Chapter 8

"Whenin disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,I all alone beweep my outcast state,And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,And look upon myself, and curse my fate.Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd,Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,With what I most enjoy contented least;Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,Haply I think on thee,—and then my state,Like to the lark at break of day arisingFrom sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;For thy sweet love remember'd, such wealth brings,That then I scorn to change my state with kings."

"Whenin disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,

I all alone beweep my outcast state,

And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,

And look upon myself, and curse my fate.

Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,

Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd,

Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,

With what I most enjoy contented least;

Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,

Haply I think on thee,—and then my state,

Like to the lark at break of day arising

From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;

For thy sweet love remember'd, such wealth brings,

That then I scorn to change my state with kings."

It is, time, however, to terminate these transcriptions, which have been already sufficiently numerous to enable the reader to form an estimate of the poet's merit in the difficult task of sonnet-writing. That many more might be brought forward, of equal value with those which we have selected, will be allowed perhaps when we state, that in thespecimensof Mr. Ellis, thePetrarcaof Mr. Henderson, and theLauraof Mr. Lofft, eleven have been chosen, of which, we find upon reference, only one among the four just now adduced.

The last production in theminorpoems of Shakspeare, isA Lover's Complaint, in which a forlorn damsel, seduced and deserted, relates the history of her sorrows to

"A reverend man that graz'd his cattle nigh."

It is written in stanzas of seven lines; the first and third, and the second, fourth, and fifth, rhiming to each other, while the sixth and seventh form a couplet; an arrangement exactly similar to the stanza of the Rape of Lucrece. Like many of our author's smaller pieces, it is too full of imagery and allusion, but has several passages ofgreat beauty and force. In the description which this forsaken fair one gives of the person and qualities of her lover, the following lines will be acknowledged to possess considerable excellence:—

"His browny locks did hang in crooked curls,And every light occasion of the windUpon his lips their silken parcels hurls.—His qualities were beauteous as his form,For maiden-tongu'd he was, and therefore free;Yet, if men mov'd him, was he such a stormAs oft 'twixt May and April is to see,When winds breathe sweet, unruly though they be.—His real habitude gave life and graceTo appertainings and to ornament."

"His browny locks did hang in crooked curls,And every light occasion of the windUpon his lips their silken parcels hurls.—

"His browny locks did hang in crooked curls,

And every light occasion of the wind

Upon his lips their silken parcels hurls.—

His qualities were beauteous as his form,For maiden-tongu'd he was, and therefore free;Yet, if men mov'd him, was he such a stormAs oft 'twixt May and April is to see,When winds breathe sweet, unruly though they be.—

His qualities were beauteous as his form,

For maiden-tongu'd he was, and therefore free;

Yet, if men mov'd him, was he such a storm

As oft 'twixt May and April is to see,

When winds breathe sweet, unruly though they be.—

His real habitude gave life and graceTo appertainings and to ornament."

His real habitude gave life and grace

To appertainings and to ornament."

These, and every other portion of the poem, however, are eclipsed by a subsequent part of the same picture, in which, as Mr. Steevens well remarks, the poet "has accidentally delineated his own character as a dramatist."[83:A]So applicable, indeed, did the passage appear to us, as a forcible though rapid sketch of the more prominent features of the author's own genius, and of his universal influence over the human mind, that we have selected it as a motto for the second volume of this work:—

—— "On the tip of his subduing tongueAll kind of arguments and question deep,All replication prompt, and reason strong,For his advantage still did wake and sleep:To make the weeper laugh, the laugher weep,He had the dialect and different skill,Catching all passions in his craft of will;That he did in the general bosom reignOf young, of old; and sexes both enchanted."

—— "On the tip of his subduing tongue

All kind of arguments and question deep,

All replication prompt, and reason strong,

For his advantage still did wake and sleep:

To make the weeper laugh, the laugher weep,

He had the dialect and different skill,

Catching all passions in his craft of will;

That he did in the general bosom reignOf young, of old; and sexes both enchanted."

That he did in the general bosom reign

Of young, of old; and sexes both enchanted."

The address which the injured mistress puts into the mouth of herseducer, when "he 'gan besiege her," opens in a strain of such beautiful simplicity, that we cannot avoid an expression of regret, that the defective taste of the age prevented its continuance and completion in a similar style of tenderness and ease:—

————————————— "Gentle maid,Have of my suffering youth some feeling pity,And be not of my holy vows afraid."

————————————— "Gentle maid,

Have of my suffering youth some feeling pity,

And be not of my holy vows afraid."

After relating, rather too circumstantially, the arts and hypocrisy which had been exercised for her ruin, she bursts into the following exclamation:—

"O father, what a hell of mischief liesIn the small orb of one particular tear!"

"O father, what a hell of mischief lies

In the small orb of one particular tear!"

Various lines, and brief extracts, of no common merit, might be detached from the Lover's Complaint; but enough has now been said on theMiscellaneous Poetryof Shakspeare, to prove that it possesses a value far beyond what has been attributed to it in modern times. The depreciation, indeed, to which it has been lately subjected, a fate so directly opposed to that which accompanied its first reception in the world, must be ascribed, in a great measure, to the unaccountable prejudices of Mr. Steevens, who, in an Advertisement prefixed to the edition of our author's Dramas, in 1793, has made the following curious declaration:—

"We have not reprinted the Sonnets, &c. of Shakspeare, becausethe strongest act of parliament that could be framed would fail to compel readers into their service; notwithstanding these miscellaneous poems have derived every possible advantage from the literature and judgment of their only intelligent editor, Mr. Malone, whose implements of criticism, like the ivory rake and golden spade in Prudentius,are on this occasion disgraced by the objects of their culture—had Shakspeare produced no other works than these, his name would have reached us with as little celebrity as time hasconferred on that of Thomas Watson, an olderand much more elegant sonnetteer."[85:A]

That Watson was amuch more elegant sonnetteer than Shakspeare, is an assertion which wants no other mean for its complete refutation, than a reference to the works of the elder bard. At the period when Mr. Steevens advanced this verdict, such a reference was not within the power of one in a thousand of his readers, but all may now be referred to a very satisfactory article in theBritish Bibliographer, where Sir Egerton Brydges has transcribed seventeen of Watson's sonnets, and declares it to be his conviction, that they "want the moral cast" of Shakspeare's sonnets; "his unsophisticated materials; his pure and natural train of thought."[85:B]It may be added, that a more extended comparison would render the inferiority of Watson still further apparent, and that the Bard of Avon would figure from the juxta-position like "Hyperion to a satyr."

When Mr. Steevens compliments his brother-commentator at the expense of the poet; when he tells us, thathis implements of criticism are on this occasion disgraced by the objects of their culture, who can avoid feeling a mingled emotion of wonder and disgust? who can, in short, forbear a smile of derision and contempt at the folly of such a declaration?

And lastly, when he assures us, thatthe strongest act of parliament that could be framed would fail to compel readers into the service of our author's Miscellaneous Poetry, and when, at the same time, we recollect, what gives us pleasure to acknowledge, the wit, the ingenuity, and research of this able editor on almost every other occasion, it will not, we trust, be deemed a work of supererogation, that we have attempted to unfold, at length, the beauties of these calumniated poems, and to refute the sweeping censure which they have so unworthily incurred; nor will the summary inference with which we shall conclude this chapter, be viewed, we hope, as eitherincorrect, or unauthorised by the previous disquisition, when we state it to consist of the following terms; namely, thatthe Poems of Shakspeare, although they are chargeable with the faults peculiar to the age in which they sprung, yet exhibit so much originality, invention, and fidelity to nature, such a rich store of moral and philosophic thought, and often, such a purity, simplicity, and grace of style, as not only deservedly placed them high in the favour of his contemporaries, but will permanently secure to them no inconsiderable share of the admiration and the gratitude of posterity.[86:A]

FOOTNOTES:

[2:A]Sydney Papers, vol. ii. p. 132.

[2:B]Venus and Adonis was entered on the Stationers' Books, by Richard Field, April 18, 1593, six days before its author completed the twenty-ninth year of his age.

[3:A]"There is one instance," says Rowe, who first mentioned the anecdote, "so singular in the magnificence of this patron of Shakspeare's, that if I had not been assured that the story was handed down by Sir William Davenant, who was probably very well acquainted with his affairs, I should not have ventured to have inserted; that my Lord Southampton at one time gave him a thousand pounds, to enable him to go through with a purchase which he heard he had a mind to. A bounty very great, and very rare at any time."—Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 67.

[5:A]Sydney Papers, vol. i. p. 348.

[5:B]"There were present, at this Council, the Earl of Southampton, with whom, in former times, he (Essex) had been at someemulations, anddifferences, at Court: But, after, Southampton, having married his Kinswoman, plunged himself wholly into his fortune," &c. Declaration of the Treason of the Earl of Essex, sign. D. quoted by Mr. Chalmers, Supplement. Apology, p. 110.

[5:C]Rowland Whyte informs us, that "Lord Southampton fought with one of the king's great men of war, and sunk her." Sydney Papers, vol. ii. p. 72; but Sir William Monson calls this man of war "a frigate of the Spanish fleet."

[5:D]Account of the Wars with Spain, p. 38.

[6:A]Sydney Papers, vol. ii. p. 83.

[7:A]Sydney Papers, vol. ii. p. 87.

[7:B]Ibid., p. 81.

[7:C]Ibid., p. 88.

[7:D]Ibid., p. 90.

[7:E]In a letter, dated November 2nd, 1598, Rowland Whyte says, that Lord Southampton is about to return to England. Sydney Papers, vol. ii. p. 104.

[8:A]Imperfect Hints towards a New Edition of Shakspeare, 4to. Part II., Advertisement, p. xxi.

[8:B]Birch's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 422.

[8:C]Kennet's History of England, vol. ii. p. 614.

[9:A]Vide Harrington's Nugæ Antiquæ, vol. ii. p. 33.

[11:A]Bacon's Works, Mallet's edit. vol. iv. p. 412.

[11:B]Vide Queen Elizabeth's Progresses, by Nichols, vol. ii. p. 1.

[11:C]Chalmers's Supplemental Apology, p. 311, 312.

[12:A]Wilson tells us, that "the Earl of Southampton, covered long with theAshesof great Essex hisRuins, was sent for from the Tower, and the King lookt upon him with a smilingcountenance, though displeasing happily to the new BaronEssingdon, SirRobert Cecil, yet it was much more to the LordsCobhamandGrey, and SirWalter Rawleigh."—History of Great Britain, folio, 1653, p. 4.

[12:B]Lodge's Illustrations of British History, vol. iii. p. 270.

[13:A]Winwood's Memorials, vol. iii. p. 54.

[13:B]Lodge's Illustrations, vol. iii. p. 331.

[13:C]Winwood's Memorials, vol. iii. p. 154.

[15:A]"This Spring," relates Wilson, "gave birth to four brave Regiments of foot (a new apparition in the English horizon) fifteen hundred in a regiment, which were raised, and transported into Holland, under four gallant Collonells; the Earl of Oxford, the Earl of Southampton, the Earl of Essex, and the Lord Willoughby, since Earl of Lindsey."—History of Great Britain, p. 280.

[16:A]History of Great Britain, p. 284.

[16:B]Cabala, p. 299.

[17:A]When Richard Brathwaite dedicated his "Survey of History, or a Nursery for Gentry," to Lord Southampton, he terms him "Learning's select Favourite." Vide Restituta, vol. iii. p. 340.—Nash, dedicating his "Life of Jacke Wilton," 1594, to the same nobleman, calls him "a dere lover and cherisher, as well of the Lovers of Poets, as of Poets themselves;" and he emphatically adds,—"Incomprehensible is the height of your spirit, both in heroical resolution and matters of conceit. Unrepriveably perished that booke whatsoever to wast paper, which on the diamond rocke of your judgement disasterly chanceth to be shipwrackt." Jarvis Markham also addresses our English Mecænas in a similar style, commencing a Sonnet prefixed to his "Most honorable Tragedie of Richard Grenvile, Knt." in the following manner:—"Thou glorious Laurell of the Muses' hill;Whose eyes doth crowne the most victorious pen:Bright Lampe of Vertue, in whose sacred skillLives all the blisse of eares-inchaunting men:"and closes it with declaring, that if His Lordship would vouchsafe to approve his Muse, immortality would be the result:—"So shall my tragick layes be blest by thee,And from thy lips suck their eternitie."Restituta, vol. iii. pp. 410, 414.

"Thou glorious Laurell of the Muses' hill;Whose eyes doth crowne the most victorious pen:Bright Lampe of Vertue, in whose sacred skillLives all the blisse of eares-inchaunting men:"

"Thou glorious Laurell of the Muses' hill;

Whose eyes doth crowne the most victorious pen:

Bright Lampe of Vertue, in whose sacred skill

Lives all the blisse of eares-inchaunting men:"

and closes it with declaring, that if His Lordship would vouchsafe to approve his Muse, immortality would be the result:—

"So shall my tragick layes be blest by thee,And from thy lips suck their eternitie."

"So shall my tragick layes be blest by thee,

And from thy lips suck their eternitie."

Restituta, vol. iii. pp. 410, 414.

[19:A]Beaumont's Poems. Chalmers's English Poets, vol. vi. p. 42.

[19:B]Several other tributes to the memory and virtues of Southampton are on record. Daniel has one, commemorating his fortitude, when under sentence of death, and the Rev. William Jones published, in 1625, a Sermon on his decease, preached before the Countess; to which he added, "The Teares of the Isle of Wight, shed on the tombe of their most noble, valorous, and loving Captaine and Governour, the right Honourable Henrie, Earle of Southampton," containing an Elegy on the father and son written by himself; "an Episode upon the death" of Lord Southampton, by Fra. Beale Esqr.; fifteen short pieces of poetry, called "certain touches upon the life and death of the Right Honourable Henrie, Earle of Southampton," by W. Pettie, and another poem on the same subject by Ar. Price.

[19:C]Imperfect Hints towards a New Edition of Shakspeare, Part II. p. 6. 4to. 1788.

[20:A]A similar impression seems to have arisen in the mind of the ingenious author of the "Imperfect Hints," who, after selecting the parting scene between Bassanio and Anthonio in theMerchant of Venice, as the subject of a picture, remarks, that "this noble spirit of friendshipmighthave been realized, when my lord Southampton (the dear and generous friend of Shakspeare) embarked for the seige of Rees in the Dutchy of Cleve."—Imperfect Hints, Part I. p. 35.

[20:B]See Part II. chap. ii.

[20:C]"Mr. Malone," relates Mr. Beloe, "had long been in search of this edition, and when he was about to give up all hope of possessing it, he obtained a copy from a provincial catalogue. But he still did not procure it till after a long and tedious negotiation, and a most enormous price."—Anecdotes of Literature, vol. i. p. 363.

[27:A]These, and the following extracts, are taken from Mr. Malone's edition of the Poems of Shakspeare.

[28:A]Malone's Supplement to Shakspeare, 1780, vol. i. p. 463.

[28:B]"Epigrammes in the oldest Cut and newest Fashion. A twice seven Houres (in so many Weekes) Studie. No longer (like the Fashion) not unlike to continue. The first seven, John Weever.Sit voluisse sit valuisse.At London: printed by V. S. for Thomas Bushell, and are to be sold at his shop, at the great North doore of Paules. 1599. 12mo."—Vide Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. vi. p. 156.

[28:B]"Epigrammes in the oldest Cut and newest Fashion. A twice seven Houres (in so many Weekes) Studie. No longer (like the Fashion) not unlike to continue. The first seven, John Weever.

Sit voluisse sit valuisse.

At London: printed by V. S. for Thomas Bushell, and are to be sold at his shop, at the great North doore of Paules. 1599. 12mo."—Vide Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. vi. p. 156.

[28:C]Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. vi. p. 159.

[29:A]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xviii. p. 2. note by Steevens.

[29:B]Censura Literaria, vol. ix. p. 45, 46.

[29:C]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 197.

[30:A]Ancient British Drama, vol. i. p. 49. col. 2.

[30:B]Malone's Supplement, vol. i. p. 463.

[31:A]Censura Literaria, vol. vi. p. 276. A second edition of this satire was published separately, in 4to. 1625.

[31:B]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 197, 198.—Many passages, I believe, might be added to those given in the text, which point out the great popularity of our author's earliest effort in poetry. Thus, in theMerrie Conceited Jestsof George Peele, an author who died in or before 1598, the Tapster of an Inn in Pye-corner is represented as "much given to poetry: for he had ingrossed the Knight of the Sunne,Venus and Adonis, and other pamphlets."—Reprint, p. 28.Again in theDumb Knight, an Historical Comedy, by Lewis Machin, printed in 1608, one of the characters, after quoting several lines from Venus and Adonis, concludes by saying,—"Go thy way, thou best book in the world."Veloups.I pray you, sir, what book do you read?"President.A book that never an orator's clerk in this kingdom but is beholden unto; it is called, Maid's Philosophy, orVenus and Adonis."Ancient British Drama, vol. ii. p. 146.

Again in theDumb Knight, an Historical Comedy, by Lewis Machin, printed in 1608, one of the characters, after quoting several lines from Venus and Adonis, concludes by saying,—

"Go thy way, thou best book in the world."Veloups.I pray you, sir, what book do you read?"President.A book that never an orator's clerk in this kingdom but is beholden unto; it is called, Maid's Philosophy, orVenus and Adonis."Ancient British Drama, vol. ii. p. 146.

"Go thy way, thou best book in the world.

"Veloups.I pray you, sir, what book do you read?

"President.A book that never an orator's clerk in this kingdom but is beholden unto; it is called, Maid's Philosophy, orVenus and Adonis."

Ancient British Drama, vol. ii. p. 146.

[32:A]It is the more probable that the entry of 1594 indicates a separate edition, as an entry of the impression of 1596 appears in the Stationers' Register, by W. Leake, dated June 23. 1596.—Vide Reed's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 121.

[32:B]Beloe's Anecdotes, vol. i. p. 363. This copy is in the possession of Mr. Chalmers.

[33:A]Malone's Supplement, vol. i. p. 469. note.

[34:A]Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. p. 415, 416.—"It is remarkable," says the historian, in a note on this passage, "that the sign of Berthelette, the king's printer in Fleet-street, who flourished about 1540, was the Lucretia, or as he writes it,Lucretia Romana."

[34:B]The last line of this extract is taken from the 12mo. edit. of 1616.

[38:A]Supplement, vol. i. p. 537. note.

[38:B]Perhaps the opening stanza of the following scarce poem, entitled "Epicedium. A funerall Song, upon the vertuous life and godly death of the right worshipfull the Lady Helen Branch;Virtus sola manet, cætera cuncta ruunt.London, printed by Thomas Creed, 1594;" may allude to our author's Rape of Lucrece:—"You that to shew your wits, have taken toyleIn regist'ring the deeds of noble men;And sought for matter in a forraine soyle,As worthie subjects of your silver pen,Whom you have rais'd from darke oblivion's den.You that have writ of chaste Lucretia,Whose death was witnesse of her spotlesse life:Or pen'd the praise of sad Cornelia,Whose blamelesse name hath made her fame so rife,As noble Pompey's most renoumed wife:Hither unto your home direct your eies,Whereas, unthought on, much more matter lies."Vide Brydges's Restituta, vol. iii. p. 297-299.

[38:B]Perhaps the opening stanza of the following scarce poem, entitled "Epicedium. A funerall Song, upon the vertuous life and godly death of the right worshipfull the Lady Helen Branch;

Virtus sola manet, cætera cuncta ruunt.

London, printed by Thomas Creed, 1594;" may allude to our author's Rape of Lucrece:—

"You that to shew your wits, have taken toyleIn regist'ring the deeds of noble men;And sought for matter in a forraine soyle,As worthie subjects of your silver pen,Whom you have rais'd from darke oblivion's den.You that have writ of chaste Lucretia,Whose death was witnesse of her spotlesse life:Or pen'd the praise of sad Cornelia,Whose blamelesse name hath made her fame so rife,As noble Pompey's most renoumed wife:Hither unto your home direct your eies,Whereas, unthought on, much more matter lies."

"You that to shew your wits, have taken toyle

In regist'ring the deeds of noble men;

And sought for matter in a forraine soyle,

As worthie subjects of your silver pen,

Whom you have rais'd from darke oblivion's den.

You that have writ of chaste Lucretia,

Whose death was witnesse of her spotlesse life:

Or pen'd the praise of sad Cornelia,

Whose blamelesse name hath made her fame so rife,

As noble Pompey's most renoumed wife:

Hither unto your home direct your eies,

Whereas, unthought on, much more matter lies."

Vide Brydges's Restituta, vol. iii. p. 297-299.

[39:A]Malone's Supplement, vol. i. p. 575.

[39:B]"Polimanteia, or The meanes lawfull and unlawfull, to judge of the fall of a Common-wealth, against the frivolous and foolish conjectures of this age. Whereunto is added, A letter from England to her three daughters, Cambridge, Oxford, Innes of Court, and to all the rest of her inhabitants, &c. &c. Printed by John Legate, Printer to the Universitie of Cambridge, 1595.""This work," remarks Mr. Haslewood, "is divided into three parts; the first, Polimanteia, is on the subtleties and unlawfulness of Divination, the second, an address from England to her three Daughters; and the third, England to her Inhabitants, concluding with the speeches of Religion and Loyalty to her children. Some researches have been made by a friend to ascertain the author's name, but without success. He was evidently a man of learning, and well acquainted with the works of contemporary writers, both foreign and domestic. The second part of his work is too interesting, from the names enumerated in the margin, not to be given entire. The mention of Shakspeare is two years earlier than Meres'sPalladis Tamia, a circumstance that has escaped the research of all the Commentators; although a copy of thePolimanteiawas possessed by Dr. Farmer, and the work is repeatedly mentioned by Oldys, in his manuscript notes on Langbaine."—British Bibliographer, vol. i. p. 274.

"This work," remarks Mr. Haslewood, "is divided into three parts; the first, Polimanteia, is on the subtleties and unlawfulness of Divination, the second, an address from England to her three Daughters; and the third, England to her Inhabitants, concluding with the speeches of Religion and Loyalty to her children. Some researches have been made by a friend to ascertain the author's name, but without success. He was evidently a man of learning, and well acquainted with the works of contemporary writers, both foreign and domestic. The second part of his work is too interesting, from the names enumerated in the margin, not to be given entire. The mention of Shakspeare is two years earlier than Meres'sPalladis Tamia, a circumstance that has escaped the research of all the Commentators; although a copy of thePolimanteiawas possessed by Dr. Farmer, and the work is repeatedly mentioned by Oldys, in his manuscript notes on Langbaine."—British Bibliographer, vol. i. p. 274.

[40:A]British Bibliographer, No. XIV. p. 247.

[40:B]Ibid. No. V. p. 533.

[41:A]Malone's Supplement, vol. i. p. 575.

[41:B]Supplement, vol. i. p. 471.—An edition of the Rape of Lucrece, with a supplement by John Quarles, was published about 1676; for at the end of a copy of Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, in my possession, printed in 1676, and the eighth edition, is a catalogue of books sold by Peter Parker, the proprietor of the above impression, among which occurs the following article:—"The Rape ofLucrececommitted byTarquinthe sixth, and remarkable judgements that befell him for it, by that incomparable Master of our English PoetryWilliam ShakespeareGentleman. Whereunto is annexed the Banishment ofTarquinor the reward of Lust, byJohn Quarles, 8vo."It is remarkable, that, at the commencement of the eighteenth century, our author'sVenus and Adonis, andThe Rape of Lucrece, were re-published asState Poems, though it would puzzle the most acute critic to discover, in either of them, the smallest allusion to the politics of their age. The work in which they are thus enrolled, and which betrays also the most complete ignorance of the era of their production, is entitled "State Poems.—Poems on affairs of State from 1620 to 1707." London, 1703-7. 8vo. 4 vols.

"The Rape ofLucrececommitted byTarquinthe sixth, and remarkable judgements that befell him for it, by that incomparable Master of our English PoetryWilliam ShakespeareGentleman. Whereunto is annexed the Banishment ofTarquinor the reward of Lust, byJohn Quarles, 8vo."

It is remarkable, that, at the commencement of the eighteenth century, our author'sVenus and Adonis, andThe Rape of Lucrece, were re-published asState Poems, though it would puzzle the most acute critic to discover, in either of them, the smallest allusion to the politics of their age. The work in which they are thus enrolled, and which betrays also the most complete ignorance of the era of their production, is entitled "State Poems.—Poems on affairs of State from 1620 to 1707." London, 1703-7. 8vo. 4 vols.

[42:A]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 105. Act iv. sc. 3.—We have found reason, as will be seen hereafter, to ascribe this play to the year 1591.

[42:B]Malone's Supplement, vol. i. pp. 710. 715.

[43:A]"I know not," says this gentleman, "when the second edition was printed."—Reed's Shakspeare, 1803, vol. ii. p. 153.

[46:A]Vol. xxvi. p. 120, 121.

[46:B]Ibid. vol. xxvi. p. 523.

[47:A]Monthly Magazine, vol. xxvi. p. 312.

[48:A]Monthly Magazine, vol. xxvi. p. 121.

[48:B]Of the ill-requited Capel, whose text of Shakspeare, notwithstanding all which has been achieved since his decease, is, perhaps, one of the purest extant, we shall probably have occasion to speak hereafter. Of the talents of his nephew, and of the glowing attachment which he bears to Shakspeare, and of the taste and judgment which he has shown in appreciating his writings and character, we possess an interesting memorial in theIntroductionto his late publication, entitled "Aphorisms from Shakspeare."

[49:A]Malone's Supplement, vol. i. p. 714.

[50:A]Printed at the end of his "Lady Pecunia, 4to. London, 1605." This very sonnet, however, has been attributed to Barnefield himself, and is, in all probability, another evidence of the incorrectness or the fraud of Jaggard.

[50:B]"Shakspeare's Sonnets, never before imprinted, quarto, 1609, G. Eld, for T. T."

[52:A]Malone's Supplement, vol. i. p. 640.

[57:A]Chalmers's Supplemental Apology, pp. 40-43.

[57:B]Sonnet 126. It should be observed, however, that Sonnet 145, though in alternate verse, and terminated by a couplet, is in the octo-syllabic measure.

[59:A]Preface to his revised and corrected edition of Shakspeare's Works, p. 7.

[60:A]See his "Queen's Arcadia."

[60:B]Malone's Supplement, vol. i. p. 596.

[61:A]Malone's Supplement, vol. i. p. 579.

[62:A]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. vii. p. 331, and vol. xii. p. 219.

[63:A]Malone's Supplement, vol. i. p. 698.

[67:A]If we consult the context of this sonnet, and recollect that Shakspeare addresses in his own person, it will be sufficiently evident thatmy lovershere can only meanmy friends.

[73:A]That this series of sonnets, as well as the preceding, should be considered by Mr. Chalmers as addressed to Queen Elizabeth, is, indeed, of all conjectures, the most extraordinary!

[74:A]Malone's Supplement, vol. i. p. 682.

[74:B]Ibid. p. 684.

[74:C]Ibid.

[75:A]Malone's Supplement, vol. i. p. 684.

[75:B]Ibid. p. 685.

[75:C]Ibid.

[83:A]Malone's Supplement, vol. i. p. 748. note.

[85:A]Reed's Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 30.

[85:B]British Bibliographer, No. XII. p. 16.

[86:A]That Shakspeare himself entertained a confident hope of the immortality of his minor poems, the following, out of many instances, will sufficiently prove:—"So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."Son. 18."Yet, do thy worst, old Time: despite thy wrong,My love shall in my verse ever live young."Son. 19."Not marble, nor the gilded monumentsOf princes, shall out-live this powerful rhime."Son. 54."Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth,And delves the parallels in beauty's brow;Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:And yet, to times in hope, my verse shall stand,Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand."Son. 60.——— "Confounding age —————— shall never cut from memoryMy sweet love's beauty, though my lover's life.His beauty shall in these black lines be seen,And they shall live, and he in them still green."Son. 63."When all the breathers of this world are dead;You still shall live (such virtue hath my pen),Where breath most breathes,—even in the mouths of men."Son. 81.

[86:A]That Shakspeare himself entertained a confident hope of the immortality of his minor poems, the following, out of many instances, will sufficiently prove:—

"So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

"So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

Son. 18.

"Yet, do thy worst, old Time: despite thy wrong,My love shall in my verse ever live young."

"Yet, do thy worst, old Time: despite thy wrong,

My love shall in my verse ever live young."

Son. 19.

"Not marble, nor the gilded monumentsOf princes, shall out-live this powerful rhime."

"Not marble, nor the gilded monuments

Of princes, shall out-live this powerful rhime."

Son. 54.

"Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth,And delves the parallels in beauty's brow;Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:And yet, to times in hope, my verse shall stand,Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand."

"Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth,

And delves the parallels in beauty's brow;

Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,

And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:

And yet, to times in hope, my verse shall stand,

Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand."

Son. 60.

——— "Confounding age —————— shall never cut from memoryMy sweet love's beauty, though my lover's life.His beauty shall in these black lines be seen,And they shall live, and he in them still green."

——— "Confounding age ———

——— shall never cut from memory

My sweet love's beauty, though my lover's life.

His beauty shall in these black lines be seen,

And they shall live, and he in them still green."

Son. 63.

"When all the breathers of this world are dead;You still shall live (such virtue hath my pen),Where breath most breathes,—even in the mouths of men."

"When all the breathers of this world are dead;

You still shall live (such virtue hath my pen),

Where breath most breathes,—even in the mouths of men."

Son. 81.

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