After a brief period of leisure, Shakespeare died at his prime in 1616, and was buried in the parish church of Stratford. Of his great works, now the admiration of the world, he thought so little that he never collected or printed them. From these works many attempts are made to determine the poet's character, beliefs, philosophy,--a difficult matter, since the works portray many types of character and philosophy equally well. The testimony of a few contemporaries is more to the point, and from these we hear that our poet was "very good company," "of such civil demeanor," "of such happy industry," "of such excellent fancy and brave notions," that he won in a somewhat brutal age the characteristic title of "the gentle Shakespeare." THE DRAMAS OF SHAKESPEARE. In Shakespeare's day playwrights were producing various types of drama: the chronicle play, representing the glories of English history; the domestic drama, portraying homely scenes and common people; the court comedy (called also Lylian comedy, after the dramatist who developed it), abounding in wit and repartee for the delight of the upper classes; the melodrama, made up of sensational elements thrown together without much plot; the tragedy of blood, centering in one character who struggles amidst woes and horrors; romantic comedy and romantic tragedy, in which men and women were more or less idealized, and in which the elements of love, poetry, romance, youthful imagination and enthusiasm predominated. [Illustration: ANNE HATHAWAY'S COTTAGE] It is interesting to note that Shakespeare essayed all these types--the chronicle play in _Henry IV_, the domestic drama in _Merry Wives_, the court comedy in _Loves Labor's Lost_, the melodrama in _Richard III_, the tragedy of blood in _King Lear_, romantic tragedy in _Romeo and Juliet_, romantic comedy in _As You Like It_--and that in each he showed such a mastery as to raise him far above all his contemporaries. [Sidenote: EARLY DRAMAS] In his experimental period of work (_cir_. 1590-1595) Shakespeare began by revising old plays in conjunction with other actors. _Henry VI_ is supposed to be an example of such tinkering work. The first part of this play (performed by Shakespeare's company in 1592) was in all probability an older work made over by Shakespeare and some unknown dramatist. From the fact that Joan of Arc appears in the play in two entirely different characters, and is even made to do battle at Rouen several years after her death, it is almost certain that _Henry VI_ in its present form was composed at different times and by different authors. [Illustration: THE MAIN ROOM, ANNE HATHAWAY'S COTTAGE]