| Light. | Weak. | |
|---|---|---|
| Hamlet, | 8 | 0 |
| Othello, | 2 | 0 |
| Lear, | 5 | 1 |
| Timon (whole), | 16 | 5 |
| (Sh. in Fleay), | 14 | 7 |
| (Sh. in Globe), | 13 | 2 |
| Macbeth, | 21 | 2 |
Now here the figures for the first three plays tell us practically nothing. The tendency to a freer use of these endings is not visible. As to Timon, the number of weak endings, I think, tells us little, for probably only two or three are Shakespeare's; but the rise in the number of light endings is so marked as to be significant. And most significant is this rise in the case of Macbeth, which, like Shakespeare's part of Timon, is much shorter than the preceding plays. It strongly confirms the impression that in Macbeth we have the transition to Shakespeare's last style, and that the play is the latest of the five tragedies.[290]
FOOTNOTES:
[282] The fact that King Lear was performed at Court on December 26, 1606, is of course very far from showing that it had never been performed before.
[283] I have not tried to discover the source of the difference between these two reckonings.
[284] Der Vers in Shakspere's Dramen, 1888.
[285] In the parts of Timon (Globe text) assigned by Mr. Fleay to Shakespeare, I find the percentage to be about 74.5. König gives 62.8 as the percentage in the whole of the play.
[286] I have noted also what must be a mistake in the case of Pericles. König gives 17.1 as the percentage of the speeches with broken ends. I was astounded to see the figure, considering the style in the undoubtedly Shakespearean parts; and I find that, on my method, in Acts iii., iv., v. the percentage is about 71, in the first two Acts (which show very slight, if any, traces of Shakespeare's hand) about 19. I cannot imagine the origin of the mistake here.
[287] I put the matter thus, instead of saying that, with a run-on line, one does pass to the next line without any pause, because, in common with many others, I should not in any case whatever wholly ignore the fact that one line ends and another begins.
[288] These overflows are what König calls 'schroffe Enjambements,' which he considers to correspond with Furnivall's 'run-on lines.'