scholars of English literature who have made connections between Shakespeare and Crystal Palace FC. Such a glaring omission is the literary equivalent of missing the most open of goals and it is one that I am going to address over the coming season. While I am not an academic in any sense, I did study English at university and have retained a deep fondness for Shakespeare’s works to this day, which are as relevant to the 21st century as they were four centuries ago.
As Shakespeare plays second fiddle to my devotion to Palace, I am going to embark on a weekly mission to illustrate that the greatest playwright had foreseen how SE25 would have been his Stratford-upon-Avon. Some may scoff at such a notion but just look at Jupiter’s words from Cymbeline in the heading of this piece for incontrovertible evidence.
To add to all this let’s also refer to another quote from Cymbeline with wise words for all Palace fans who may be little apprehensive of what the season holds under new manager Pierre Sage –
“Nothing routs us but the villainy of our fears”.
The Football Mine 