The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-26

NSuAA " hopb AnNe IN the puuho 4ye Nua
mind. was Il not the work OF a lover Of
Shakespeare 70 do the nsoessary heying and
shapingi By taking the scenes Of Richard's
murder Of the King from the last act Of the
third part OF Henry VI" and welding them
with the vital parts Of Richard III. cibber
| performed one Of the greatest single SER
/ vices ever rendered 70 the English stage
and far greater service 70 the memory e
ShAkespears than any editor Of the printed
works Of the great dramatist ever per-
| formed.
As to the literary quality Of HE work It
Ii Of course not possible 10 doRmAazo--
which has not. however, prevented the crit
ical students" from speaking out roundly
enough In its condemnation. Certain ques-
| lions, however may be suggested. Two
phrases Of Richard III have stamped
themselves into the national vocabulary
After the ghost scene Richard is repre-
sented a. pulling himself togsther-hoist-
ing his courage, as It we're by the boot
straps. His speech comes TO q climax
with the exclamation Richards himself
Rgainl" Later among the Alarms ard
excursions OF the battle, Richard enters
In desperation, shouting and reiterating
- HNAe3' q heAHoa tAhNbui ibA q hOiH2i
| One Of these phrases is Shakespeare
tho other Cbbers. According 70 the
critical Students therefore, one Ia cheap
melodramato claptrap and the other the
work Of divine inspiration. Which Ia
which, Let any man who does not know
and how many OF us do?-eKercise his
critical faculty by picking the gold from
the gold brick-the Shhkesps a ian poetry
from the Cibberish Gibberish.
One version OF the passage In which
Richard Abors to be himself again ends
with the lines:
Under our tents IN plsy the ssyesdropptr
10 see II any mean TO shrink from me.
The other reads.
Hence, babbllnE dresmsl You threaten me In
vain.
Conscience Avaunu Richards himself asAlni
Hsrk The shnll trumpet sounds 70 honel AwayI
Ny souls In arms, and eager for the fray.
One OF these represents Richard as re-
duced by tho ghostly visitstions to timid
craft, the other as struggling, with his I'M
doubted courage, to put a brave face on
the issue Of the battle. Personally the
latter seems to me truer to the character
OF the man, and essentially more dramatic.
It happens to DO Cibbers And II either
Of the two familiar phrases in question IL
bald melodrama II seems to me the frenLied
cry for q horse.
II is no part Of my purpose 10 show that
Cibber's lines have on the whole any special
quality. The amisble and pious Colley
himsslf would have been the last to ooun-
tenance such a claim. Vain and sensitive
he was, but even with regard 70 his acting
he had the iustest and most intelligent
perception Of his limitations; and except
when writhing under the cruel injustice
Of Pope he never 1ost the liveliest sense Of
humor with regard to himself 1T may be
Observable he says. that my Muse and
my Spouse we're equally prolifck; the one
was seldom the Mother Of Child, but in
the same Year the other made me Father Of
Play. | think we had a Dozen OF each
Sort between US; Of both Of which kinds
some died In their Infancy, and near an
equal Number Of each were alive when I |
quilted the Theatre. But It is no Wonder, !
when Muse Is only called upon by Family !
Duty, she should not alwdys rejoice In the /
Fruit Of her Labor" In another place he |
observes: Whenever took upon me |
to make some dormant Play Of an old |
Author, to the best Of my judgment, filter
for the Stage, II was honestly. not to he idle, |
that set me 10 work; as a good Housewife
will mend old Linen. when she has not
better Employment
It lie long cry, however. from mediocre
verse to "unmitgated nonsense Here
is a Characteristic passs &c from the last
act Of Richard III:
It's now the dead Of night, and hsf the world
IL 10 a lonely. solemn darkness hung:
Yet 80 COY dame IA sleep 10 mel,
With All the weary oourtship Of
Ny care tried thought, can't win her 10 my bed
Though even the stan do wink. as rWers With
IN forth and walk hvhlle-the Airt refreshing,
And the ripe harvest OF the new mown hay
Gives II sweet and wholesome odor
There Is a certain haste and irreEIlarity
In the lines, which suggest that when they
were written the Muse VaS hard pushed
by the Spouse; and the metaphor Of the lady
Of slumber, though far from mixed, ia some
what too much in tho spirit Of the Restora-
ton But the concluding lines. ! confess,
seem 20 me both poetic and, at this juno
ture, dramatic. The lines that follow are
In a happier vein, and at the first reading
Of them disposed ne to q very favorable
opinion Of the labors Of Collsy's muse;
Prom camp to camp. through the foul womb OF
night,
The hum Of either Army Silly sounds.
That the CAT sentinels almost receive
The secret whispers Of each others watch.
steed threatens steed, In high and bosstful neiFhs
Piercing the nights dun ear; and from the tents
The ArmoTeTs. accomplishing the KuiehtS,
With busy hammers closing Hvets up.
Give dreadful note Of preparation.
Surely this il poetry Of a high order
A certain echo Of familiarity, however
Inspired caudon-Which 10 just a. we'll,
Tor on second thought IL viii be remembered
that the lines made their first APPEARANCE
In the chorus prehxed 10 the fourth act Of
Henry " But II they do not give US
occasion 70 applaud College muse, are they
not an evidence Of his taste In selSotionf
10 my mind, occurring - they do here in
he midst Of the action, they are far more
shsotivS Dramatically than In Shakespeare
chorus.
The Sstuts reader, forVwArned by my
ext, has no doubt already perceived that
hSss cbokings Of the typewriter are not
70 much . defence Of CibbeT a. an attack on
lis ooworkers In the field Of shAlsospSarisn