ERRATA VOL. I. In the last line page 59, for "scatteerd" read scattered. In the 17th line from the top of page 131, for "much simplicity" read much of the simplicity. VOL. II. In the 3rd line from the top of page 33 insert the word with after the word remonstrated. In the 17th line from the top of page 35, for "attributed the whole series to him” read supposed the whole series to be addressed to him. In the last line but one on page 91, for "after" read in. In the ninth line of the first sonnet on page 134, for "nor" read or. In the 3rd line of 3rd stanza page 185, for "rebels" read revels. In the 7th line of the second sonnet on page 188, for "like" read on. In the foot-note page 223, for" character" read characters, and for "his" read their. UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS. [ON THEIR POETICAL MERITS, AND ON THE QUESTION OF TO WHOM ARE THEY ADDRESSED* ?] AT a time when our elder poets are so much studied, and so justly admired, it seems not a little extraordinary that the Sonnets of the immortal Shakespeare should be almost utterly neglected. When alluded to, as they rarely are, by modern critics, it is generally to echo the flippant insolence of Steevens, who asserted that nothing short of the strongest act of parliament could enlist readers into their service. We know, however, that in Shakespeare's life-time, these "sugred sonnets," as Meres quaintly calls them, were in great esteem, and were for a long while far better known than many of the Plays, which fell into comparative disrepute for some time before the author's death, and were not published in a collected form until several years after. Only eleven of the Dramas were printed during the Poet's life. Shakespeare died (on his birth-day, April 23,) in 1616. The first complete edition was printed in 1623, and was the joint speculation of four booksellers; a circumstance from which Malone infers, that no single publisher was at the time willing to risk his money on an entire collection of the plays. * "An almost impenetrable darkness rests on the question, and no effort has hitherto, in the smallest degree, tended to disperse the gloom.""-Drake. B TIMIA OL 66 A bookseller of the name of Jaggard did not hesitate to publish on his own account, in 1599, the sonnets which appear under the title of "The Passionate Pilgrim," even in defiance of the author, or at all events without consulting his wishes. The collection was so inaccurate and made with so little care, that Marlowe's madrigal, Come live with me, &c." was included in it as the production of Shakespeare. The unpopularity of Shakespeare's dramatic works, during even the greater part of the 17th century, is another illustration, to be added to a thousand others, of the capriciousness of the public taste. In one hundred years were published only four editions of his plays, and now perhaps, next to the Bible, the exclusive copyright of these works would be more valuable than that of any other publication that has yet appeared. When we reflect upon the manner in which the plays have been subjected to the fickleness of the public mind, we ought perhaps to be less surprised at the fate of the Sonnets. There are also certain considerations connected with the latter, which may render their present unpopularity a mystery of more easy solution. In the first place, we must recollect the equivocal nature of their subject, and secondly, the unpopular character of the sonnet as a peculiar form of verse. It is true, that at the time of their original publication, the sonnet was a fashionable species of composition, but it forced its way into notice rather from the great reputation of its cultivators, than from its own actual adaptation to the general taste. Another cause of their neglect may be discovered in the enmity of Steevens, whose arrogant and tasteless criticisms have had a strange influence over succeeding commentators. Alexander Chalmers observes, that "it is perhaps necessary that some notice should be taken of Shakespeare's poems, in an account of his life and writings, although they have never" (which is not true) |