(6) Ere long they come where that same wicked wight His dwelling has, low in an hollow cave,[115] Far underneath a craggie clifty pight, Darke, dolefull, dreary, like a greedy grave, That still for carrion carcases doth crave: On top whereof ay dwelt the ghastly Owle, Shrieking his balefull note, which ever drave Far from that haunt all other chearefull fowle; And all about it wandring ghostes did wayle and howle. And all about old stockes and stubs of trees, Whereon nor fruit nor leafe was ever seene, Did hang upon the ragged rocky knees; On which had many wretches hanged beene, Whose carcases were scattred on the greene, And throwne about the clifts. Arrived there, That bare-head knight, for dread and dolefull teene, Would faine have fled, ne durst approchen neare; But th’ other forst him staye, and comforted in feare. That darksome cave they enter, where they find That cursed man, low sitting on the ground, Musing full sadly in his sullein mind: His griesie lockes, long growen and unbound, Disordered hong about his shoulders round, And his face, through which his hollow eyne Lookt deadly dull, and stared as astound; His raw-bone cheekes, through penurie and pine, Were shronke into his jawes, as he did never dine. SPENSER, _The Faerie Queene_ 6. What features of Shakespeare’s life and literary work does Arnold refer to in the following sonnet? How far do his statements appear to you inaccurate or exaggerated? Others abide our question. Thou art free. We ask and ask--thou smilest and art still, Out-topping knowledge. For the loftiest hill, Who to the stars uncrowns his majesty, Planting his stedfast footsteps in the sea, Making the heaven of heavens his dwelling-place, Spares but the cloudy border of his base To the foil’d searching of mortality; And thou, who didst the stars and sunbeams know, Self-school’d, self-scann’d, self-honour’d, self-secure, Didst tread on earth unguess’d at. Better so! All pains the immortal spirit must endure, All weakness which impairs, all griefs which bow, Find their sole speech in that victorious brow. MATTHEW ARNOLD, _Shakespeare_ 7. Compare very carefully the two given extracts from Shakespeare’s plays. Observe the handling of each: the simplicity or ornateness of diction, the power of expression, and the strength and flexibility of the blank verse. On these grounds, which would you say was taken from an early and which from a later? (1) _Cordelia._ He wakes; speak to him. _Doctor._ Madam, do you: ’tis fittest. _Cordelia._ How does my royal lord? How fares your majesty?