Notwithstanding this uncertainty, a careful reading of the plays and poems leaves us with an impression of four different periods of work, probably corresponding with the growth and experience of the poet's life. These are: (1) a period of early experimentation. It is marked by youthfulness and exuberance of imagination, by extravagance of language, and by the frequent use of rimed couplets with his blank verse. The period dates from his arrival in London to 1595. Typical works of this first period are his early poems, _Love's Labour's Lost, Two Gentlemen of Verona_, and _Richard III_. (2) A period of rapid growth and development, from 1595 to 1600. Such plays as _The Merchant of Venice, Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It_, and _Henry IV_, all written in this period, show more careful and artistic work, better plots, and a marked increase in knowledge of human nature. (3) A period of gloom and depression, from 1600 to 1607, which marks the full maturity of his powers. What caused this evident sadness is unknown; but it is generally attributed to some personal experience, coupled with the political misfortunes of his friends, Essex and Southampton. The _Sonnets_ with their note of personal disappointment, _Twelfth Night_, which is Shakespeare's "farewell to mirth," and his great tragedies, _Hamlet, Lear, Macbeth, Othello_, and _Julius Cæsar_, belong to this period. (4) A period of restored serenity, of calm after storm, which marked the last years of the poet's literary work. _The Winter's Tale_ and _The Tempest_ are the best of his later plays; but they all show a falling off from his previous work, and indicate a second period of experimentation with the taste of a fickle public. To read in succession four plays, taking a typical work from each of the above periods, is one of the very best ways of getting quickly at the real life and mind of Shakespeare. Following is a complete list with the approximate dates of his works, classified according to the above four periods. First Period, Early Experiment. _Venus and Adonis, Rape of Lucrece_, 1594; _Titus Andronicus, Henry VI_ (three parts), 1590-1591; _Love's Labour's Lost_, 1590; _Comedy of Errors, Two Gentlemen of Verona_, 1591-1592; _Richard-III_, 1593; _Richard II, King John_, 1594-1595. Second Period, Development. _Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night's Dream_, 1595; _Merchant of Venice, Henry IV_ (first part), 1596; _Henry IV_ (second part), _Merry Wives of Windsor_, 1597; _Much Ado About Nothing_, 1598; _As You Like It, Henry V_, 1599. Third Period, Maturity and Gloom. _Sonnets_ (1600-?), _Twelfth Night_, 1600; _Taming of the Shrew, Julius Cæsar, Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida_, 1601-1602; _All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure_, 1603; _Othello_, 1604; _King Lear_, 1605; _Macbeth_, 1606; _Antony and Cleopatra, Timon of Athens_, 1607.