The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-03-10
Inger,oll on shakespeare.

If Shakespeare knew one fact, he knew
its kindred and its neiShbors Looking az
a coat Of mail he instantly imagined the
society, the conditions that produced IT,
and what it in turn produced. He saw the
castle. the mOat, the draWbridge, the lady
In the tower, and the knightly lover spur
ring across the plain. He saw the bold
baron and the rude retainer, the trampled
serf and all the glory and grief OF feudal
life. He was a man of imagination.
He lived the life of all
He was citizen Of Athens in the days OF
Pericles. He listened to the eager elo-
queuce of the great orators, and sat upon
the cliffs and with the tragic poet heard
"the multitudinCus laughter Of the sea-
He saw Socrates thrust the spear or ques-
ton through the shield and heart Of false
hood. He was present when the great man
drank hcmlock and met the night or
death tranquil as star meets morning
He listened to the peripatetc philoso-
phers and was unpuZzled by the sophists.
lie watched Phidias as he chiseled shape
less stone 10 forms Of love and awe.
He lived by the mysterious Nile, amid
the vast and monstrous. He knew the
very thought that wrought the form ana
features of the Sphinx. He heard great
Memoirs morning song when marDie hpS
were smitten by the sun. He laid hlm
down with the emblamed and waiting
dead, and felt within their dust the eh-
recitation of another life, mingled with
cold and sufocating doubts-the children
born of long delay.
He walked the ways of mighty Rome
and saw great Caesar with his legions In
the field. He stood with vast and motley
throngs and watched the triumphs given
10 victorious mon, followed by uncrowned
kings the captured hosts, and all the
spo!is of ruthless war. He heard the
shout that shook the Coliseum'S rOOhess
walls when from the reeling gladiators
hand the short sword fell, while from his
bosom gUshed the stream of wasted life.r
He lived the life of savage men. re
Gill mt he nd N
desperate game OF life or death he match
ed his thought against the instinct OF the
beast.
He knew all cllmes and all regrets. all
virtues and their rewards. lie was victim
and victor, pursuer and pursued, outcasl
and king. lie heard the applause and
| curses of the world. and on his heart had
| fallen all the nights and moons OF fallurt
and success. ,
He knew the unspoken thoughts. the
| dumb desires, the wants and ways OF
| beasts He felt the crouchng tiger 5
thrill the terror of the ambushed prey
| ard with the eagles he mad shared the
| ecstacy of flight and poisc and swoop,
| and he lad lain with sluggish se-pehts
on the barren rocks, uncoillng slowly m
| the heart Of noon.
He sat beneath the bo-tree's contempia-
: tive shade wrapped in Buddha's mighty
| thought and dreamed all dreams that
light the alchemist, has wrought from
| dust and dew, and stored within the
| slumbrous pOppy's subtle blood;
He knelt with awe and dread at every
| shrine-he offered every sacrifice and
| every prayCr-felt the consolation and thC
shuddering fear-moclted and worshipped
all the gOds-enjoyed all heavens, anc
| felt the pangs of every hell
He lived all lives. and through rs blood
| and brain there crept the shadow ano
| the chill Of every death, and his SOUL Ike
| Mazeppa, was dashed naked 10 the wild
| horse of every fear and love and nate.
| The imagination had stage in snakes
peare's brain wherein were set all seems
| that lie between the morn Of laughter anc
| the night of tears. and where his players
| bodied forth the false and true, the Joys
and griefs the careless shadows ana the
tragic deeps of universal life.
From Shakespeare's brain there poured
a Niagara of gems spanned by fanCy
seven-hued arch He was as MANIFESTED
| as clouds are many-formed. TO nm SiV'
| ing was hoarding-sowing was harvest
| and waste itself the source of wealth
| Within his marvellous MIND there were
| the fruits OF all thought past, the seeds
| OF all TO be- AS a drop of dew contains
the image of the earth ana SKY, SO Al
/ there il of life was mirrored iorth Ut
| Shakespeare's brain ,,., ..,
| Shakespeare was an jntellectual ocean
whose waves touched all the shores oil
| thonoht. within which were all the tides
aud waves of destiny and Will; over which
svvent ali the storms of fate, ambition
| and revenge: upon which fell the gloom
and darkpess of despair and death, and
| ali the sunlight of content and love. and
| Within was the inverted sky, III with the
eternal stars. Shakespeare was an intel
| Iectual ocean. toward which all rivers
ran and from which now the isles and
Continents of thought receive their dew
nd