New-York tribune., 1900-12-15

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. POET, DRAMA
With One Hundred Illustrations. Including Nine
Fun Pages in Photogravure Octave pp. xviii
42L The Macmillan Company
Mr.. Mabie's critical narrative dealing with
the life and works of Shakespeare. which was
first published as serial in the pages Of The
Outlook" deserved to be put into book 1t is
based on careful study Of the plays and on
most sagacious sitting Of the great body Of lit
erature which has accumulated around the few
facts known 10 us of the poets life and per-
sonality. With the generous cooperation Of his
publishers. the author has paid scarcely less at
tention to his pictures than to his text These
include portraits. facsimies Photographic views
Of buildings and places and reproductions from
old prints. The volume a whole is well cal
culated to win popular approval the richly va
ried pictorial accompaniment Strengthening and
rendering more vivid that spectacle Of great
literary genius in action which Mr.. Mabie has
essayed to place before us
The great virtue Of this book one which will
commend it to every reader desirous of obtain
ing a clear, compact and practicable introduc-
tion to the plays and poems. is its common
sense Mr. Mabie briefly sketches in his first
chapter the development of the drama before
Shakespeare. Then. with good judgment. he
turns to the environment of the poets earliest
years. passing from Shakespeare's country to
London and the London stage. He surveys the
period Of the dramatists apprenticeship. dis
cusses the first fruits of his activity. deals con-
cisely but effectively with the Sonnets and with
an account Of the historical plays. the comedies.
the tragedies and those dramas which. with Mr..
Dowden, he classes as romances. he terminates
his volume with judicious chapter on the last
years at Stratford. This method Is lucid and
expeditions. There is no surplusage Eschewing
him most-in the discussion Of Shakespeare's
probable education. of his possible travels and
Of the inner history of the Sonnets-he pIeases
US constantly by keeping TO the point by tell
ing exactly what the average reader wishes to
know. Nothing could be more tactfuI than his
summing up of all that has been said in reIa-
ton to the Sonnets. He gives an analysis Of
the sequence. which may assume a trif1e too
much as to its homOgeneity, but on the whole
he leaves the reader free to enjoy the immortal
poems they are in the long run best enjoyed,
for the sake Of the pure poetry in them. with
out any reference 10 their source. whether in
personal experience or in impersOnaI poetic rapt-
ure Mr.. Mabie is also very happy in his char
acterizations of certain Shakespearian figures.
Witness this passage on Falstaf;
Shakespeare created a kind of English Bac-
chus at a time when every kind of fruit
drunk in vast quantities; and sack, which was
Falstaff's native element, was both strong and
sweet Falstan is saved by his humOr and his
genius; he lies, steals, boasts, and takes TO his
legs in time OF peril with such superb con-
sistency and in such unfailing good spirits that
we are captivated by his vitality. 1t would be
as absurd TO apply ethical standards to him as
to Silenus or Bacchus; he is a creature OF the
elemental forces pe~sonifca tiOn Of the vitality
which is in bread and wine: a satyr become hu-
man, but moving buoyantly and j0yfulIy in
immortal world And yet the touch Of the
ethical law is on him; he is not a cOrrUpter by
intention, and he is without malice; bur as old
age brings its searching revelation OF essential
characteristics his hUmor brOadens into coarse
ness his buOyant animalism degenerates into
lust, and he is saved from contempt at the end
by one of those exquisite touches with which the
great-hearted poet loves to soften and human
tze degeneration
In his examination Of the PLAYS Mr. Mabie
leans. from time to time. on other writer's; but
in the first place this embodies some most vel
come quotations in his text-as when he draws
upon De Quincey's fine study OF a famous cpl
sode in ''Macbeth"-and. furthermore. it has been
powerless TO rob the author of the freshness
which comes from an enthusiastic study Of his
material at first hand. He sheds no new light
on his subject, but there is vitality in his pages
They are written with energy and feeling. and
they are throughout interesting. The publishers
have given handsome form TO this work The