. Shakespeare's England . les cosily in anatmosphere of tranquil loveliness and is surroundedwith everything that soft and gentle rural scenery canprovide to soothe the mind and to nurture stands upon a plain, almost in the centre of theisland, through which, between the low green hills thatroll away on either side, the Avon flows downward tothe Severn. The country in its neighbourhood is underperfect cultivation, and for many miles around presentsthe appearance of a superbly appointed park. Portionsof the land are devoted to crops and pasture; otherportions are thickly wooded w
. Shakespeare's England . les cosily in anatmosphere of tranquil loveliness and is surroundedwith everything that soft and gentle rural scenery canprovide to soothe the mind and to nurture stands upon a plain, almost in the centre of theisland, through which, between the low green hills thatroll away on either side, the Avon flows downward tothe Severn. The country in its neighbourhood is underperfect cultivation, and for many miles around presentsthe appearance of a superbly appointed park. Portionsof the land are devoted to crops and pasture; otherportions are thickly wooded with oak, elm, willow, andchestnut; the meadows are intersected by hedges offragrant hawthorn, and the region smiles with manor-houses, half-hidden among the trees, andthatched cottages embowered with roses are sprinkled ii8 CHAP. XII SHAKESPEARES HOxME 119 through the surrounding landscape ; and all the roadsthat converge upon this point — from Birmingham,Warwick, Shipton, Bidford, Alcester, Evesham, Worces-. ter, and other contiguous towns — wind, in sun andshadow, through a sod of green velvet, swept by thecool, sweet winds of the English summer. Such felici-ties of situation and such accessories of beauty, how- 120 SHAKESPEARES ENGLAND chap. ever, are not unusual in England; and Stratford, wereit not hallowed by association, though it would alwayshold a place among the pleasant memories of thetraveller, would not have become a shrine for thehomage of the world. To Shakespeare it owes itsrenown; from Shakespeare it derives the bulk of itsprosperity. To visit Stratford is to tread with affec-tionate veneration in the footsteps of the poet. Towrite about Stratford is to write about Shakespeare. More than three hundred years have passed sincethe birth of that colossal genius and many changeshave occurred in his native town within that Stratford of Shakespeares time was built prin-cipally of timber, and it contained about fourteen hun-dred inhabitants.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidshakespeares, bookyear1895
