William Shakespeare; poet, dramatist, and man . by the marvellous spectacle of theworld than concerned with its spiritual order. Itis true, he could not see without thinking, andShakespeare was always of a meditative temper; THE POETIC PERIOD 179 but his first contact with the world called forth hisfull power of observation, and the emphasis of histhought fell, for a time, outside his own he saw many sides of experience, so he feltthe charm of various masters, and was drawntoward Lyly, Peele, andMarlowe ; hecame underthe Italian in-fluence, andhe was not in-different toclassical
William Shakespeare; poet, dramatist, and man . by the marvellous spectacle of theworld than concerned with its spiritual order. Itis true, he could not see without thinking, andShakespeare was always of a meditative temper; THE POETIC PERIOD 179 but his first contact with the world called forth hisfull power of observation, and the emphasis of histhought fell, for a time, outside his own he saw many sides of experience, so he feltthe charm of various masters, and was drawntoward Lyly, Peele, andMarlowe ; hecame underthe Italian in-fluence, andhe was not in-different toclassical mod-els and ima-gery. Neitherin his work norin his con-sciousness hadhe come intofull possessionof himself. The poet inhim took prec-edence, in the order of development, of the drama-tist ; and it is as a poet that his earliest artistic suc-cesses were secured. From the beorinninsf he hadthat freshness of feeling which is the peculiar andcharacteristic quality of the artist of every kind ; hehad also the sensitive imagination and the ear for. MICHAEL an old and rare pen-drawing. l8o WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE melody. The world was reflected in his mind asIn a magical mirror; Its large outlines and Its moredelicate shadings lying clear and luminous beforehim. But he did not fully discern as yet theinterior relations of spirit and form, the interde-pendence of individuality and the institutionalorder, the reaction of the act upon the actor, theunfolding of personality through action, the inevi-table infolding of the tragic temperament by thetragic circumstance, and the final identification ofcharacter with destiny. The deeper insights, thecreative grasp of the forces of life, and the master-ful revelation of the laws which govern themthrough all the processes of history, which wereto make him the first of dramatists, were growingwithin him, but they were not yet in possession ofhis spirit and his art; he was still primarily a earlier plays do not reveal the evolut
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectshakesp, bookyear1901
