Shakespeare and Precious Stones | Page 9

by
Shakespeare and dedicated to the woman who became his wife in 1582,
when he was but eighteen years old (she was eight years his senior),
alludes in its third stanza to "the orient list" of gems, diamond, topaz,
amethyst, emerald, and ruby. This little poem, with its play upon the
lady-love's name, can find a place here, although many readers are
already familiar with it.
TO THE IDOL OF MINE EYES AND THE DELIGHT OF MINE
HEART,
ANNE HATHAWAY
Would ye be taught, ye feathered throng, With love's sweet notes to
grace your song, To pierce the heart with thrilling lay, Listen to mine
Anne Hathaway! She hath a way to sing so clear, Phoebus might
wond'ring stop to hear; To melt the sad, make blithe the gay, And
nature charm, Anne hath a way: She hath a way, Anne Hathaway, To
breathe delight Anne hath a way.

When envy's breath and rancorous tooth Do soil and bite fair worth and
truth, And merit to distress betray, To soothe the heart Anne hath a way;
She hath a way to chase despair, To heal all grief, to cure all care, Turn
foulest night to fairest day: Thou know'st, fond heart, Anne hath a way,
She hath a way, Anne Hathaway, To make grief bliss Anne hath a way.
Talk not of gems, the orient list, The diamond, topaz, amethyst, The
emerald mild, the ruby gay; Talk of my gem, Anne Hathaway! She hath
a way, with her bright eye, Their various lustre to defy, The jewel she
and the foil they, So sweet to look Anne hath a way. She hath a way,
Anne Hathaway, To make grief bliss Anne hath a way.
But were it to my fancy given To rate her charms, I'd call them Heaven;
For though a mortal made of clay, Angels must love Anne Hathaway.
She hath a way so to control To rupture the imprisoned soul, And
sweetest Heaven on earth display, That to be Heaven Anne hath a way!
She hath a way, Anne Hathaway, To be Heaven's self Anne hath a way.
This little poem is by Charles Dibdin (1748-1814), the writer of about
1200 sea-songs, at one time great favorites with sailors. It appeared, in
1792, in his long-forgotten novel, "Hannah Hewit, or the Female
Crusoe", and Sir Sidney Lee conjectures that it may have been
composed on the occasion of the Stratford jubilee of 1769, in the
organization of which Dibdin aided the great actor, David Garrick. In
the "Poems of Places", New York, 1877, edited by Henry W.
Longfellow, this poem is assigned to Shakespeare on the strength of a
persistent popular error.[14] In his "Life" Dibdin says: "My songs have
been the solace of sailors in their long voyages, in storms, in battle; and
they have been quoted in mutinies to the restoration of order and
discipline". It has been asserted that they brought more men into the
navy than all the press gangs could do.
[Footnote 14: Sir Sidney Lee, "A Life of Shakespeare", new edition,
London, 1915, p. 26, note.]
The poem has sometimes been attributed to Edmund Falconer
(1814-1879), an actor and dramatist, born in Dublin, and whose real
name was Edmund O'Rourke. However, his poem entitled "Anne

Hathaway, A Traditionary Ballad sung to a Day Dreamer by the
Mummers of Shottery Brook",[15] falls far below the lines we have
quoted in poetic quality, as may be seen from the opening stanza (the
best), which runs as follows:
No beard on thy chin, but a fire in thine eye, With lustiest Manhood's in
passion to vie, A stripling in form, with a tongue that can make The
oldest folks listen, maids sweethearts forsake, Hie over the fields at the
first blush of May, And give thy boy's heart unto Anne Hathaway.
[Footnote 15: Edmund Falconer, "Memories, the Bequest of my
Boyhood", London, 1863, pp. 14-22.]
In none of the allusions to precious stones made by Shakespeare is
there any indication that he had in mind any of the Biblical passages
treating of gems. The most notable of these are the enumeration of the
twelve stones in Aaron's breast-plate (Exodus xxviii, 17-20; xxxix,
10-13), the list of the foundation stones and gates of the New Jerusalem
given by John in Revelation (xxi, 19-21), and the description of the
Tyrian king's "covering" in Ezekiel (xxviii, 130). Had the poet given
any particular attention to these texts we could scarcely fail to note the
fact. Other Bible mentions, such as those elsewhere made by Ezekiel
(xxvii, 16, 22), regarding the trade of Tyre, the agates (and coral) from
Syria, and the precious stones brought by the Arabian or Syrian
merchants of Sheba and Raamah, are too much generalized to invite
any special notice. The same may be said of