Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 15, No. 88, April, 1875Various
History
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 15, No. 88, April, 1875
Various
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- Periodicals
Mr. Heraud also accepts the order of the Sonnets as correct. His book
contains an article on the Sonnets published by him in _Temple Bar_ for
April, 1862, the result, he declares (and far be it from us to dispute
it), of pure induction. He has evolved the theory that Shakespeare in
writing against celibacy had in view the practice of the Roman Catholic
Church; that the friend whom he apostrophizes was the Ideal Man, the
universal humanity, who gradually develops into the Divine Ideal, and
becomes a Messiah, while the Woman is the Church, the "black but comely
bride" of Solomon. "Shakespeare found himself between two loves--the
celibate Church on the one hand, that deified herself, and the Reformed
Church on the other, that eschewed Mariolatry and restored worship to
its proper object.... Thus, Shakespeare parabolically opposed the
Mariolatry of his time to the purer devotion of the word of God, which
it was the mission of his age to inaugurate."
This is pretty well for a flight of inductive genius, but it is quite
surpassed by the soaring Teutonic mind before mentioned, who, in the
words of the reflective Breitmann,
Dinks so deeply
As only Deutschers can.
This mighty philosopher, of whom Mr. Heraud speaks with becoming
reverence, is Herr Barnstorff, who published a book in 1862 to prove
that the "W.H." of the dedication means _William Himself_, and that the
Sonnets are apostrophes to Shakespeare's Interior Individuality! Mr.
Heraud thinks this idea is rather too German, but, after all, not so
very far out of the way, for in Sonnet 42 the poet certainly declares
that his Ideal Man is simply his Objective Self.[009] For, as Mr. Heraud
beautifully and lucidly remarks, "the Many, how multitudinous soever,
are yet properly but the reflex of the One, and the sum of both is the
Universe." And herein, according to Mr. Heraud, we find the key to the
mystery.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account