Poetry moves in many ways. It may glorify and make spiritual some action of man, or it may give to thoughts such life as thoughts can have, an intenser and stranger life than man knows, with forms that are not human and a speech unintelligible to normal human moods. This poem gives to a flock of thoughts about the passing of truth and beauty the mystery and vitality of birds, who come from a far country, to fill the mind with their crying. AUTHOR'S NOTE Shakespeare's plays were printed carelessly, often from imperfect, torn, ill-written or stolen copies. When printed, they were seldom corrected. When reprinted, the original errors were often made much worse. Thus, "he met the night-mare," or "a met the night-mare," in the original manuscript, was printed "a nellthu night more," and reprinted "anelthu night Moore." Those who lightly read the modern editions seldom know that years of mental toil went to the preparation of the texts so easily read to-day. Many English minds have paid tribute to Shakespeare. Few of them deserve more praise than the Cambridge Editors, whose six years of labour cleared the text of countless errors and corruptions. The correction of a corrupt text by collation and conjecture, is one of the most difficult and least amusing tasks that a fine mind can have. The Cambridge _Shakespeare_, the work of William George Clark and Dr. William Aldis Wright, gives a text not likely to be improved until the poet's corrected manuscripts are found. The _Life of William Shakespeare_ has been ably written by Dr. Sidney Lee, whose judgment equals his learning. Some of the dramatic methods of Shakespeare have been nobly studied by Dr. A. C. Bradley in his _Shakespearean Tragedy_. To these books and to the Shakespearean Essays in Mr. W. B. Yeats's _Ideas of Good and Evil_, I am deeply indebted, as all modern students of Shakespeare must be. Our knowledge of Shakespeare is imperfect. It can only be increased by minute and patient study, by the rejection of surmise about him, and by the constant public playing of his plays, in the Shakespearean manner, by actors who will neither mutilate nor distort what the great mind strove to make just. INDEX OF CHARACTERS Achilles, 169, 170 Adonis, 241, 242 Adriana, 46, 47 AEgeon, 44, 46, 49 Aguecheek, Sir Andrew, 139 Ajax, 169, 172 Albany, Duke of, 187, 190 Alcibiades, 214, 215, 217, 218 Angelo, 174, 175, 177, 196 Anne Bullen, 236, 237 Anne, Lady, 93, 100 Antipholus of Ephesus, 44, 46 Antipholus of Syracuse, 44 Antonio (_Merchant of Venice_), 103 Antonio (_Tempest_), 232, 235 Antonio (_Two Gentlemen of Verona_), 34 Apemantus, 215 Armado, 30, 31 Arthur, Prince, 75, 80, 83, 84 Audrey, 129 Austria, Lymoges, Duke of, 81 Autolycus, 228 Banquo, 195, 200 Bardolph, 122, 124, 125 Bassanio, 103 Beatrice, 133, 134, 136, 137 Beaufort, Cardinal, 51, 55, 57, 58, 59 Belarius, 223 Belch, Sir Toby, 82, 138, 139, 217 Benedick, 133, 134, 136 Bertram, 144, 145, 146