74
Shakespeare of Stratford
1618 31 Martii. To Mr. Shakspeare in gold, about my Lord’s impreso, xliv s. To Richard Burbage for painting and making it, in gold, xliv s. . . . iiii li. viii s.
Note. The impresa, or personal badge, was devised for a tilting match in which the Earl of Rutland took part, March 24, 1613. It doubtless took the form of a mythological or allegorical emblem of some sort. Burbage the actor was also a painter, and the mention of his name renders it probable that the Mr. Shakespeare associated with him was the poet. This document was discovered in 1907. For discussion of its authenticity see Mrs. Stopes, Shakespeare’s Environment, p. 281.
LXI. THOMAS FREEMAN’S SONNET TO SHAKESPEARE (1614).
From Run, and a Great Cast, 2d part, 1614.
To Master W. Shakespeare.
Shakespeare, that nimble Mercury, thy brain,
Lulls many hundred Argus-eyes asleep,
So fit for all thou fashionest thy vein.
At the horse-foot fountain[1] thou hast drunk full deep:
Virtue’s or vice’s theme to thee all one is.
Who loves chaste life, there’s Lucrece for a teacher;
Who list read lust, there’s Venus and Adonis,
True model of a most lascivious lecher.
Besides in plays thy wit winds like Meander,
Whence needy new-composers borrow more
Shakespeare, that nimble Mercury, thy brain,
Lulls many hundred Argus-eyes asleep,
So fit for all thou fashionest thy vein.
At the horse-foot fountain[1] thou hast drunk full deep:
Virtue’s or vice’s theme to thee all one is.
Who loves chaste life, there’s Lucrece for a teacher;
Who list read lust, there’s Venus and Adonis,
True model of a most lascivious lecher.
Besides in plays thy wit winds like Meander,
Whence needy new-composers borrow more
- ↑ I.e. Hippocrene.
