. William Shakespeare; poet, dramatist, and man . he plays, hecould hardly have been in sympathy with the Puri-tan attitude towards his own profession. Thetemper of Stratford had changed greatly since thedays when, as a boy, he saw the companies ofplayers receive open-handed hospitality at the handsof the town officials. Two years earlier, in 1612,the town council had passed a resolution declaringthat plays were unlawful and against the exampleof other well-governed cities and boroughs, andimposing a penalty on players. Early in 1616 Shakespeare had a draft of his willprepared, and this docume
. William Shakespeare; poet, dramatist, and man . he plays, hecould hardly have been in sympathy with the Puri-tan attitude towards his own profession. Thetemper of Stratford had changed greatly since thedays when, as a boy, he saw the companies ofplayers receive open-handed hospitality at the handsof the town officials. Two years earlier, in 1612,the town council had passed a resolution declaringthat plays were unlawful and against the exampleof other well-governed cities and boroughs, andimposing a penalty on players. Early in 1616 Shakespeare had a draft of his willprepared, and this document, after revision, was 396 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE signed in March. On Tuesday, April 23, he died;and two days later he was buried inside the chancelof Holy Trinity Church, near the northern his grave were cut in the stone lines thathave become familiar throughout the English-speak-ing world: Good friend, for Jesus sake forebeareTo dig the dust enclosed heare ;Bleste be the man that spares these stones,And curst be he that moves my THE INSCRIPTION OVER THE William Hall, who visited Stratford in 1694, de-clared that these words were written by the poet toprotect his dust from clerks and sextons, for themost part a very ignorant set of people, who mightotherwise have consigned that dust to the charnel-house which was close at hand. The verse, bywhomever written, has accomplished its purpose,and the sacred dust has never been disturbed. THE LAST YEARS AT STRATFORD 397 With a single exception, the line of graves whichextends across the chancel pavement is given upto members of the poets family. His wife, hisdaughter Susannah and her husband, and hisgranddaughter Elizabeths first husband, ThomasNashe, lie together behind the chancel rail in thevenerable church which has become, to the English-speaking world, the mausoleum of its greatest father and mother were buried withinthe church, but their graves have not been located.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectshakesp, bookyear1901
