of his commentary on Shakspeare's play.) from which the Merchant of Venice, written The translation of the Italian story at large by Shakspeare, is taken, translated from the is not easy to be met with, having I believe Italian. To which is added, a translation never been published, though it was printed of a novel from the Decamerone of Boccacio, some years ago with this title, "The Novel, London, Printed for M. Cooper, 1755, 8vo." XII. The Passionate Shepherd to his Love. THIS beautiful sonnet is quoted in the Merry Wives of Windsor, act iii. sc. 1, and hath been usually ascribed (together with the reply) to Shakspeare himself by the modern editors of his smaller poems. A copy of this madrigal, containing only four stanzas (the 4th and 6th being wanting), accompanied with the first stanza of the answer, being printed in "The Passionate Pilgrime, and Sonnets to sundry Notes of Musicke, by Mr. | William Shakspeare, Lond. printed for W. Jaggard, 1599." Thus was this sonnet, &c., published as Shakspeare's in his lifetime. And yet there is good reason to believe that (not Shakspeare, but) Christopher Marlow wrote the song, and Sir Walter Raleigh the " Nymph's Reply:" for so we are positively assured by Isaac Walton, a writer of some credit, who has inserted them both in his Compleat Angler,* under the character of "that smooth song, which was made by Kit Marlow, now at least fifty years ago; and an Answer to it, which was made by Sir Walter Raleigh in his younger days... Old fashioned poetry, but choicely good."It also passed for Marlow's in the opinion of his contemporaries; for in the old poetical miscellany, entitled, "England's Helicon," it is printed with the name of Chr. Marlow subjoined to it; and the reply is signed Ignoto, which is known to have been a signature of Sir Walter Raleigh. With the same signature Ignoto, in that collection, is an imitation of Marlow's beginning thus: "Come live with me, and be my dear, * First printed in the year 1653, but probably written some time before. Upon the whole I am inclined to attribute them to Marlow, and Raleigh; notwithstanding the authority of Shakspeare's Book of Sonnets. For it is well known that as he took no care of his own compositions, so was he utterly regardless what spurious things were fathered upon him. Sir John Oldcastle, the London Prodigal, and the Yorkshire Tragedy, were printed with his name at full length in the title-pages, while he was living, which yet were afterwards rejected by his first editors Heminge and Condell, who were his intimate friends (as he mentions both in his will), and therefore no doubt had good authority for setting them aside.* The following sonnet appears to have been (as it deserved) a great favourite with our earlier poets: for, besides the imitation above mentioned, another is to be found among Donne's Poems, entitled, "The Bait," beginning thus: "Come live with me, and be my love, And we will some new pleasures prove Of golden sands, &c." As for Chr. Marlow, who was in high repute for his dramatic writings, he lost his life by a stab received in a brothel, before the year 1593. See A. Wood, i. 138. COME live with me, and be my love, * Since the above was written, Mr. Malone, with his usual discernment, hath rejected the stanzas in question from the other sonnets, &c., of Shakspeare, in his correct edition of the Passionate Pilgrim, &c. See his Shaksp. vol. x. p. 340. There will we sit upon the rocks, And see the shepherds feed their flocks, There will I make thee beds of roses A gown made of the finest wool, A belt of straw, and ivie buds, 5 10 15 20 The shepherd swains shall dance and sing THE NYMPH'S REPLY. Ir that the World and Love were young, XIII. Titus Andronicus's Complaint. THE reader has here an ancient ballad on | afterwards the more flagrant: neither is there the same subject as the play of "Titus Andro- any notice taken of his sacrificing one of nicus," and it is probable that the one was borrowed from the other: but which of them was the original, it is not easy to decide. And yet, if the argument offered above in page 125, for the priority of the ballad of the Jew of Venice may be admitted, somewhat of the same kind may be urged here; for this ballad differs from the play in several particulars, which a simple ballad-writer would be less likely to alter than an inventive tragedian. Thus, in the ballad, is no mention of the contest for the empire between the two brothers, the composing of which makes the ungrateful treatment of Titus Tamora's sons, which the tragic poet has assigned as the original cause of all her cruelties. In the play, Titus loses twentyone of his sons in war, and kills another for assisting Bassianus to carry off Lavinia; the reader will find it different in the ballad. Iu the latter she is betrothed to the emperor's son. in the play to his brother. In the tragedy, only two of his sons fall into the pit, and the third, being banished, returns to Rome with a victorious army, to avenge the wrongs of his house: in the ballad, all three are en trapped and suffer death. In the scene, the emperor kills Titus, and is in return stabbed by Titus's surviving son. Here Titus kills Against the Goths full ten yeares weary warre the emperor, and afterwards himself. We spent, receiving many a bloudy scarre. Let the reader weigh these circumstances, and some others, wherein he will find them unlike, and then pronounce for himself.After all, there is reason to conclude that this play was rather improved by Shakspeare, with a few fine touches of his pen, than originally written by him; for, not to mention that the style is less figurative than his others generally are, this tragedy is mentioned with discredit in the Induction to Ben Jonson's "Bartholomew Fair, in 1614,” as one that had then been exhibited "five-and-twenty or thirty years:" which, if we take the lowest number, throws it back to the year 1589, at which time Shakspeare was but 25; an earlier date than can be found for any other of his pieces :* and if it does not clear him entirely of it, shows at least it was a first attempt.† The following is given from a copy in "The Golden Garland," entitled as above; compared with three others, two of them in black letter in the Pepys collection, entitled “The Lamentable and Tragical History of Titus Andronicus," &c. "to the Tune of Fortune," printed for E. Wright. Unluckily, none of these have any dates. For when Romes foes their warlike forces To Cesars sonne, a young and noble man: sent; 10 Mr. Malone thinks 1591 to be the sera when our author commenced a writer for the stage. See in his Shaksp. the ingenious "Attempt to ascertain the order in which the plays of Shakspeare were written." Since the above was written, Shakspeare's memory ⚫ has been fully vindicated from the charge of writing the above play by the best critics. See what has been urged by Steevens and Malone in their excellent editions of Shakspeare, &c. He being slaine, was cast in cruel wise, 41 The Moore then fetcht the emperour with speed, 45 For to accuse them of that murderous deed. When as I sawe she could not write nor I cut their throates, my daughter held the 69 pan 105 speake, With grief mine aged heart began to breake; Betwixt her stumpes, wherein the bloud it Before the empresse set this loathsome meat; | Then this revenge against the Moore was So of her sonnes own flesh she well did eat. Myselfe bereav'd my daughter then of life, The empresse then I slewe with bloudy knife, And stabb'd the emperour immediatelie, 115 And then myself: even so did Titus die. found, XIV. Take those Lips away. THE first stanza of this little sonnet, which an eminent critic* justly admires for its extreme sweetness, is found in Shakspeare's "Measure for Measure," act iv. sc. 1. Both the stanzas are preserved in Beaumont and Fletcher's "Bloody Brother," act v. sc. 2. Sewel and Gildon have printed it among Shakspeare's smaller poems: but they have done the same by twenty other pieces that were never writ by him, their book being a wretched heap of inaccuracies and mistakes. It is not found in Jaggard's old edition of Shakspeare's "Passionate Pilgrim,† &c. XV. King Weir and his three Daughters. THE reader has here an ancient ballad on the subject of King Lear, which (as a sensible female critic has well observed)‡ bears so exact an analogy to the argument of Shakspeare's play, that his having copied it could not be doubted, if it were certain that it was written before the tragedy. Here is found the hint of Lear's madness, which the old chronicles & do not mention, as also the ex *Dr. Warburton in his Shakesp. † Mr. Malone in his improved edition of Shakspeare's travagant cruelty exercised on him by his daughters. In the death of Lear they likewise very exactly coincide. The misfortune is, that there is nothing to assist us in ascertaining the date of the ballad but what little evidence arises from within; this the reader must weigh, and judge for himself. It may be proper to observe, that Shakspeare was not the first of our Dramatic Poets who fitted the story of Leir to the stage. His first 4to edition is dated 1608; but three years SONNETS, &c., hath substituted this instead of Marlow's before that had been printed a play entitled "The true Chronicle History of Leir and his three daughters Gonorill, Ragan, and Cordel Madrigal, printed above; for which he hath assigned reasons which the reader may see in his vol. x. p. 340. Mrs. Lenox. Shakespeare illustrated, vol. iii. p. 302. ? See Jeffery of Monmouth, Holingshed, &c., who relate la, as it hath been divers and sundry times Leir's history in many respects the same as the ballad. lately acted, 1605, 4to."-This is a very poor |