composed, in the first instance, by Francis Bacon. We do not, like Malone, found an argument for revision on the difference between the quarto and folio editions. It had begun, we think, before Robert Greene died (1592), which would be two years before the first quarto appeared (2 Henry VI., 1594). That there was a general over-hauling for the first folio (1623), may be likely enough; but, if so, it would only be the last act in the revision. CHAPTER XXI. SHAKESPEARE'S POEMS. Sonnets by Anthony and Francis Bacon and their Friends. THERE is no doubt that the contemporaries of William Shakespeare recognized him as the author of Venus and Adonis' and of the 'Rape of Lucrece;' but the Sonnets stand in another category. No one, except Francis Meres, ascribes them to him; but it is evident he means us to take Shakespeare as their actual composer. His words, indeed, can admit of no other interpretation. "As the soul of Euphorbus was thought to live in Pythagoras," he says, "so the sweet, witty soul of Ovid. lives in mellifluous, honey-tongued Shakespeare. Witness his 'Venus and Adonis,' his 'Lucrece,' his sugared sonnets among his friends." (Palladis Tamia, 1598.) Now the Sonnets' were first published in 1609. It is, therefore, obvious that William Shakespeare had handed them, or, rather some of them, about among his friends, as his own composition, eleven years, at least, but perhaps more, before they were printed. Meres, of course, took his word for them, as he had done for the plays. But when the 'Sonnets' are printed they are not printed by Shakespeare, nor are they described as his composition. On the contrary, they are declared to be the work of somebody else. To save readers the trouble of turning back to Chapter XI. we again transcribe their title-page. SHAKSPEARE'S SONNETS NEVER BEFORE IMPRINTED AT LONDON BY GELD FOR T.T. AND ARE TO 6 And what is the natural interpretation of this remarkable announcement? Is it not that the Sonnets,' formerly ascribed to Shakespeare, are the sole product of Mr. W. H., whoever that may be? If not, what interpretation can be given? Mr. W. H. is not the printer. Geld prints them. He is not the publisher. William Aspley publishes them. He is not the person, who causes them to be published and is responsible for the undertaking. T. T. is that adventurer. Unless he be the author, he has no connection with them; and the reference to him is impertinent. The description of him, "the only begetter of these ensuing sonnets," may, however, imply more than actual composer. It seems to suggest that he wrote some of them himself and was the cause of others being written by different persons. And that is the proposition we shall deduce from their internal evidence; for it is obvious they were not all written by the same individual. But who is Mr. W. H? It has been argued that, as the sonnets reveal the same mind as the plays, they were written by the same author. And many of them do display a similar mind. We, therefore, on that argument, might ascribe them to Francis Bacon. attribute them to his But we shall prefer to brother Anthony, and other of his friends, on the strength of their own internal evidence. Thus, taking the first thirty-two sonnets, we see at a glance they were the composition of two different persons, both men, tenderly attached to each other, the one, who begins, dying first. He, as we conceive, wrote from I. to XXXI. and left XXXII. unfinished. Like other sonnets of the time they were imitations of Petrarch, and display but little poetic talent. They are addressed to him, who finishes No. XXXII. No. XXXII. commences as follows: XXXII. If thou survive my well contented day, When that churl, death, my bones with dust shall cover, And shall by fortune once more resurvey These poor, rude lines of thy deceased lover, Compare them with the bettering of the time, And though they be outstripp'd by every pen, Reserve them for my love, not for their rhyme, Exceeded by the height of happier men. Oh! then vouchsafe me but this loving thought. But here he becomes silent, and the second adds |