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Shakespeare of Stratford
LIII. SHAKESPEARE PRAISED AS A COMPANION FOR A KING (ca. 1611).
Epigram by John Davies of Hereford in The Scourge of Folly.
To our English Terence, Mr. Will. Shake-speare.
Some say (good Will)—which I in sport do sing—
Had’st thou not played some kingly parts in sport,
Thou hadst been a companion for a king,
And been a king among the meaner sort.
Some others rail; but, rail as they think fit,
Thou hast no railing but a reigning wit;
And honesty thou sow’st, which they do reap,
So to increase their stock which they do keep.
Had’st thou not played some kingly parts in sport,
Thou hadst been a companion for a king,
And been a king among the meaner sort.
Some others rail; but, rail as they think fit,
Thou hast no railing but a reigning wit;
And honesty thou sow’st, which they do reap,
So to increase their stock which they do keep.
LIV. FRANCIS BEAUMONT (?) IN PRAISE OF SHAKESPEARE’S LACK OF LEARNING.
Here I would let slip
(If I had any in me) scholarship,
And from all learning keep these lines as clear
As Shakespeare’s best are, which our heirs shall hear.
(If I had any in me) scholarship,
And from all learning keep these lines as clear
As Shakespeare’s best are, which our heirs shall hear.
Note. From a recently discovered verse letter of the dramatist Beaumont to Ben Jonson. First printed by W. G. P. in Times Literary Supplement, Sept. 15, 1921, from an old commonplace book. The letter is signed F. B. and is not dated. It may be coeval with some well-known verses of Beaumont to Jonson, which are assigned to the period 1608–1610.
LV. BURIAL OF GILBERT SHAKESPEARE (1612).
Stratford Burial Register.
