Author Description

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1902. Not illustrated. Excerpt:... ROMEO AND JULIET. Let there be Spring! So cried Shakspcare to his Muse, and Spring, all the greener for the crimson tinge of tragical Autumn that lies on the grave near the garden, spreads its young delights to remain bedewed and fragrant with immortality. Ardor in Romeo and Juliet, impetuosity in Mercutio, arrogance in Tybalt, regret for youth in Capulet, multitudinous memories in the breathless and officious Nurse, hasty marriage in the Friar's cell and hurried banquet in the mansion, apple blossoms and pomegranate trees, the nightingale's nocturn and the lark's morning prayer, the dash of enterprise, the chivalry of age, the sparkling swords of angered rivalry, the madness of devotion, the sorry speed of disaster, the frenzy of despair, ---jail bespeak the pulsating spirit of Spring, that, with bounding life, makes the night restless as the day, lavishes youth upon everything, flowers even in the tomb, and is glorified in the restoration of kindly hearts to ancient enemies. It is this soul of Spring that possesses, like the soul in a human body, not only the whole drama, but entirely, its each and every smallest part; it beautifies, for it touches gently and graciously, as well as evenly and simultaneously, life and its settings; it harmonizes all the parts, and gracefully merges them in singular and exquisite unity. J The views of the play partake, in a manner,""bT the characters of the persons, for the earth and the heavens wear the color of sentiment and life, like Millet's Angelus, that has the same music in the sky that chimes in the hearts of his peasants, the same prayerful spirit brooding in the scene, that gives their minds color and their hopes warmth. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakspeare chose classic ground, whereon his mind and heart might best disport...