Turn'd all to tears, and Phoebus clouds his rays; Which crown'd him poet first, then poet's king. All those he made would scarce make one to this HUGH HOLLAND. ADDITIONAL COMMENDATORY VERSES, Prefixed to the folio of 1632. Upon the Effigies of my worthy Friend, the Author, MASTER WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, and his Works. Spectator, this life's shadow is: - to see This truer image, and a livelier he, Turn reader. But observe his comic vein, Laugh; and proceed next to a tragic strain, Then weep: so, when thou find'st two contraries, Two different passions from thy rapt soul rise, — An Epitaph on the admirable Dramatic Poet. W. SHAKESPEARE 6 What needs my Shakespeare, for his honour'd bones Or that his hallow'd reliques should be hid Dear son of Memory, great heir of Fame, What need'st thou such weak witness of thy name! • The authorship of these lines was ascertained by their appear ing in an edition of Milton's Poems, published in 1645. H. Thou, in our wonder and astonishment, For whilst, to the shame of slow-endeavouring art, On worthy MASTER SHAKESPEARE, A mind reflecting ages past, whose clear Them in their lively colours, just extent: To outrun hasty time, retrieve the fates, In that deep dusky dungeon to discern A royal ghost from churls; by art to learn Yet so to temper passion, that our ears To strike up and stroke down both joy and ire These jointly woo'd him, envying one another, — Obey'd by all as spouse, but lov'd as brother, And wrought a curious robe, of sable grave, Fresh green, and pleasant yellow, red most brave, And constant blue, rich purple, guiltless white, The lowly russet, and the scarlet bright: Branch'd and embroider'd like the painted spring; Each leaf match'd with a flower, and each string Of golden wire, each line of silk: there run But fine materials, which the muses know, Shakespeare shall breathe and speak; with laurel crown'd, Which never fades; fed with ambrosian meat; In a well-lined vesture, rich and neat: So with this robe they clothe him, bid him wear it; For time shall never stain, nor envy tear it. The friendly admirer of his endowments, I. M. S.' - 7 What name these initials may stand for, has not been ascertained. So that the authorship of this great little poem,perhaps the noblest tribute ever paid by one human being to another, is still involved in mystery. Mr. Collier, a good authority, says, and Mr. Verplanck, a better, endorses him, "I. M. S. may possibly be John Milton, Student. We know of no other poet of the time capable of writing the lines. We feel inorally certain that they are by Milton." And, sure enough, Milton is the only man of that time who has left any similar marks. And the initials may well enough be supposed to extend over this and the preceding piece. It may indeed be urged that if such were the case the latter would naturally have appeared among his Poems in 1645. But perhaps it is a sufficient answer to this, that in 1632 Milton was not too much a Puritan to write such lines; whereas in 1645 he was too far committed that way to pur them forth as his. B. LIST OF PLAYS Prefixed to the folio of 1623. A CATALOGUE of the several Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies contained in this Volume. COMEDIES. The Tempest. The Two Gentlemen of Verona. The Merry Wives of Windsor. Measure for Measure. The Comedy of Errors. Much Ado about Nothing. Love's Labour's Lost. A Midsummer-Night's Dream. The Merchant of Venice. As You Like It. The Taming of The Shrew. All's Well That Ends Well. Twelfth Night, or What You Will. HISTORIES. The Life and Death of King John The Life and Death of Richard the Second. |