-
Articles/Ads
Article WILLIAM SHAKSPERE. Page 1 of 17 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
William Shakspere.
WILLIAM SHAKSPERE .
" The greatest genius that perhaps human nature has yet produced , our myriad-winded * Shakspeare . " —S . T . Coleridge . " Oh , gentle critic ! be advised . Do not trust too much to your professional dexterity in the use of the scalping-knife and tomahawk . Weapons of diviner mould are wielded by your adversary . "—S . T . Coleridge .
IF there be one thing which may be said to be dear to the heart of every Englishman , it is the fame of the most illustrious of his countrymen , the bard of Stratford-upon-Avon . In rendering homage to the greatest name of which our literature can boast—if not , indeed , the greatest of universal literature , —every class , and all parties may unite . To him are Ave mainly indebted
for the strength and vigour of our language ; and surely Ave shall uot be sparing in acknowledging our obligations to that man , whose golden sentences are ever upon our tongues , and who has traced out the channels in which we are to direct our thoughts . There is nothing more remarkable in the annals of literature than the vicissitudes that have attended both the fame and the
writings of Shakspere . Few who now study his wonderful dramas would believe , Avere it not for the undeniable certainty of the thing , that until very recently Shakspere was but little read , and not thoroughly understood even by his own countrymen . True it is , that solitary students always were to be found who quaffed those sparkling streamsexulting in the invigorating
, draught ; but the great majority of Englishmen either did not read his works , or if they did read them , were not able to appreciate their manifold excellencies . We AA'ill endeavour to trace some of the various phases through which this negligence of the poet , and the want of appreciation of his works , have passed . In the Great Rebellionwhich broke out soon after
Shak-, spere ' s death , with its fierce contests , and its bitter prejudices and animosities , almost every remembrance and memorial of the poet perished . One of the parties into Avhich our countrymen were at that time divided , endeavoured by every means in their power to root out the drama from amongst the people , and to
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
William Shakspere.
WILLIAM SHAKSPERE .
" The greatest genius that perhaps human nature has yet produced , our myriad-winded * Shakspeare . " —S . T . Coleridge . " Oh , gentle critic ! be advised . Do not trust too much to your professional dexterity in the use of the scalping-knife and tomahawk . Weapons of diviner mould are wielded by your adversary . "—S . T . Coleridge .
IF there be one thing which may be said to be dear to the heart of every Englishman , it is the fame of the most illustrious of his countrymen , the bard of Stratford-upon-Avon . In rendering homage to the greatest name of which our literature can boast—if not , indeed , the greatest of universal literature , —every class , and all parties may unite . To him are Ave mainly indebted
for the strength and vigour of our language ; and surely Ave shall uot be sparing in acknowledging our obligations to that man , whose golden sentences are ever upon our tongues , and who has traced out the channels in which we are to direct our thoughts . There is nothing more remarkable in the annals of literature than the vicissitudes that have attended both the fame and the
writings of Shakspere . Few who now study his wonderful dramas would believe , Avere it not for the undeniable certainty of the thing , that until very recently Shakspere was but little read , and not thoroughly understood even by his own countrymen . True it is , that solitary students always were to be found who quaffed those sparkling streamsexulting in the invigorating
, draught ; but the great majority of Englishmen either did not read his works , or if they did read them , were not able to appreciate their manifold excellencies . We AA'ill endeavour to trace some of the various phases through which this negligence of the poet , and the want of appreciation of his works , have passed . In the Great Rebellionwhich broke out soon after
Shak-, spere ' s death , with its fierce contests , and its bitter prejudices and animosities , almost every remembrance and memorial of the poet perished . One of the parties into Avhich our countrymen were at that time divided , endeavoured by every means in their power to root out the drama from amongst the people , and to