When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,' For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, Hamlet, Act III. Scene I. MERCY. The quality of mercy is not strain'd; It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God's And that same prayer doth teach us all to render Merchant of Venice, Act IV. Scene L. ACTIVITY NECESSARY TO KEEP FAME BRIGHT.3 Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back, Wherein he puts alms for oblivion, A great-sized monster of ingratitudes: 1 Turmoil, bustle. 2 There's the consideration. 8 This admirable speech of Ulysses to Achilles, to induce him to leave his tent, and come again inte the field of action, though not much read, is scarcely inferior to any thing in Shakspeare. Those scraps are good deeds past: which are devour'd As fast as they are made, forgot as soon As done: Perseverance, dear my lord, Keeps honor bright: To have done, is to hang In monumental mockery. Take the instant way; Where one but goes abreast: keep then the path; That one by one pursue: If you give way, Or, like a gallant horse fallen in first rank, Lie there for pavement to the abject rear, O'er-run and trampled on: Then what they do in present, For time is like a fashionable host, That slightly shakes his parting guest by the hand; And farewell goes out sighing. O, let not virtue seek For beauty, wit, High birth, vigor of bone, desert in service, Love, friendship, charity, are subjects all To envious and calumniating time. One touch of nature makes the whole world kin,- More laud than gilt o'er-dusted. The present eye praises the present object: Then marvel not, thou great and complete man, Since things in motion sooner catch the eye Than what not stirs. The cry went once on thee, If thou wouldst not entomb thyself alive, And case thy reputation in thy tent; Whose glorious deeds, but in these fields of late, Troilus and Cressida, Act III. Scene IL THE COMMONWEALTH OF BEES. So work the honey bees; Creatures, that, by a rule in nature, teach 1 Dust that is a little gilt, means, ordinary performances ostentatiously displayed, and landed by the favor of friends. Gilt o'er-dusted, means, splendid actions of preceding ages, the remembrance of which is weakened by time. 2 Emulous missions refers to the machinery of Homer, which makes the deities descend from heaven to engage on either side. 3 Law. 4 That is, of different degrees. Where some, like magistrates, correct at home; Who, busied in his majesty, surveys The singing masons building roofs of gold; Henry F., Act I. Scene II. BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER. THESE names, united in their lives by friendship and confederate genius, have always been considered together; for they wrote together, their works were published together, nor is it possible now to assign to each his specific share of their joint labors. Some of the productions of each, however, are distinctively known. Francis Beaumont was born in Leicestershire, in 1586. He studied at Oxford, and thence passed to the Inner Temple; but the law had few charms for him, and, in conjunction with his friend Fletcher, he devoted his short life to the drama, and died in 1616, in the thirtieth year of his age. John Fletcher was the son of Dr. Richard Fletcher, bishop of London, and was born in that city in 1576. He was educated at Cambridge: little, how ever, is known of his life. He survived his coadjutor nine years, dying of the plague in 1625. The plays of Beaumont and Fletcher consist of tragedies, comedies, and mixed pieces. That they have many and great merits is undoubtedly true; but there are two things which will ever be a bar to their being generally read: one is, that they have not that truthfulness to nature which alone can permanently please; and the other is, that they are filled with so much that is repulsive to a delicate and virtuous mind. Still, as has been justly remarked, a proper selection from the works of these dramatists would make a volume of refined sentiment, and of lofty and sweet poetry, combined with good sense, humor, and pathos. In lyrics they have not been surpassed, not even by Shakspeare or Milton; and to these, therefore, we shall confine our extracts.3 ADDRESS TO MELANCHOLY. Hence, all you vain delights; 1 Sober, grave. 2 Executioners. * Read-Hazlitt's "Age of Elizabeth," and Lamb's "Specimens of Dramatic Poets." But only melancholy; Oh, sweetest melancholy, Welcome folded arms and fixed eyes, A look that's fasten'd to the ground, These are the sounds we feed upon: Then stretch our bones in a still, gloomy valley; Nothing so dainty sweet as lovely melancholy. THE LIFE OF MAN. Like to the falling of a star, BEAUMONT. Or like the fresh spring's gaudy hue, BEAUMONT. MORNING. See, the day begins to break, And the light shoots like a streak The early lark, that erst was mute Many a note and many a lay. FLETCHER. EXHORTATION TO EARLY RISING. Shepherds, rise, and shake off sleep! THE SHEPHERD'S EVENING. Shepherds all, and maidens fair, And let your dogs lie loose without, From the mountain, and, ere day, Or the crafty thievish fox Let one eye his watches keep, Of our great God. Sweetest slumbers, On your eyelids! So, farewell! FLETCHER. |