Shakespeares Christmas Gift to Queen Bess | Page 3

"Merrie England" and not classic Greece has
given the poet the picture of the sweet country school-girls working at
one flower, warbling one song, growing together like a double cherry.
Of England, is the picture of the hounds with "ears that sweep away the
morning dew"; from England, all this out-door woodland life, the
clown's play and the clowns themselves,--Bottom with his inimitable
conceit, and his fellows, Snug, Quince, and the rest. English is all
Puck's fairy lore, the cowslips tall, the red-hipt humble-bee, Oberon's
bank, the pansy love-in-idleness, and all the lovely imagery of the verse.
English is the whole scenic background, and the "Wood near Athens" is
plainly the Stratford boy's idealised memory of the Weir Brake that he
knows so well.
Mayhap, in very truth, on some mid-summer night the young poet,
even then of "imagination all compact," did indeed dream a dream or
see a vision like unto this, bringing it from Stratford to London partly
written, but foregoing its completion for labour that would find readier
acceptance at the theatre.
[Illustration: Garden View of Shakespeare's Birthplace, Stratford
"An odorous chaplet of sweet summer buds." ]
However that may be, certain it is that this is a red-letter night at the
Mermaid. The genius of "gentle Will" has taken a new point of
departure and shines as it has not shone before either in his making
over of other men's plays, or in his few original works. He has
conquered a new realm of art; the phantoms of the fairy world for the
first time have been endowed with a genuine and sustained dramatic
interest. Small wonder that no one ventures to interrupt as the pages are
turned; even at the close, only one, the Silenus-faced Ben, offers a
criticism. Being well versed in classic lore, he protests against the
characterisation of Theseus, Duke of Athens, saying it is too modern,
and has in fact nothing of the antique or Grecian in its composition.
But he is over-ruled speedily, and as the meeting breaks up one of the
younger fellows whispers to another, "Shakespeare was sent us from

Heaven, but Jonson from--College."

II.
At the Queen's Palace.
Those flights upon the banks of Thames That so did take Eliza and our
James.
--Ben Jonson.
[Illustration: Queen Elizabeth going to Whitehall by the Thames
"But, noble Thames, whilst I can hold a pen, I will divulge thy glory
unto men."
John Taylor, the "Water Poet." ]

II.
At the Queen's Palace.
It is Christmas night. Lords, ladies, and ambassadors have been
summoned to Whitehall Palace to witness the play for which author,
actors, and artists of many kinds have been working so industriously
during the past few weeks. The Banqueting Hall, with a temporary
stage at one end, has been converted into a fine auditorium.
Facing the stage, and beneath her canopy of state, sits Queen Elizabeth,
in ruff and farthingale, her hair loaded with crowns and powdered with
diamonds, while her sharp smile and keen glance take note of every
incident. Nearest her person and evidently the chief favourite of the
moment, is the man who has long been considered the Adonis of the
Court. He is now also its hero, having but recently returned from the
wars in Spain, where his gallantry and promptitude at Cadiz have won
new glories for Her Majesty. In five short years more, his head will

come to the block by decree of this same Majesty; but this no one can
foresee and all voices now unite in praises for the brave and generous
Essex.
[Illustration: Earl of Essex]
Another conspicuous favourite is a blue-eyed, pink-cheeked young
fellow of twenty-three, whose scarcely perceptible beard and
moustache, and curly auburn hair falling over his shoulders and
half-way to his waist, would suggest femininity except for his martial
manner and tall figure. His resplendent attire is notable even in this
gorgeously arrayed company. His white satin doublet has a broad collar,
edged with lace and embroidered with silver thread; the white trunks
and knee-breeches are laced with gold; the sword-belt, embroidered in
red and gold, is decorated at intervals with white silk bows; purple
garters, embroidered in silver thread, fasten the white stockings below
the knee. As one of the handsomest of Elizabeth's courtiers, and also
one of the most distinguished for birth, wealth, and wit, he would be a
striking figure at any time; but to-night he has the added distinction of
being the special friend and munificent patron of the author of the play
that they have come to witness. To him had been dedicated the author's
first appeal to the reading public--a poem called "Venus and Adonis,"
published some three years since; also, a certain "sugared sonnet,"
privately circulated, protesting--
"For to no other pass my verses tend Than