There is another instance which Mr. Greenwood discusses twice. {37a} In
1599 Jaggard published “_The Passionate Pilgrim_; W. Shakespeare.” Out
of twenty poems, five only were by W. S. In 1612, Jaggard added two
poems by Tom Heywood, retaining W. Shakespeare’s name as sole author.
“Heywood protested” in print, “and stated that _Shakespeare_ was
offended, and,” says Mr. Greenwood, “very probably he was so; but as he
was, so I conceive, ‘a concealed poet,’ writing under a _nom de plume_,
he seems to have only made known his annoyance through the medium of
Heywood.”
If so, Heywood knew who the concealed poet was. Turning to pp. 348, 349,
we find Mr. Greenwood repeating the same story, with this addition, that
the author of the poems published by Jaggard, “to do himself right, hath
since published them in his own name.” That is, W. Shakespeare has since
published under his own name such pieces of _The Passionate Pilgrim_ as
are his own. “The author, I know,” adds Heywood, “was much offended with
Mr. Jaggard that (altogether unknown to him) presumed to make so bold
with his name.”
Why was the author so slack when Jaggard, in 1599, published W. S.’s
poems with others _not_ by W. S.?
How can anyone explain, by any theory? It was as open to him in 1599 as
in 1612 to publish his own pieces under his own name, or pen-name.
“Here we observe,” says Mr. Greenwood, {38a} “that Heywood does nothing
to identify ‘the author with the player.’” This is, we shall see, the
eternal argument. Why should Heywood, speaking of W. Shakespeare,
explain what all the world knew? There was no other W. Shakespeare (with
or without the _e_ and _a_) but one, the actor, in the world of letters
of Elizabeth and James. Who the author was Heywood himself has told us,
elsewhere: the author was—Will!
But why Shakespeare was so indifferent to the use of his name, or, when
he was moved, acted so mildly, it is not for me or anyone to explain. We
do not know the nature of the circumstances in detail; we do not know
that the poet saw hopes of stopping the sale of the works falsely
attributed to him. I do not even feel certain that he had not a finger
in some of them. Knowing so little, a more soaring wit than mine might
fly to the explanation that “Shakespeare” was the “_nom de plume_” of
Bacon or his unknown equivalent, and that he preferred to “let sleeping
dogs lie,” or, as Mr. Greenwood might quote the Latin tag, said _ne
moveas Camarinam_.
III
THAT IMPOSSIBLE HE—THE SCHOOLING OF SHAKESPEARE
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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