Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-01-06
HOUSEHOLD WORDS.
ShAkesPeARe's SAYINGS ARE ON THE
TONGUES OF ALL MEN.
Ills Poetry. Wisdom, and Genius Rolled
from an Unfziling source--Origin and
Significance OF His Expressions,

from nm Unfziling source--Origin and
Significance OF His Expressions,
To the Editor Of the Dispatch:
The utterances of no writer are as
much quoted and admired as Shake
speare's. Tho maxims that we use In
every sphere OF life-the proverbs that
! epitomize the very essence OF the wisdom
OF the world. and that we make the
guides OF our reasoning and policy, and,
ofttlmes, the controllers of our hearts
and CONFERENCE.-The passages that are
Impressed on our minds and inculcated
into our souls from earliest infancy, that
we cite in our manhood. and TO which
we recur with pleasure and profit In our
age, are found in the works Of this,
the greatest OF English poets. and have
| become, by frequent and loving use and
admiration and pertinent application and
| virile sense, interviewer with the very
fiber and texture Of our language, so as
to constitute part and parcel OF our
speech. They are as Household words"
and are on the tongues of all men, Gull
dom. common sense, and profound phi
Iosophy. oft blended with pathos and
! sweet affectonateness, dressed In terse
and colloquial phrase, yet often enriched
with the garniture OF poetry, make them
the Intellectual currency OF the world
And tho deeper their study. the richer and
more aflluent the results.
LANGUAGE OF NATURE.
The reasons for this are manifold.
Sndkespeare. above all other writers, Is
run OF wise saws and modern in
stanceS because he makes his dramatis
| perSonae-iiis men and women-speak the
language OF nature and real life, like
creatures Of flesh and blO0d-out OF the
abundance OF their hearts: and not like
mere creations OF fiction ana art, pup
pets pulled by strings and painted in
imitation OF the chll1ren Of men; doll
babies or the Imagination clothed in
gauds and tnsel, and wound M TO dance
a minuet or sing a tune These EEL
lows IN long. motley coats. guarded with
yellow" with "robustous perriwigs"-
or faxen hair, yclept golden" with an
eelc attributes and qu.ck-moving Feet.
that ever bring them pat at the right
un.e at the right place. and under the
f'sht MISUNDERSTANDING beings,
VINO have no existence save IN the dreams
OF "tha lInatic, the mailman, and the
lover" stalk. like Magnldcoes OF Ve-
nice" through The oft-Glluted sentiment
talities Of most authors. like men walk
ing On hot plough-shlres, bobbing and
skipping about 70 keep people from
thinking that they are really what they
! ireteiyI 10 be. Shakespeare $ never
| visited by these infatuatlons of melio-
| Gritty. With unerring hand he touches
/ the strings OF Poesys Tyre. until they
| accord with the music OF nature and
| Truth. He has no discords, but complete
/ harmony. Ii matters not that n his
! broad grasp and powerful mastery he
strikes many chords; the production is
! music-grdrd AMI sOnorOus, gentle and
! hulcet, as his genius Wills 1.-THE clash
/ ings OF the cymbals and the Drawing of
/ the trumpets. or the peasings OF the
! lite" and the Inspirations Ct the narp.
as the potency Of his brain. or the soft
! influences OF ii5 heart awaken ana in
} splre He Is the master OF nature, and
/ thus the master )f the tuman heart, IN
| which indwells nature; though, there she
| CIT finds a cramped restIng-pllce and
| uncOngenial guests. And with these great
| and divine gifts. that burgeon out ike
! flowers from the soil ana stars from the
! sky, he has the embarrassment AMI wealth
]
| natlcism, the peculiar AMI distinguish
iES power CT bl4pk-verse, that gives alike
J the brightness and keenneSs to the sword
of his wit, which cuts through and
! through the Grtihcialities AMI externals
| OF false seeming. even 10 the fatness and
the marrow OF the truth.
OVER ALL WRITER'S.
This is what gives to his sayings their
naturalness, point, terseness. and flavor
| over all other writer's This Is what
breathes into his works the breath Of
life and that lift them above the perish
I ms things OF time. He made his Lam
| BuaSe as urn3 In which he gathered his
| immortal thoughts. and which we have
| made the Lares and Penates of our homes
| and tresldes as the ancients did the urns
that held the ashes of their sacred dead,
and which we Will not willingly let die.
GREATER PRE-E9fINENCE.
| In addition TO these reasons there are
others of even greater pre-emlnence.
| Shakespeare wrote at a period when the
| English language was IN its formative
| state. 1t was then as Il lusty and comely
| youth, but had not reached It's full powers
and masterful maturity. There had been
| occasional flashes OF genius and power
In the night that had preceded him. Sir
| Thomas Moore had displayed the power
and compass Of English prose in a style
and splendor OF diction unexcelled 10
| this date, save when IL was marred by
the quaintness and dangling after con-
| ceits that were as flaws on the pure dia-
mond OF his pellucid and magnificent
writing. Spencer had sought the MUSES.
as they reclined around the marge OF the
! fount Of song-the Castalle Of the Greek
/ nd Ipnvl CP oil
golden challce and intoxicate with the
holy and life-glving draught. had sung
his songs until the heart-beats OF the
nation were the Accomplishments of their
music; but, Ike an eagle tied to the
earth. he had only gaZed upon the sun.
and not dipped hts beak into it's fiery
glory. Chaucer had sung. and his singing
was beautiful and wonderful. but HIS
songs had been tuned to the blessings Of
France-the silvery lisplngs OF Provence
the loye-murmurIngs Of the Troubadours-
and the giant had essayed TO wear the
armor Of dwarf. which cramped him
and united him for battle
AN UNFAILING SOURCE.
But the poetry, the wisdom. and the
| genius Of Shakespeare rolled from an UNI
falling source-a food broad, original,
powerful, and Respondent, sweeping all
fiiinsy pretexts and puny barriers OF Gus
tom and fOrmality before IL, until Il
flowed out into the great sea OF Time
bearing with 1t the freshness and power
that 1t Inspired In It's origin, and taking
no faint from the briny waters that
surged around its golden currents and
where IL stu bears on in its splendid
course. Thus Shakespeare assisted In the
formation and establishment OF the Eng
iish language, bringing to it originality,
power, grace, and finish, tho birth Of
many new words that are beautiful and
Apostle. making 1t what II has been
ever snce-a nervous and brawny tongue,
capable of melting into sweetness or
laundering with wrath. TO touch the heart
or conquer the mind. These characteris-
ties and departures from the common
speech. ana this enrichment of the COM
mon tongue with the wisdom OF the old
learning OF the past and the fresh and
sparkling quaintness OF the mother lam
guage, stripped of the false tinsel of the
euphuisms that encountered and degraded