The Works of Ben Jonson/Volume 6/The Sad Shepherd
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THE
SAD SHEPHERD:
OR,
A TALE OF ROBIN HOOD.
The Sad Shepherd.] This exquisite fragment first appeared in the folio, 1641. It was evidently the author's last work for the stage; and it is commonly said that he left it unfinished. Either the palsy had remitted its hold upon his faculties, or, (to use a trite expression,) like a dying taper, he had collected all his powers for one bright blaze before they sunk for ever; for the Tale of Robin Hood is replete with beauties of every kind, and may securely challenge not only the comparison "with Sicily and Greece," (claimed for it by the author) but with the pastoral fables of any other age or country.
The folio has this motto from Virgil:
Nec erubuit sylvas habitare Thaleia.
An attempt was made to "continue and complete this piece" by Mr. Waldron. The effort, though bold, was laudable, and the success highly honourable to his talents and ingenuity. To say that he fell short of Jonson, is saying nothing to his discredit; but, injustice to the modest and unpretending continuator, it may fairly be added, that there are not many dramatic writers in our language, to whose compositions the powers which he has displayed in his Supplement, will be found to be ver unequal.
Act I.
Act II.
Act III.