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Article WILLIAM SHAKSPERE. ← Page 17 of 17
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William Shakspere.
how many a maiden ' s love have they purified and exalted ! He is the universal satirist , —the general regenerator , —the king of literature , —the master-spirit of all thne . He sits on a throne high above all his fellows , and dispenses to them his magic sentences of marvellous truth and beauty . He is the poet and the philosopher of mankind . He has explored the worldand omitted
, nothing in his search . He has raised the renoAA'n of England , —he has robed her literature with undying splendour , — -he has imparted form to our language , and given spirit to our authors . In the words of the most illustrious as well as the most discerning of his critics , — " Who ever fashioned the English language , or any language , ancient
or modern , into such variety of appropriate apparel , from ' the gorgeous pall of sceptered tragedy , ' to the easy dress of flowing pastoral , ' More musical than lark to shepherd's ear , When wheat is green , and hawthorn buds appear ?' Who , like him , could so methodically suit the flow and tone of discourse to characters lying so wide apart in rank , and habits , and peculiarities , as Holofernes and Queen Catherine , Ealstaff and Lear ? When we compare
the pure English style of Shakespeare with that of the very best writers of his day , we stand astonished at the method by which he was directed in the choice of those words and idioms which are as fresh now as in their first bloom ; nay , which are at the present moment at once more energetic , more expressive , more natural , and more elegant than those of the happiest and most admired of living speakers or Avriters . " * Rich , indeed , the legacy he hath bequeathed to posterity , —
surpassingly fair and excellent the Minervas that sprung , active and gorgeous , from the brain of this Jupiter of literature . The exhaustless treasures he has bestowed upon us we will prize beyond all price , and they shall remain in all their original lustre and beauty Avhen " time and tide Have washed away like weeds u ^ on the sand Crowds of the olden life ' s memorials . "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
William Shakspere.
how many a maiden ' s love have they purified and exalted ! He is the universal satirist , —the general regenerator , —the king of literature , —the master-spirit of all thne . He sits on a throne high above all his fellows , and dispenses to them his magic sentences of marvellous truth and beauty . He is the poet and the philosopher of mankind . He has explored the worldand omitted
, nothing in his search . He has raised the renoAA'n of England , —he has robed her literature with undying splendour , — -he has imparted form to our language , and given spirit to our authors . In the words of the most illustrious as well as the most discerning of his critics , — " Who ever fashioned the English language , or any language , ancient
or modern , into such variety of appropriate apparel , from ' the gorgeous pall of sceptered tragedy , ' to the easy dress of flowing pastoral , ' More musical than lark to shepherd's ear , When wheat is green , and hawthorn buds appear ?' Who , like him , could so methodically suit the flow and tone of discourse to characters lying so wide apart in rank , and habits , and peculiarities , as Holofernes and Queen Catherine , Ealstaff and Lear ? When we compare
the pure English style of Shakespeare with that of the very best writers of his day , we stand astonished at the method by which he was directed in the choice of those words and idioms which are as fresh now as in their first bloom ; nay , which are at the present moment at once more energetic , more expressive , more natural , and more elegant than those of the happiest and most admired of living speakers or Avriters . " * Rich , indeed , the legacy he hath bequeathed to posterity , —
surpassingly fair and excellent the Minervas that sprung , active and gorgeous , from the brain of this Jupiter of literature . The exhaustless treasures he has bestowed upon us we will prize beyond all price , and they shall remain in all their original lustre and beauty Avhen " time and tide Have washed away like weeds u ^ on the sand Crowds of the olden life ' s memorials . "