WHEN SHAKESPEARE WROTE.
When Shakespeare wrote his mighty plays,
Superb in action, thought and phrase,
He got but meagre vague renown
Beyond the wits of London Town:—
To know the great the world delays.
Obscure he walked the urban ways:
From queen and courtier came the praise,
The sneer, the cuff, the smile, the frown,
When Shakespeare wrote.
But in our modern modish days
From sheer caprice the critic slays,
Or seeks to put the poet’s crown
Upon some pompous pedant clown.
No poetasters wore the bays
When Shakespeare wrote.
A. T. Schuman.