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Shakspeare and His Times [Vol. 2 of 2]: Including the Biography of the Poet; criticisms on his genius and writings; a new chronology of his plays; a disquisition on the on the object of his sonnets; and a history of the manners, customs, and amusements, superstitions, poetry, and elegant literature of his ageDrake, Nathan

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Shakspeare and His Times [Vol. 2 of 2]: Including the Biography of the Poet; criticisms on his genius and writings; a new chronology of his plays; a disquisition on the on the object of his sonnets; and a history of the manners, customs, and amusements, superstitions, poetry, and elegant literature of his age

Name: Shakspeare and His Times [Vol. 2 of 2]: Including the Biography of the Poet; criticisms on his genius and writings; a new chronology of his plays; a disquisition on the on the object of his sonnets; and a history of the manners, customs, and amusements, superstitions, poetry, and elegant literature of his age
Author: Drake, Nathan

Drake, Nathan

Dramatists, English -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- Biography; England -- Civilization -- 16th century; English literature -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- History and criticism; Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616; Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Homes and haunts -- England

"—— for memorial still with thee shall stay.
     When thou reviewest this, thou dost review
     _The very part was consecrate to thee_."
                                                    Son. 74.

That Shakspeare looked up to his friend not only with admiration and
gratitude, but with reverence and homage, and, consequently, that
neither William Harte nor William Hughes, nor any person of his own
rank in society could be the subject of his verse, must be evident from
the passages already adduced, and will be still more so when we weigh
the import of the following extracts.

We are told, in the seventy-eighth sonnet, what, indeed, we might have
supposed from the Earl's well-known munificence to literary men, that
he was the theme of every muse; and it is added, that his patronage
gave dignity to learning and majesty to grace:—

    "So oft have I invoked thee for my muse,
     And found such fair assistance in my verse,
     As every alien pen hath got my use,
     And under thee their poesy disperse.
     Thine eyes, that taught the dumb on high to sing,
     And heavy ignorance aloft to fly,
     Have added feathers to the learned's wing,
     And given grace a double majesty.
     Yet be most proud of that which I compile,
     Whose influence is thine, and born of thee."

In his ninety-first sonnet the poet informs us, that he values the
affection of his friend more than riches, birth, or splendour,
finishing his eulogium by asserting that he was not _his peculiar_
boast, but the _pride of all men_:—

    "Thy love is better than high birth to me,
     Richer than wealth, prouder than garment's cost,
     Of more delight than hawks or horses be,
     And having thee, of all men's pride I boast."

But in terms the most emphatic and explicit does he point to his
object, in the sonnet which we are about to quote entire, distinctly
marking the _sex_, the _dignity_, the _rank_, and _moral virtue_ of his
friend:—

    "O TRUANT Muse, what shall be thy amends,
     For thy neglect of TRUTH IN BEAUTY DY'D?
     BOTH TRUTH AND BEAUTY ON MY LOVE DEPENDS;
     SO DOST THOU TOO, AND THEREIN DIGNIFY'D.
     Make answer, Muse: wilt thou not haply say,
     'Truth needs no colour, with his colour fix'd,
     Beauty no pencil, beauty's truth to lay:
     But best is best, if never intermix'd?—'
     Because HE needs no praise, wilt thou be dumb?
     Excuse not silence so; for it lies in thee
     To make HIM much out-live a GILDED TOMB,
     And to be prais'd of ages yet to be.
       Then do thy office, Muse; I teach thee how
       To make HIM seem long hence as HE shows now."
                                                   Son. 101.

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