Telegram-herald., 1890-11-13

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cAaaBeF = expression.
The aet tkar Shakespeare las tsken
almost a. his plot fr0m ths sources
whence be sot als plays las induced
MANY % believe AHA deficient IN Con
struclve Imagination. Bat tLls ls an
unfair inference. he wss evidently dis
inclined % form plot when be could
md one really made. just a. no fre-
qaently adopted ths exact phrsseoiogy
Of other authors rather than frame his
own lines from kis hmitle~s equipment.
he dad nol care % take any needless
trouble; he Wa. again les il De said.
thoroughly and continually practical in
sFats Of mis- nnreckoHed wealth II poetry.
TO put IL plsinly. he was bent on max
ing money At the Blackfiars theatre,
and On making Is in the easiest Way.
tie fslt more concern FOR direct pecun-
larry success than for any reputation
which his writings might yield Had
he required plots there Is small doubt
that he could and would have drawn
them in abundance nom his inward sup
ply
But his transeendent excellence is in
his creation Of character-hngs and
clowns. philosophers and simpletOns,
dreamers and men OF action. women
deuhsh and angelic, courtiers and fai-
ries, priests and cynics, wits and witches,
beings OF earth AMI Air-a numberless
crew. but al individual, distinct, dei-
mite, a. II evolved from nature. No
other poet has revealed tithe Of his
omnipOtence IA this respect, and be has
made every one Of them memorable aud
unfJrgetable. Thousands Of years hence
Hamlet, Timon. Benedick, Portia, Shy
lock, Desdemona, Brutus, Cleopstr
Othello, Lear. Cordeha, Macbeth, Rosa
lind. Falstaif. Imogen. Cassius. Viola,
Doyberry, Cressida, viii be as fresh and
human as they are today; as they were
when the ink was not yet dry that gave
them birth. One might almost say that,
if this planet should be lost, types Of its
inhabitants might be reproduced from
Shekespeare's models They are more
human than humanity and yet more
ideal than our ideas OF them.
The controversy still goes on over the
question whether the dramatist was a
man Of much or little culture he ap-
pears-to have known all that was worth
knowing from books and observation
and imagination, and, above aught else,
from the clairvOyarce Of universal gem
ius. Is nature educated? sounds much
like the queries concerning Shakespeare's
degree Of culture.
Ii j. not strange that the obscuration
of his personality should incite specula-
tors to the denial Of his identity, TO the
affirmation that he was only name;
that his plays were written by another
or by others. This view, instead Of
lessening. merely augrnents the mys-
terry We can understand how the mas
ter drarnatist might hide his private self
from the world. but that Shakespeare
could De somebody else passes credence
The poet Of poets Is so sinewy, SO uni
versal, 50 ideal. so inexhaustible az 10
put all who understand him into closest
relation with him. and make them think
that they have got at the secret of his
power ard influence. He is not whit
classic; heisromantic, Teutonic. Gothic.
above and free from all rule, despising
convention, challenging precedent. To
the Latin mind he makes no general ap-
peal; be belongs especially TO the Teu-
tonic family. and is the rarest heritage Of
the English speaking race. we Americans
~.
than our British hnsnen. The Germans
feel that be is especially related to them;
that his genius is their property, though
be chanced - be born on foreign soil.
They never tire Of writing about him;
they are vsritsble 5hskespeariacs They
are convinced that they have interpreted
hin 70 rs; that his innOst spirit is open
70 them alone. Although trsnscendsntal
and overdrswn they have brought limit
less learning and ingenuity % his elucida-
tion. and the world of serious thought is
eternally indebted 10 them He antici-
pated the America of today. and Is in
deed more American than English in
combining the highest idealizn and the
greatest prscticabhty
Tn this country We are. in a way.
brought mp on him. snd our love Of him
grows with our years First and last.
he is poet. but common sense forms
his base. he i truly English IN max
INK his dramas wholly sabservient to
earning money. He wrote Lear. Ham
let. Henry ", Othsllo. not from passion
for literature. bat from ineTsdicable de-
sire 70 return 70 STasSord. 10 rsinstate
himself there. and - write gentleman =
after his name. Everlasting fame was
nothing compared with bis dearest wish
~ be English Bke. respect table and oom-
Portable. But IN range and insight
he Wa tae Jesus - the INTEL e0tuI