The Beauties of Shakspeare Regularly Selected from Each Play: With a General Index, Digesting Them Under Proper Heads (Classic Reprint)

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FB&C Limited, 2018 M11 10 - 356 pages
Excerpt from The Beauties of Shakspeare Regularly Selected From Each Play: With a General Index, Digesting Them Under Proper Heads

I slam. Not attem'p't anzul'abored encomiums on Shaman, to set rth perfections, at a time when such universal and just applause is paid him, and when every tongue ts big with his boundless fame. He himself tells us, To 'ld refined ld, to paint the lily, ' To ow a e me on the violet, smooth 0 ice, or add mother hue Unto the rainbow, or with wiper-light To seek the beauteous eye 0 beav n to'garnish, Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.

And wasteful and ridiculous indeed it would be, to say raise, when presenting the world with saunas as perhaps is no where to be met With, and, I may very safely aflirm, cannot be parallelet from the productions of any other single author, ancient or modern. E is scarcely a topic, common with other writers, on which be has not excelled them all; there are many nobly peculiar to unrivalled, and, like the eagle, proper emblem of his dar' \genius, soars beyond the common Nsch, andgaus undazzle on the sun. His flights are sometinms to hold, frigid criticism almost dares to disapprove them; and 'hose narrow minds which are incapable of elevating their ideas t0 the sublimity of their author's, are willing to bring them down lo a level with their own. Hence many fine passages have condemned in Shakspeare, as rant and fustian, intolerable but, and turgid nonsense, which, if read with the least glow of same im ation that warmed the writer's bosom, would 5100 in the of sublimity, and obtain the commendations of Longinus. And, unless some of the same spirit that elevated the M, elevate the reader too, he must not presume to talk of taste he will prove a languid reader, an indlfl'erent far more indid'erent critic and commentator. Time since I first proposed publishing this collection; f shakspeare was ever, of all modern authors, my chief favour and during m relaxations from my more severe and neces undies at col age, I never omitted to read and indulge myself In the rapturous flights of this delightfiil and sweetest child of he}: and when my im 'nation has been heated by the our of his ligcommonm. Have never failed to lament.

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About the author (2018)

William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616 Although there are many myths and mysteries surrounding William Shakespeare, a great deal is actually known about his life. He was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, son of John Shakespeare, a prosperous merchant and local politician and Mary Arden, who had the wealth to send their oldest son to Stratford Grammar School. At 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, the 27-year-old daughter of a local farmer, and they had their first daughter six months later. He probably developed an interest in theatre by watching plays performed by traveling players in Stratford while still in his youth. Some time before 1592, he left his family to take up residence in London, where he began acting and writing plays and poetry. By 1594 Shakespeare had become a member and part owner of an acting company called The Lord Chamberlain's Men, where he soon became the company's principal playwright. His plays enjoyed great popularity and high critical acclaim in the newly built Globe Theatre. It was through his popularity that the troupe gained the attention of the new king, James I, who appointed them the King's Players in 1603. Before retiring to Stratford in 1613, after the Globe burned down, he wrote more than three dozen plays (that we are sure of) and more than 150 sonnets. He was celebrated by Ben Jonson, one of the leading playwrights of the day, as a writer who would be "not for an age, but for all time," a prediction that has proved to be true. Today, Shakespeare towers over all other English writers and has few rivals in any language. His genius and creativity continue to astound scholars, and his plays continue to delight audiences. Many have served as the basis for operas, ballets, musical compositions, and films. While Jonson and other writers labored over their plays, Shakespeare seems to have had the ability to turn out work of exceptionally high caliber at an amazing speed. At the height of his career, he wrote an average of two plays a year as well as dozens of poems, songs, and possibly even verses for tombstones and heraldic shields, all while he continued to act in the plays performed by the Lord Chamberlain's Men. This staggering output is even more impressive when one considers its variety. Except for the English history plays, he never wrote the same kind of play twice. He seems to have had a good deal of fun in trying his hand at every kind of play. Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, all published on 1609, most of which were dedicated to his patron Henry Wriothsley, The Earl of Southhampton. He also wrote 13 comedies, 13 histories, 6 tragedies, and 4 tragecomedies. He died at Stratford-upon-Avon April 23, 1616, and was buried two days later on the grounds of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. His cause of death was unknown, but it is surmised that he knew he was dying.

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