Chapter 6

"To my approved good friend, Mr. Nicholas Okes."The infinite faults escaped in my booke of Britaine's Troy, by the negligence of the printer, as the misquotations, mistaking of sillables, misplacing halfe lines, coining of strange and never heard of words: these being without number, when I would have taken a particular account of theerrata, the printer answered me, hee would not publish his owne disworkemanship, but rather let his owne faultlye upon the necke of the author: and being fearfull that others of his quality, had beene of the same nature, and condition, and finding you on the contrary, so carefull and industrious, so serious and laborious, to doe the author all the rights of the presse; I could not choose but gratulate your honest endeavours with this short remembrance. Here likewise, I must necessarily insert a manifest injury done me in that worke, by taking the two Epistles of Paris to Helen, and Helen to Paris, and printing them in a lesse volume, under the name of another (Shakspeare), which may put the world in opinionI might steale them from him; and hee, to doe himselfe right, hath since published them in his owne name: but as I must acknowlege my lines not worthy his patronage under whom he hath publisht them,SO THE AUTHOR(Shakspeare)I know much offended with M. Jaggard that (altogether unknowne to him) presumed to make so bold with his name. These, and the like dishonesties, I know you to be cleare of; and I could wish but to bee the happy author of so worthy a worke as I could willingly commit to your care and workmanship.Your's ever,Thomas Heywood."

"To my approved good friend, Mr. Nicholas Okes.

"The infinite faults escaped in my booke of Britaine's Troy, by the negligence of the printer, as the misquotations, mistaking of sillables, misplacing halfe lines, coining of strange and never heard of words: these being without number, when I would have taken a particular account of theerrata, the printer answered me, hee would not publish his owne disworkemanship, but rather let his owne faultlye upon the necke of the author: and being fearfull that others of his quality, had beene of the same nature, and condition, and finding you on the contrary, so carefull and industrious, so serious and laborious, to doe the author all the rights of the presse; I could not choose but gratulate your honest endeavours with this short remembrance. Here likewise, I must necessarily insert a manifest injury done me in that worke, by taking the two Epistles of Paris to Helen, and Helen to Paris, and printing them in a lesse volume, under the name of another (Shakspeare), which may put the world in opinionI might steale them from him; and hee, to doe himselfe right, hath since published them in his owne name: but as I must acknowlege my lines not worthy his patronage under whom he hath publisht them,SO THE AUTHOR(Shakspeare)I know much offended with M. Jaggard that (altogether unknowne to him) presumed to make so bold with his name. These, and the like dishonesties, I know you to be cleare of; and I could wish but to bee the happy author of so worthy a worke as I could willingly commit to your care and workmanship.

Your's ever,

Thomas Heywood."

Here nothing can be more evident than that Jaggard introduced these translations in the "Passionate Pilgrim,"without the permission, or even the knowledgeof Shakspeare, and further, that he, Shakspeare, wasmuch offended with Jaggard for so doing; a piece of information which completely rescues the memory of Shakspeare from any connivance in the fraud: and yet, strange as it may appear, on this very epistle of Heywood has been founded a charge of imposition against Shakspeare, and the only defence offered for the calumniated poet has been, that, contrary to the public and positive assertion of Heywood, he, and not Heywood, was the translator of the Epistles in question.

This interpretation can only be accounted for on the supposition that both the accuser and defender have alike mistaken the language of Heywood, and have conceived him to have been speaking ofhimself, when, in fact, he was referring to Shakspeare; for, that the passage "so the author I know much offended with M. Jaggard that (altogether unknowne to him) presumed to make so bold with his name," can only be applied to our great poet, must be clear from the consideration that Jaggard, so far frommaking bold with the nameof Heywood, dropped it altogether, while he daringly committed the very offence as to Shakspeare, by clandestinely affixing his name to the versions of Heywood.

It will be right, however, to bring forward the accusation and defence of these gentlemen, as they will sufficiently prove that more errors than one have been committed in their attempts, and that these have been the result of a want of intimacy with the literary history of Shakspeare's age.

In the twenty-sixth volume of theMonthly Magazine, a correspondent whose signature is Y. Z., after commenting on Heywood's letter, as quoted by Dr. Farmer, and after transcribing the very passage just given above in Italics, declares "this passage contains an heavy charge against Shakspeare: it accuses him, not only of an attempt to impose on the public, but on his patron, Lord Southampton, to whom he dedicated his 'unpolisht lines[46:A];'" and, in his reply to Mr. Lofft, he again remarks,—"The translations in question were certainly published in Shakspeare's name,and with his permission; they were also dedicated by him to his best and kindest friend."[46:B]

Now, that the passage in debate contains no charge against Shakspeare is, we think, perfectly demonstrable from the import of Heywood's epistle, which we have given at full length, and which, we suspect, Y. Z. has only partially seen, through the medium of Dr. Farmer's quotation.

That the poet imposed upon his patron by dedicating to him his "unpolisht lines," meaning these versions from Ovid, is an assertion totally contrary to the fact. Of his poems Shakspeare dedicated onlytwo to Lord Southampton, which were published separately, theVenus and Adonisin 1593, and theRape of Lucrecein 1594, and the expression "unpolisht lines" alludes exclusively to the first of these productions.

So far from any permission being given by Shakspeare for the insertion of these translations, we find him highly offended with Jaggard for presuming to introduce them under his name; and from the admission of these pieces and Marlowe's poem, we may securely infer that the three editions by Jaggard of thePassionate Pilgrimwere surreptitious and void of all authority. Such, indeed, seems to have been the opinion of his contemporaries with regard to the first impression; for the two poems in Jaggard's collection of 1599, commencing "My flocks feed not," and "As it fell upon a day," are inscribed to Shakspeare, while in England's Helicon of 1600 they bear the subscription ofIgnoto, a pretty plain intimation of all want of reliance on the editorial sagacity of this unprincipled bookseller.

Justice requires of us to state that Y. Z. has not brought forward this accusation from any enmity to the poet, of whom, on the contrary, he professes himself to be an ardent admirer; but with the hope of seeing the transaction cleared up to the honour of his favourite bard, a hope which Mr. Lofft, in a subsequent number of the Magazine, generously comes forward to gratify.

In doing this, however, he has unfortunately taken for granted thedataon which Y. Z. has founded his charge, and builds his defence of the poet on the ill-grounded supposition of his being the real translator of the Epistles of Ovid, treating the question as if it were the subject of a trial at law. The consequence has been a somewhat singular series of mistakes. "It appears," observes Mr. Lofft, "that among his undisputed poems, these translations were published by Jaggard, in 1609."[47:A]Here are two assumptions, of which one seems founded on a surmise in the first communication of Y. Z., who says,"if my memory does not deceive me, the Poems of Shakspeare appeared in 1609."[48:A]That an edition of thePassionate Pilgrimwas printed between the years 1599 and 1612 is certain, for the copy of 1612 is expressly termed thethirdedition; but that this impression took place in 1609, is a conclusion without any authority, for, as we have remarked before, no copy of this date has yet been discovered. Granting, however, that it did issue in this year, there is every reason, from the detail already given, to affirm, that it could not contain the translations in question, and was probably nothing more than a re-impression of the edition of 1599.

"In the same year" (that is 1609), proceeds Mr. L., "Heywood makes his claim." Heywood made no claim until 1612; yet, continues Mr. L., "this he does in a book entitled 'Britain's Glory,' published by the very same Jaggard." Now Heywood wrote no book entitled "Britain's Glory," an assertion which seems to be verified by Mr. Lofft himself, who commences the next paragraph but one in the following terms:—"This Britain'sTroy, in which he advances his claim to these translations, seems to have been the earliest of the many volumes which he published," a sentence which almost compels us to consider the title "Britain's Glory," in the preceding paragraph, as a typographical error; but it is remarkable that neither in Britain's Troy is this claim advanced, nor was it by many instances the earliest of his publications, a reference to the Biographia Dramatica exhibiting not less than five of his productions anterior to 1609.

These inaccuracies in the charge and defence of Shakspeare, the detection of which has proved an unpleasant task, and peculiarly so when we reflect, that to one of the parties and to his family[48:B]thevenerable bard owes many obligations, will induce us to rely with greater confidence on the simple truth, as developed in the letter of Heywood,—that Shakspeare, as soon as he was made acquainted with the fraudulent attempt of Jaggard, expressed the warmest indignation at his conduct.

On the poetical merit of thePassionate Pilgrim, it will not be necessary to say much; for, as the best and greater part of it consists of pieces in the sonnet form, and these are but few, the skill of the bard in this difficult species of composition will more properly be discussed when we come to consider the value of the large collection which he has bequeathed us under the appellation ofSonnets. One, however, of the pieces which form thePassionate Pilgrim, we shall extract, not only for its beauty as a sonnet, though this be considerable, but as it makes mention of his great poetical contemporary, Edmund Spenser, for whose genius, as might naturally be expected, he appears to have entertained the most deep-felt admiration:—

"Ifmusic and sweet poetry agree,As they must needs, the sister and the brother,Then must the love be great 'twixt thee and me,Because thou lov'st the one, and I the other.Dowland to thee is dear, whose heavenly touchUpon the lute doth ravish human sense;Spenserto me, whose deep conceit is such,As passing all conceit, needs no defence.Thou lov'st to hear the sweet melodious sound,That Phœbus' lute, the queen of music, makes;And I in deep delight am chiefly drown'd,Whenas himself to singing he betakes.One god is god of both, as poets feign;One knight loves both, and both in thee remain."

"Ifmusic and sweet poetry agree,

As they must needs, the sister and the brother,

Then must the love be great 'twixt thee and me,

Because thou lov'st the one, and I the other.

Dowland to thee is dear, whose heavenly touch

Upon the lute doth ravish human sense;

Spenserto me, whose deep conceit is such,

As passing all conceit, needs no defence.

Thou lov'st to hear the sweet melodious sound,

That Phœbus' lute, the queen of music, makes;

And I in deep delight am chiefly drown'd,

Whenas himself to singing he betakes.

One god is god of both, as poets feign;

One knight loves both, and both in thee remain."

The expression,deep conceit, "seems to allude," remarks Mr. Malone, "to theFaery Queen. If so, these sonnets were not written till after 1590, when the first three books of that poem were published[49:A];" a conjecture which is strongly corroborated by twolines from Barnefield's "Remembrance of some English Poets," where the phrase is directly applied to the Fairy Queen:

"Live Spenser! ever, in thy Fairy Queene;Whose like (fordeep conceit) was never seene."[50:A]

"Live Spenser! ever, in thy Fairy Queene;

Whose like (fordeep conceit) was never seene."[50:A]

The remaining portion of Shakspeare's Poems includes theSonnetsandA Lover's Complaint, which were printed together in 1609.[50:B]At what period they were written, or in what year of the poet's life they were commenced, has been a subject of much controversy. That some of these sonnets were alluded to by Meres in 1598, when he speaks of our author's "sugred Sonnets among his private friends," and that a few of these very sonnets, as many, at least, as Jaggard could obtain, were published by him the following year, in consequence of this notice, appears to be highly probable; but that the entire collection, as published in 1609, had been in private circulation anterior to Meres's pamphlet, is a position not easily to be credited, and contrary, indeed, to the internal evidence of the poems themselves, which bear no trifling testimony of having been written at various and even distant periods; and there is reason to think in the space elapsing between the years 1592 and 1609, between the twenty-eighth and forty-fifth year of the poet's age.

That some of them were early compositions, and produced before the author had acquired any extended reputation, may be inferred from the subsequent passages. In the sixteenth sonnet, with reference to his own poetry, he adopts the expression "my pupil pen;" and in the thirty-second he petitions his mistress to "vouchsafe" him "but this loving thought,"

"Had my friend's muse grown with this growing age,A dearer birth than this his love had broughtTo march in ranks of better equipage."

"Had my friend's muse grown with this growing age,

A dearer birth than this his love had brought

To march in ranks of better equipage."

A small portion of the fame and property which he afterwardsenjoyed, could have fallen to his share when he composed the thirty-seventh sonnet, the purport of which is to declare, that though

—— "made lame by fortune's dearest spite,"

he is rich in the perfections of his mistress, and having engrafted his love to her abundant store, he adds,

"So then I am notlame, poor, nor despis'd."

There is much reason to conclude, however, that by far the greater part of these sonnets was written after the bard had passed the meridian of his life, and during the ten years which preceded their publication; consequently, that with the exception of a few of earlier date, they were the amusement of his leisure from his thirty-fifth to his forty-fifth year. We have been led to this result from the numerous allusions which the author has made, in these poems, to the effects of time on his person; and though these may be, and are without doubt, exaggerated, yet are they fully adequate to prove that the writer could no longer be accounted young. It is remarkable that the hundred and thirty-eighth sonnet, which was originally printed in thePassionate Pilgrimcontains a notice of this kind:

"Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,Although she knowsmy days are past the best;"

"Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,

Although she knowsmy days are past the best;"

an expression which well accords with the poet'sthenperiod of life; for when Jaggard surreptitiously published the minor collection, Shakspeare was thirty-five years old.

Among the allusions of this nature in his "Sonnets," the selection of a few will answer our purpose. The first occurs in the twenty-second sonnet:—

"My glass shall not persuademe I am old,So long as youth and thou are of one date."

"My glass shall not persuademe I am old,

So long as youth and thou are of one date."

The two next are still more explicit:—

"But when my glass shows me myself indeed,'Bated and chopp'd with tan'd antiquity:"

"But when my glass shows me myself indeed,

'Bated and chopp'd with tan'd antiquity:"

Son. 62.

"Against my love shall be,as I am now,With time's injurious hand crush'd and o'erworn:"

"Against my love shall be,as I am now,

With time's injurious hand crush'd and o'erworn:"

Son. 63.

and the last that we shall give completes the picture, which, though overcharged in its colouring, must be allowed, we think, to reflect some lineaments of the truth:—

"That time of year thou may'st in me beholdWhen yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hangUpon those boughs which shake against the cold,Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.In me thou seest the twilight of such day,As after sun-set fadeth in the west——In me thou seest the glowing of such fire,That on the ashes of his youth doth lie."

"That time of year thou may'st in me behold

When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang

Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,

Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.

In me thou seest the twilight of such day,

As after sun-set fadeth in the west——

In me thou seest the glowing of such fire,

That on the ashes of his youth doth lie."

Son. 73.

The comparison instituted in these lines between thebare ruined choirof a cathedral, and an avenue at the close of autumn, has given origin to a short but very elegantly written note from the pen of Mr. Steevens. "This image," he remarks, "was probably suggested to Shakspeare by our desolated monasteries. The resemblance between the vaulting of a Gothic isle, and an avenue of trees whose upper branches meet and form an arch over-head, is too striking not to be acknowledged. When the roof of the one is shattered, and the boughs of the other leafless, the comparison becomes yet more solemn and picturesque."[52:A]

On the principal writers of this minor but difficult species of lyric poetry, to which Shakspeare could have recourse in his own language, it will be necessary to enter into some brief criticism, in order to ascertain the progress and merit of his predecessors, and the models on which he may be conceived to have more peculiarly founded his own practice.

The rapid introduction of Italian poetry into our country, during the reign of Henry the Eighth, very early brought with it a taste for the cultivation of the sonnet. Before 1540,Wyathad written all his poems, many of which are sonnets constructed nearly on the strictest form of the Italian model; theoctant, or major system being perfectly correct, while thesextant, or minor system, differs only from the legitimate type by closing with a couplet. The poetical value of these attempts, however, does not, either in versification or imagery, transcend mediocrity, and are greatly inferior to the productions, in the same department, of his accomplished friend, the gallant but unfortunateSurrey. The sonnets of this elegantly romantic character, which were published in 1557, deviate still further from the Italian structure, as they uniformly consist of three quatrains in alternate or elegiac verse, and these terminated by a couplet; a secession from the laws of legitimacy which is amply atoned for by virtues of a far superior order, by simplicity, purity, and sweetness of expression, by unaffected tenderness of sentiment, and by vivid powers of description. To this unexaggerated encomium we must add, that the harmony of his metre is often truly astonishing, and even, in some instances, fully equal to the rhythm of the present age. That the assertion wants not sufficient evidence, will be acknowledged by the adduction of a single specimen:—

SONNET.

"Setme whereas the sunne doth parche the grene,Or where his beames do not dissolve the ise:In temperate heate where he is felt and sene:In presence prest of people madde or wise:Set me in hye, or yet in low degree;In longest night, or in the shortest daye:In clearest skie, or where cloudes thickest be;In lusty youth, or when my heeres are graye:Set me in heaven, in earth, or els in hell,In hyll or dale, or in the foming flood,Thrall, or at large, alive whereso I dwell,Sicke or in health, in evill fame or good:Hers will I be, and onely with this thoughtContent my self, although my chaunce be nought."

"Setme whereas the sunne doth parche the grene,

Or where his beames do not dissolve the ise:

In temperate heate where he is felt and sene:

In presence prest of people madde or wise:

Set me in hye, or yet in low degree;

In longest night, or in the shortest daye:

In clearest skie, or where cloudes thickest be;

In lusty youth, or when my heeres are graye:

Set me in heaven, in earth, or els in hell,

In hyll or dale, or in the foming flood,

Thrall, or at large, alive whereso I dwell,

Sicke or in health, in evill fame or good:

Hers will I be, and onely with this thought

Content my self, although my chaunce be nought."

Of the sonnets ofWatson, which were published about 1581, we have given an opinion, at some length, in the preceding chapter, and shall merely add here, that neither in their structure, nor in their diction or imagery, could they be, or were they, models for our author; and are indeed greatly inferior, not only to the sonnets of Shakspeare, but to those of almost every other poet of his day.

The sonnets ofSidney, which appeared in 1591 under the title ofAstrophel and Stella, exhibit a variety of metrical arrangement; a few which rival, and several which nearly approach, the most strict Petrarcan form. Theoctantin Sidney is often perfectly correct, while thesextantpresents us with the structure which, though not very common in Italian, has been, since his time, adopted more frequently than any other by our own poets; that is, where the first line and the third, the second and fourth, the fifth and sixth, rhime together; with this difference, however, that the moderns, in theirdivisionof the sextant, have more usually followed the example of Surrey just quoted, in forming their minor system of a quatrain and a couplet, while Sidney more correctly distributes it intoterzette.

On this arrangement is by far the greater portion of Sidney's sonnets constructed; but the most pleasing of his metrical forms, and which has the merit too of being built after the Italian cast, consists in theOctant, of two tetrachords of disjunct alternate rhime, the last line of the first stanza rhiming to the first of the second; and in theSextant, of a structure in which the first and second, the fourth and fifth, and the third and sixth verses rhime. Thus has he formed the following exquisite sonnet, which will afford no inaccurate idea of his powers in this province of the art:—

"O kisse, which doest those ruddie gemmes impart,Or gemmes, or fruits of new-found Paradise,Breathing all blisse and sweetning to the heart,Teaching dumbe lips a nobler exercise.O kisse, which soules, even soules, together tyesBy linkes of Love, and only Nature's art:How faine would I paint thee to all men's eyes,Or of thy gifts at least shade out some part.But she forbids; with blushing words, she sayes,She builds her fame on higer-seated praise:But my heart burnes, I cannot silent be.Then since, deare life, you faine would have me peace,And I, mad with delight, want wit to cease,Stop you my mouth with still still kissing me."

"O kisse, which doest those ruddie gemmes impart,Or gemmes, or fruits of new-found Paradise,Breathing all blisse and sweetning to the heart,Teaching dumbe lips a nobler exercise.

"O kisse, which doest those ruddie gemmes impart,

Or gemmes, or fruits of new-found Paradise,

Breathing all blisse and sweetning to the heart,

Teaching dumbe lips a nobler exercise.

O kisse, which soules, even soules, together tyesBy linkes of Love, and only Nature's art:How faine would I paint thee to all men's eyes,Or of thy gifts at least shade out some part.

O kisse, which soules, even soules, together tyes

By linkes of Love, and only Nature's art:

How faine would I paint thee to all men's eyes,

Or of thy gifts at least shade out some part.

But she forbids; with blushing words, she sayes,She builds her fame on higer-seated praise:But my heart burnes, I cannot silent be.

But she forbids; with blushing words, she sayes,

She builds her fame on higer-seated praise:

But my heart burnes, I cannot silent be.

Then since, deare life, you faine would have me peace,And I, mad with delight, want wit to cease,Stop you my mouth with still still kissing me."

Then since, deare life, you faine would have me peace,

And I, mad with delight, want wit to cease,

Stop you my mouth with still still kissing me."

Son. 81.

In 1592,Danielproduced hisDelia, including fifty-seven sonnets, of which only two follow the Italian standard; the remainder consisting of three elegiac stanzas and a closing couplet. They display many beauties, and, being a model of easy imitation, have met with numerous copyists.

Of theDianaofConstable, a collection of sonnets in eight decades, we have already, if we consider their mediocrity, given a sufficiently copious notice. They were published in 1594, and were soon eclipsed by theAmorettiofSpenser, a series of eighty-eight sonnets, printed about the year 1595. These, from the singularity of their construction, which not only deviates from the Italian costume, but has seldom found an imitator, require, independent of their poetic value, peculiar notice. The Spenserian sonnet, then, consists of three tetrachords in alternate rhime; the last line of the first tetrachord rhiming to the first of the second, and the last of the second to the first of the third, and the whole terminated by a couplet. That this system of rhythm often flows sweetly, and that it is often the vehicle of chaste sentiment and beautiful imagery must, in justice, be conceded to this amiable poet; but, at the same time, it is necessary to add, that it is occasionally the medium of quaintness and far-fetched conceit. A specimen, however, shall be subjoined, of which, if the first stanza be slightly tainted with affectation, the remainder will be pronounced, as well in melody and simplicity as in moral beauty, nearly perfect.

"The doubt which ye misdeeme, fayre Love, is vaine,That fondly feare to lose your liberty;When, losing one, two liberties ye gaine,And make him bond that bondage earst did fly.Sweet be the bands, the which true Love doth tyeWithout constraynt, or dread of any ill:The gentle birde feeles no captivityWithin her cage; but sings, and feeds her fill.There Pride dare not approach, nor Discord spillThe league twixt them, that loyal Love hath bound:But simple Truth, and mutual Good-will,Seeks, with sweet Peace, to salve each others wound:There Fayth doth fearless dwell in brazen towre,And spotlesse Pleasure builds her sacred bowre."

"The doubt which ye misdeeme, fayre Love, is vaine,

That fondly feare to lose your liberty;

When, losing one, two liberties ye gaine,

And make him bond that bondage earst did fly.

Sweet be the bands, the which true Love doth tye

Without constraynt, or dread of any ill:

The gentle birde feeles no captivity

Within her cage; but sings, and feeds her fill.

There Pride dare not approach, nor Discord spill

The league twixt them, that loyal Love hath bound:

But simple Truth, and mutual Good-will,

Seeks, with sweet Peace, to salve each others wound:

There Fayth doth fearless dwell in brazen towre,

And spotlesse Pleasure builds her sacred bowre."

Son. 65.

Between the sonnets of Spenser, and those of Drayton, a period of ten or eleven years, many minor bards, such asPercy,Barnes,Barnefielde,Griffin,Smith, &c. the titles of whose works will be found in the table of our preceding chapter, were induced to cultivate, and sometimes with tolerable success, this difficult little poem; nor are there wanting, during this period, some elegant examples of the sonnet interspersed through the works of writers of a higher rank, as, for instance,Googe,Gascoigne,Raleigh,Breton, andLodge; but we shall close this criticism with a few remarks on the sonnets of the once popular poet whose productions of this kind immediately preceded the collection of Shakspeare in 1609.

The sonnets ofDraytonwhich, in number sixty-three, were published under the title of "Ideas," in 1605, 8vo., are, for the most part, written on the plan of Daniel. Fifty-two exhibit three four-lined stanzas, in alternate rhime, completed by a couplet; and eleven consist of three quatrains with two verses ofimmediate, interposed between two verses ofdisjunct, rhime, and a terminating couplet. The versification of Drayton in these pieces is sufficiently smooth, and the sentiment is sometimes natural and pleasing, though too often injured by an ill-judged display of wit and point. With the exception, also, of two sonnets addressed to the River Anker, they possess little of what can be termed descriptive poetry.

It now remains to ascertain to which of these writers of the sonnet Shakspeare chiefly directed his attention, in choosing a model for his own compositions. Dr. Sewell and Mr. Chalmers contend that, in emulation of Spenser, he took theAmorettiof that poet for hisguide[57:A]; but, though we admit that he was an avowed admirer of the Fairy Queen, and that the publication of the Amoretti in 1595 might still further strengthen his attachment to this species of lyric poesy, yet we cannot accede to their position. The structure, indeed, of the Spenserian sonnet is, with the exception of a closing couplet, totally different from Shakspeare's; nor are their style and diction less dissimilar.

If we revert, however, to the sonnets of Daniel, which were published in 1592, we shall there find, as Mr. Malone had previously remarked, the prototype of Shakspeare's amatory verse. Indeed no doubt can arise, when we recollect, that all Daniel's sonnets, save two, are composed of three quatrains in alternate rhime and a couplet, and that all Shakspeare's, one hundred and fifty-four in number, are, if we except a single instance[57:B], of a similar description. There is, also, in Daniel, much of that tissue of abstract thought, and that reiteration of words, which so remarkably distinguish the sonnets of our bard. Of this no greater proof can be adduced than the sonnet we shall now subjoin, and which, in all its features, may be said to be truly Shakspearean:—

"Andwhither, poorforsaken, wilt thougo,Togofromsorrow, and thine own distress?When every place presents like face of woe,And no remove can make thysorrowsless?Yetgo,forsaken;leave thesewoods,theseplains:Leave her and all, andall for her, thatleavesThee and thy love forlorn, andbothdisdains;And ofbothwrongful deems, and ill conceives.Seek out someplace; and see if anyplaceCan give the least release unto thy grief:Convey thee from the thought of thy disgrace;Steal from thyself, and be thy care's own thief.But yet what comforts shall I hereby gain?Bearing the wound, I needs must feel the pain."

"Andwhither, poorforsaken, wilt thougo,

Togofromsorrow, and thine own distress?

When every place presents like face of woe,

And no remove can make thysorrowsless?

Yetgo,forsaken;leave thesewoods,theseplains:

Leave her and all, andall for her, thatleaves

Thee and thy love forlorn, andbothdisdains;

And ofbothwrongful deems, and ill conceives.

Seek out someplace; and see if anyplace

Can give the least release unto thy grief:

Convey thee from the thought of thy disgrace;

Steal from thyself, and be thy care's own thief.

But yet what comforts shall I hereby gain?

Bearing the wound, I needs must feel the pain."

Son. 49.

There is reason to suppose that none of Shakspeare's sonnets were written before the appearance of Daniel's "Delia." A few in thePassionate Pilgrimseem, as hath been observed, to have been suggested during the composition of theVenus and Adonis, and were probably penned in the interval elapsing between the publication of the Delia in 1592, and of theVenus and Adonisin 1593; for, though the earliest of his sonnets, they are still cast in the very mould which Daniel had constructed.

The difficulties, however, which attend the ascertainment of Shakspeare's model in these compositions, are nothing when compared to those which surround the enquiry as to the person to whom they are addressed. An almost impenetrable darkness rests on the question, and no effort has hitherto, in the smallest degree, tended to disperse the gloom.

When Thomas Thorpe published our author's sonnets in 1609, he accompanied them with the following mysterious dedication:—

"To The Only BegetterOf These Ensuing Sonnets,Mr. W. H.All HappinessAnd That Eternity PromisedBy Our Ever-Living PoetWisheth TheWell-Wishing AdventurerIn Setting Forth,T. T."

On the first perusal of this address, the import would seem to be, that Mr. W. H. had been thesole objectof Shakspeare's poetry, and of theeternitypromised by the bard. But a little attention to the language of the times in which it was written, will induce us to correct this conclusion; for as a part of our author's sonnets is most certainly addressed to a female, it is evident that W. H. could not be theonly begetterof them in the sense which primarily suggests itself. For the true meaning of the word we are indebted to Mr. Chalmers, who observes, on the authority of Minsheu's Dictionary of 1616, that onesense of the verbto begetis there given tobring foorth. "W. H.," he continues, "was the bringer forth of the Sonnets.Begetis derived by Skinner from the A. S.begettan, obtinere. Johnson adopts this derivation, and sense: so thatbegetter, in the quaint language of Thorpe, the Bookseller, Pistol, theancient, and such affected persons, signified theobtainer; as toget, andgetter, in the present day, meansobtain, andobtainer, or to procure, and the procurer."

We must, infer, therefore, from this explanation of the word, that Mr. W. H. had influence enough toobtainthe manuscript from the poet, and that he lodged it in Thorpe's hands for the purpose of publication, a favour which the bookseller returned, by wishing himall happiness and that eternitywhich had beenpromisedby the bard, in such glowing colours, to another, namely, to one of the immediate subjects of his sonnets.

That this is the only rational meaning which can be annexed to the word "promised," will appear, when we reflect that for Thorpe to havewishedW. H. theeternitywhich had been promisedhimby anever-livingpoet, would have been not only superfluous, but downright nonsense: theeternityof anever-livingpoet mustnecessarily ensue, and was a proper subject ofcongratulation, but not ofwishingor ofhope.

It appears also that this dedication was understood in the same light by some of the earlier editors of the sonnets. Cotes, it is true, republished them in 1640 without a commentary; but when Gildon re-printed them in 1710, he gives it as his opinion that they wereall of them in praise of his mistress; and Dr. Sewell, when he edited them in 1728, had embraced a similar idea, for he tells us, in reference to our author's example, that "A young muse must havea mistress, to play off the beginning of fancy; nothing being so apt to elevate the soul to a pitch of poetry, as the passion of love."[59:A]

The conclusion of these editors remained undisputed for more than half a century, when Mr. Malone, in 1780, published hisSupplement to the Edition of Shakspeare's Plays of 1778, which includes the Sonnets of the poet, accompanied by his own notes, and those of his friends. Here, beside the opinion which he has himself avowed, he has given the conjectures of Dr. Farmer, and Mr. Tyrwhitt, and the decision of Mr. Steevens.

All these gentlemen concur in believing, that more than one hundred of our author's sonnets are addressed to amale object. Dr. Farmer, influenced by theinitialsin the dedication, supposes that Mr. William Harte, the poet's nephew, was the object in question; but a reference to the Stratford Register completely overturns this hypothesis, for it there appears, that William, eldest son of William Harte, who married Shakspeare's Sister Joan, was baptized August 28th, 1600, and consequently could not be even in existence when the greater part of these compositions were written.

Mr. Tyrwhitt, founding his conjecture on a line in the twentieth sonnet, which is thus printed in the old copy,

"A man inhewallHewsin his controlling,"

conceives that the letters W. H. were intended to implyWilliam Hughes. If we recollect, however, our bard's uncontrollable passion for playing upon words; thathewfrequently meant, in the usage of his time,mienandappearance, as well astint, and that Daniel, who was probably his archetype in these pieces, has spelt it in the same way, and once, if not oftener, for the sake of emphasis, with a capital[60:A], we shall not feel inclined to place such reliance on this supposition.

When Mr. Steevens, in 1766, annexed a reprint of the sonnets to Shakspeare's plays, from the quarto editions, he hazarded no observations on their scope or origin; but in Malone's Supplement, he ventured, in a note on the twentieth sonnet, to declare his conviction that it was addressed to amale object.[60:B]

Lastly, Mr. Malone, in the Supplement just mentioned, after specifying his concurrence in the conjecture of Mr. Tyrwhitt, adds—"To this person, whoever he was, one hundred and twenty of the following poems are addressed; the remaining twenty-eight are addressed to a lady."[61:A]

Thus the matter rested on the decision of these four celebrated commentators, who were uniform in assorting their belief, that Shakspeare had addressed the greater part of his sonnets to a man, when Mr. George Chalmers in 1797, in his "Apology for the Believers in the Shakspeare Papers," attempted to overturn their conclusion, by endeavouring to prove that the whole of the Sonnets had been addressed by Shakspeare to Queen Elizabeth; a position which he labours to strengthen, by additional research, in his "Supplemental Apology" of 1799!

That Mr. Chalmers, however, notwithstanding all his industry and ingenuity, has failed in establishing his point, must be the acknowledgment of every one who has perused the sonnets with attention. Indeed the phraseology of Shakspeare so positively indicates amale object, that, if it cannot, in this respect, be reposed on, we may venture to assert, that no language, however explicit, is entitled to confidence. Nothing but extreme carelessness could have induced Gildon and Sewell to conceive that the prior part of these sonnets was directed toa female, and even Mr. Chalmers himself is compelled to convert his Queen intoa man, before he can give any plausibility to his hypothesis. That Elizabeth, inher capacity of a sovereign, was frequently addressed in language strictly applicable to themalesex, is very true, and such has been the custom to almost every femalesovereign; but that she should be thus metamorphosed, for the express purpose of wooing her by amatory sonnets, is a position which cannot be expected to obtain credit.

The question then returns upon us,To whom are these sonnets addressed?We agree with Farmer, Tyrwhitt, Steevens, and Malone,in thinking the object of the greater part of the sonnets to have been of themalesex; but, for the reasons already assigned, we cannot concede that either Harte or Hughes was the individual.

If we may be allowed, in our turn, to conjecture, we would fix uponLord Southamptonas the subject of Shakspeare's sonnets, from the first to the hundredth and twenty-sixth, inclusive.

Before we enter, however, on the quotation of such passages as are calculated to give probability to our conclusion, it will be necessary to show that, in the age of Shakspeare, the language ofloveandfriendshipwas mutually convertible. The termsloverandlove, indeed, were as often applied to those of the same sex who had an esteem for each other, as they are now exclusively directed to express the love of the male for the female. Thus, for instance, Ben Johnson subscribes himself theloverof Camden, and tells Dr. Donne, at the close of a letter to him, that he is his "ever truelover;" and with the same import, Drayton, in a letter to Drummond of Hawthornden, informs him, that Mr. Joseph Davis is inlovewith him. Shakspeare, in hisDramas, frequently adopts the same phraseology in expressing the relations of friendship: Portia, for example, in theMerchant of Venice, speaking of Antonio, says,

————————————— "this Antonio,Being the bosomloverof my lord:"

————————————— "this Antonio,

Being the bosomloverof my lord:"

and inCoriolanus, Menenius exclaims,

—————— "I tell thee, fellow,Thy general is mylover:"[62:A]

—————— "I tell thee, fellow,

Thy general is mylover:"[62:A]

but it is to hisPoemsthat we must refer for a complete and extensive proof of this perplexing ambiguity of diction, which will gradually unfold itself as we proceed to quote instances in support of Lord Southampton's being the subject of his muse.

That Shakspeare was, at the same time, attached byfriendship, and bylove; that, according to the fashion of his age, he employed the same epithet for both, though, in one instance, at least, he has accurately distinguished the sexes, positively appears from the opening stanza of a sonnet in thePassionate Pilgrimof 1599:—

"Two lovesI have of comfort and despair,Which like two spirits do suggest me still;Thebetter angelis amanright fair,The worser spirit awoman, coloured ill."[63:A]

"Two lovesI have of comfort and despair,

Which like two spirits do suggest me still;

Thebetter angelis amanright fair,

The worser spirit awoman, coloured ill."[63:A]

That thisbetter angelwasLord Southampton, and that to him was addressed the number of sonnets mentioned above, we shall now endeavour to substantiate.

Perhaps one of the most striking proofs of this position, is the hitherto unnoticed fact, that the language of theDedication to the Rape of Lucrece, and that of part of thetwenty-sixth sonnet, are almost precisely the same.

TheDedicationruns thus:—"TheloveI dedicate to your Lordship is without end;—The warrant I have of your honourable disposition, not the worth of my untutored lines, makes it assured of acceptance. What I have done is yours, what I have to do is yours; being part in all I have devoted yours. Were my worth greater, my duty would shew greater."

TheSonnetis as follows:

"Lord of my love, to whom in vassalageThy merit hath my duty strongly knit,To thee I send this written embassage,To witness duty, not to show my wit.Duty so great, which wit so poor as mineMay make seem bare, in wanting words to show it."

"Lord of my love, to whom in vassalage

Thy merit hath my duty strongly knit,

To thee I send this written embassage,

To witness duty, not to show my wit.

Duty so great, which wit so poor as mine

May make seem bare, in wanting words to show it."

Here, in the first place, it may be observed, that in hisprose, as well as in hisverse, our author uses the sameamatorylanguage; forhe opens the dedication to His Lordship with the assurance thathis love for him is without end. In correspondence with this declaration, the sonnet commences with this remarkable expression,—Lord of my love; while the residue tells us, in exact conformity with the prose address, his high sense of His Lordship's merit and his own unworthiness.

That no doubt may remain of the meaning and direction of this peculiar phraseology, we shall bring forward a few lines from the 110th sonnet, which, uniting the language of both the passages just quoted, most incontrovertibly designates the sex, and, at the same time, we think, the individual to whom they are addressed:—

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