Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-05-14
ELLIS CONVICTION.
SHAKESPEARE.

About $50 years ago. on the 23d OF
April. according to tradition. the great
poet and playwright. William Shakes
peare, was born.
His home. while neither grand nor
conspicuous structure was far superior
TO that OF many OF the worlds noble
sons. The house stood and still stands
on Heniy Street, in the town OF STRAIT
ford Avon in Warwickshire. Eng.
| land. There is hardly Il more pic.
'uresque spot in all England The
house has shingled roof. II has queer
dormer windows that jut out from the
| roof and resembl. little houses for
dolls. The chimneys too are very
quaint. being exceedingly large. On
eacn side OF the fireplace there is 4
little seat In the chimney. These are
called "inglenooks," No doubt tho i'm
mortal Shakespeare often sat with his
sisters and brothers in these Jingle
| hooks" while he told them wonderful
siories OF fairies. witches. etc Behind
I he charming old house there is gar
den full OF lovely old fashioned flowers
and, perhaps, il we understood the
flower language they would tell us
many stories about the life OF the great
poet.
Shakespeare had common school
| education, and was by no means the
si,Nant that his plays imply. When he
was barely eighteen years old he mar
Tied Anne Hathaway. She was eight
years his senior and like himself own
ed an attractive home with low
matched roof In Warw!cksirAre Anne's
home was not like Shakespeare's but
it was lovely. He uhe poeD had
already served a time at acting. but
hnding his reputation playwright
Tar surpassed that OF an actor. he de-
voted his time to the later occupation
Among his plays are Hamlet" Mac
beth" AS You Like It." Measure for
Measure. Midsummer Nights Dream"
Twelfth Night" and numerous others
midsummer Nights Dream" proves
that though he great man
yet he was childish enough to
know OF fairies. for in this play he
pictures two lovely fairy characters
Hamlet is considered his masterpiece.
fiamlet"is considered his master.
piece. Ghosts are frequent In this story.
in Macbeth" witches are very promi-
nent. AS these witches danced around
n huge cauldron in which they were
boiling charm Of frogs. lizards, scor-
pions, snakes and the like they chanted
this song:
Double. double toll and trouble,
Fire burn cauldron bubble"
All this goes TO prove that Shakes
stitious lore, as we'll as Of more serious
things.
The world was quite a different
place from what il is now, in Shakes
peare's time. Instead or tin roofs they
had shingled and matched roofs The
furniture. too. was queer. for the bed
in which Anne Hathaway slept was
large -four poster" and il was so high
mat we would scarcely know how to
get into 1t.
suppose Shakespeare could como
back and see the many things that have
come into use since his time. He
| would be much astonished, l am sure
and doubt IL he would know what
| automobiles. telephones. aeroplanes, ca
Dies and phono sraphs were.
fte would have had the characters
IN his plays riding in automobiles, in
stead OF on mules and horses as in
katherine the shew." Though. per-
haps. Katherine would have been much
harder to tame il she had ridden in
an automobile.
Shakespeare died on his fty-third
birthday. lie himself had prepared
an epitaph for his tombstone, which
ran thus:
Good friend. for Jesuss sake, forhear
TO dig the dust enclosed here.
| biest be the man who spares these
| stones,
But curst he who moves these bones"
he was buried at midnight at Trinity
! Church in the town Of his nativity.
! Though Shakespeare is dead yet his
| immortal writings have lived and will
! live forever.
This year people far and wide are
celebrating this great genius by writ
ing OF him and speaking him.
Thus we see that lives OF great men
do not hastily fade from memory and
| Lives OF great men all remind us
That we can make our lives sublime.
And departing, leave behind u.s.
Foot prints in the sands OF time"
EMILY WIGHT CLAYTON.