Upon the Lines, and Life, of the famous Scenic Poet, Master Those hands which you so clapp'd, go now and wring, All those he made would scarce make one to this; HUGH HOLLAND. COMMENDATORY VERSES, PREFIXED TO THE FOLIO OF 16322. Upon the Effigies of my worthy Friend, the Author, Master Spectator, this life's shadow is :-to see Turn reader. But observe his comick vein, Then weep: so,-when thou find'st two contraries, An Epitaph on the admirable Dramatic Poet, W. Shakespeare. * In addition to those in the folio of 1623, also reprinted in 1632. The folios of 1664 and 1685 contain no others. 3 An Epitaph on the admirable Dramatic Poet, W. Shakespeare.] These lines, like the preceding, have no name appended to them in the folio, 1632, but Or that his hallow'd reliques should be hid Dear son of memory, great heir of fame, What need'st thou such weak witness of thy name? Hast built thyself a live-long monument: For whilst, to the shame of slow-endeavouring art, On worthy Master Shakespeare, and his Poems*. In that deep dusky dungeon to discern A royal ghost from churls; by art to learn the authorship is ascertained by the publication of them as Milton's, in the edition of his Poems in 1645, 8vo. We give them as they stand there, because it is evident that they were then printed from a copy corrected by the author: the variations are interesting, and Malone pointed out only one, and that certainly the least important. Instead of "weak witness" in line 6, the folio 1632 has "dull witness:" instead of "live-long monument," in line 8, the folio has "lasting monument:" instead of "heart," in line 10, the folio has "part," an evident misprint: and instead of "itself bereaving," in line 13, the folio has "herself bereaving." The last is the difference mentioned by Malone, who also places "John Milton" at the end, as if the name were found in the folio of 1632. 4 On worthy Master Shakespeare, and his Poems.] These lines are subscribed I. M. S. in the folio 1632, "probably Jasper Mayne," says Malone. Most probably not, because Mayne has left nothing behind him to lead us to suppose that he could have produced this surpassing tribute. I. M. S. may possibly be John Milton, Student, and no name may have been appended to the other copy of verses by him prefixed to the folio of 1632, in order that his initials should stand at the end of the present. We know of no other poet of the time capable of writing the ensuing lines. We feel morally certain that they are by Milton. 3 The physiognomy of shades, and give Them sudden birth, wondering how oft they live; To strike up and stroke down, both joy and ire; This, and much more, which cannot be express'd The buskin'd muse, the comick queen, the grand The silver-voiced lady, the most fair And she whose praise the heavenly body chants; pleased in that RUTH] Malone (Shakspeare by Boswell, ii. 480) made nonsense of this line by printing "ruth" truth, the word which closes the preceding line These jointly woo'd him, envying one another, But fine materials, which the muses know, Shakespeare shall breathe and speak; with laurel crown'd, Which never fades; fed with ambrosian meat, In a well-lined vesture, rich, and neat. So with this robe they clothe him, bid him wear it; For time shall never stain, nor envy tear it. The friendly admirer of his endowments, I. M. S. ADDITIONAL NOTES AND CORRECTIONS. VOL. I. P. lxxviii.—the registration of his fifth child, Richard] It would have been more correct to say, "his fifth living child." Richard Shakespeare was the seventh child of John Shakespeare, but two had died before Richard was born. P. lxxxi.-In note 10, for "Vicar of Anston," read Vicar of Auston, the letter u having been accidentally turned. P. xcvii.-Sir Thomas Lucy died in 1600] According to Camden, Sir Thomas Lucy died on 7th July, 1600. P. cii.-The statement contained in the first part of note 5, that the only evidence to show that Thomas Greene was related to Shakespeare is the entry in the Stratford register, was written without recollecting that in 1614, in a letter sent to Stratford, Thomas Greene, the solicitor, calls Shakespeare his cousin. The remark as to family connexion should, perhaps, have been confined to him. P. cxxi.-In note 3, it is stated by an oversight, that " Eastward Ho!" was published in 1607: it was first printed in 1605: the error is not committed when the comedy is mentioned elsewhere. P. cxxxvi. In the same feeling Ben Jonson calls him "my gentle Shakespeare," in the noble copy of verses prefixed to the folio of 1623] It ought here to have been also noticed, as indeed it is afterwards, that Ben Jonson repeats the same epithet in his lines upon the portrait on the title-page of the folio of 1623. P. cliv.-who withdrew from the company in 1601] The precise date when William Kempe quitted the company of the Lord Chamberlain's servants is not known, but it must probably have been before, and not "in" 1601, as he was seen at Rome in the autumn of that year. P. clxxxix.-the cancel was made at the instance of one of the four poets who were the real authors of the play] In Vol. viii. p. 266, an opinion is given that the cancel was perhaps made at the instance of Shakespeare: this is probably a mistake. P. 194. We shall all be SHENT] The more ancient and correct meaning of "shent" is ruined, destroyed, but it seems often used merely for rebuked. P. 255.-with some DIFFUSED Song] Perhaps diffused ought to be taken here, and elsewhere, merely in the sense of confused or unintelligible. Palsgrave, in his Eccl. de la Langue Franç. 1530, explains “diffuse” as "hard to be understood.” See Skelton's Works by the Rev. A. Dyce, vol. ii. p. 144, &c. VOL. II. P. 37.—Shakespeare's word may have been "cycles"] Supposing him, of course, to have somewhat misapplied it; and judging only from the misprint in the folios. |