New-York tribune., 1902-08-30

G. F. Putnam's Sons
TESTIMONY OF THE soNEEI5TSl s IS spEsREh T0 EtlE
AUTHORSHIP OF TIE sHAkEsP Hassa Johnson
i2mo. pp. e. 9. P. Putnams Sons
Mr. Goodwin has no doubt that the Sonnels
attributed to Shakespeare were written py
sbskespeare but he believes that they nave not
hitherto been arranged in their right oFoel'
and in this volume he has suggested ne"
sequence for them. and has set forth the rea-
cons why tnat sequence should be considered
correct The arrangement thus offered Is
nleasins. and the argument for it is ingenious
t,+ Mr. t7odwin's contention-however attrac-
,;us in itself and however skilfully urged
&c ,nconclusive and like the other theories that
have been advanced respecting these compost
lions il leaves the subject still mystery III
the writing of those sonnets Shakespeare may
or may not, have been moved oy Ieeiihss iiiOi
dental to personal experience SeTeral saga
ciors commentators have declared the opliiioii
that he was. A story that is discreoiiapie ~
him can be deduce6 from thern-to the erect
that he was unfaithful as husband ana 'ha'
dsrk woman. who had become his mistress,
csused him much mental distress, by treacher-
ously dtscarding him, and taking one Of his IN
,,rnste friends as a preferred paramour- and
+bis warn has been widely circulated,-one slal-
usrt piece OF impudent and scandalous sos-
SIN even going so fer as 10 give the DARK WoihaI
q name Poets. however,-a5 remarked U!
Touchstone-are given to lying ana no feauei
of shakespeare's Sonnets is under any SUIT
of obligation TO believe that those writings are
autobiographical, in even the shshtest par
sicular.
The sonnet in shakespeares day, was IA
vorste vehicle for compliment and sentiment
italy and France had set the fashion, and Eng
Sir Phlllp SlQIltE,
walking in the track of Wyatt and Surrey was
,ereelxy instrumental in promoting the vogue OF
This yersifed form, and Shakespeare USED 1t
from about the beginning Of his literary cai ieei-
There are sonnet forms in his carrier pays pu'
the main body of his sonnets,-accorolhs 10 .lle
best grounded opinion,-was MADE IT 1850 o.
when he was about thirty years Old UNI Hou-
wins surrnise is that they were written plioI
IN 15SS-Se1 All Shakespeare scholars OF COURSE
remember the allusion in "Palleois rama OS
Franc;s Neres. 1895. to shakespeare's ''sugared
sounets among his private friends Frlor 70
that date, manifestly, they had been circulated
., manuscript according TO the contemporary
~rstor, In 1909 they were, for the hrst ulhe'
collected into a volume. a pradcal puphsher
named Thomas Thorpe.-acting WITHOUT tiie
sanction of the author,-having arranged 'iei
In haphazard manner and as SHOWN os 'iia'
excellent hiographer Sidney Lee, oeoicateo 'he
cou1pendium to another pirate OF MS ulpe' MI
W H" who had helped him to obtain Shahe
speare's manuscripts. Mr. Lees exposluoh Oh
,h,s s,,biect is the best. because the most ra-
tional that has ever been made In Ioto tne
Shakespeare Sonnets were again published IN
,,o,l, ,orr, hpt In q different order Of arrange
uent and with descriptive titles The order IN
which Shakespeare intended that they should
stand if indeed he had any intention In the
matter is unknown. Some OF them are au-
dressed to a man.-undoubtedly the Earl oI
Southampton, Shakespeare's patron;-some Oh
them are addressed 10 woman: and some Oh
them are meditative apostrophes to the writer
himself. As whole. they are oiscohhecteu'
and. although often eloquent, sometimes ferVid'
sometimes rhetorically superb ana gehefaiiy
felicitous in spite Of tedious puns and Quiboles
as a whole they are uninsplreo, arunc4al' anu
in a certain sense, insincere.
Mr. Goodwin maintains that sonnet number
seventy-seven c'Thy glass will show thee no"
thy beauties wear" etc), is the central ana eX-
planatory member Of the series; that nine OF
them are independent; that some Of them are
addressed by the poet to his wife, Anne HAMA
way whom he had left at Stratford; that some
of them relate to his quest OF fortune al the
Capital; that some Of them are addressed TO q
young man, charging him ito multiply and per-
petuste himself by the spiritual process of crea-
she hardships of a literary career, and upon the
manifold corruptions of society; that some OF
them relate TO an intrigue, with dark woman,
In which Shakespeare was sufferer; and that
some Of them express the poets communion
with his Muse. There is.' says Mr. Goodwin,
IAN earnestness and depth of feeling in most OF
them which, it seems TO me, could only have
come from experience" In other words ac-
cording to this writer, the Sonnets OF snake
epeare are autobiographicai: You read the
souuets of others, and you say How pretty!
but you read his. and, while you gather the
sweetness, you breathe short with expectation
Jt 4. matter of taste and temperament The
dramatic cpersonality,-intenselys sincere at mo-
Ynents-is seldom, or never, continuously and
consistently real-and Shakespeare, above al
things else, was dramatic. His sonnets. PROB
ably WERE mostly, the mental exercises OF
poetic mind having little If any relation to Incl
dents of his life. They can be read with pleas
ure and with benefit, but it is possible to read
them without emotion: and. indeed the nervous
system must be one of peculiar sensibility which
can make such respiratory response as Mr.
Goodwin denotes to the sonnets of anybody.
Mr. Godwin's book gives short history Of the
sonnets; commensurate always IN the bes'
teuper-on previous expositions Of them; para
phrases many OF them in prose, to illustrate and
enforce an argument; and, in an Appendix, re-
prints the sonnets, one hundred and ifty-four In
number following the late Samuel Buffers re-
print OF the fac-simile edition by Mr.. T Tyler
In Mr.. Godwin's sequence, sonnet number fifty
i've C.Not marble the gilded monument,
etc. becomes the closing member Of the series
Mr. Godwins comment Thorpe's dedication
Of the sonnets ITO the only begettor Mr.. w. H
Chat ''the only begettor other than
VIII HIMSELF. seems both fantastic and puerile
On the other hand his reference to Mr.. Jesse