New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-04-23
Shakespeare.

Three centuries OF his immortality anu
the third has been the greatest OF thenl'
The busiest one as well. Higher critics
have probed him, interpreted HIM, edi'eu
him: a mass Of debris has been thrown up
around his feet, but much rubbish has oeen
cleared away. lie has been Analysed DIS
sected. as man and as artist as actor ana
manager. as a playwright who gave his au-
diences what they wanted, as his own bog
rapher. even unto the sonnets, which'
others hold. were but his supreme exercise
of the fashionable pastime of his day. MS
true dimensions have been established, put
in the process his stature has not been al
minished bv one cubit. He has gone on 10
new triumphs, TO the conquest of Germany
the invasion Of Russia, toward the nom
age of the world
The celebrations which begin to-day are
nonular-not Of the liternti alone. Iheren
lies their significance. Still, let US not
rejoice too confidently. Shakespeare mas
had his periods of eclipse ere now, and II
were vain TO blink the fact that during
the last fifteen years or so his sun mas
again been declining on our stages
and under the lamp. The wider popularity
which should have been his with the spread
of education still tarries. No wonder, "neh
This education itself is still in state OF
transition, no more soundly academic tnan
il is thoroughly practical. We are raising
new generation Of Shakespeare lovers
as haphazardly as we do mostly everything
else. They must find themselves.
In the theatre we have made our final
choice of his plays, without overlooking a
single one of the masterpieces. HIS great
est dramas are also the most enduringy
actable ones. Il is as literature, as poetry
as life seen in imagery Of unmatchaoie
felicity. that his lesser plays Will continue
20 hold Us. even those whose authorship is
only partly his. But their place IS no
longer on our boards. The time Of lndls-
eliminate worship is past. We have out
grown him in some ways-much OF ms
humor. for instance. And, in a higher
sense. we are unfortunately growing less
keen Of sight. Democracy is too busy for
the present finding itself in more material
ways.
Again. what will be the fate of his his
torjcal plays among US? Will not the sheer
Englishry, the glorious, spacious Anglo
Saxon spirit of him, dwindle in It's appeal
70 nation whose clements are growing
daily more diverse and heterogeneous
What meaning will "this sceptred isle, TINS
blessed plot, this earth, this realm, TINS
England" hold for the Americans OF the
future? The thrill OF it, the magic Of 1t,
is in our atmosphere to-day; the response
&c unmistakable. What will its potency be
Tomorrow? His sonnets, the sheer lowell
ness of them, their artistry-these can
never die. They are an imperishaole part
Of our heritage -imperishable here as well
as in the country Of his birth.
He is ours still. Let US cherish him IN
The face Of the nascent new neglect of him,
the organized brief enthusiasts Of our
celebration 10 the contrary notwlthstand-
inr. Ours still. treasury of beauty and
imagery and wisdom and knowledge Of the
human heart, but a possession which I'M
plies a duty-one shirked. neglected, per-
formed at best but haltingly in our educa-
tional institutions, on our stage and in our
homes.
The fourth century of his immortality
begins to-day. What tale will the hun
bred years TO come have TO tell when they
too. shall be completed? OF lip service and
neglect of the spirit, of still another period
of eclipse, or of new recognltions' OF ever
widening fame?