All pains the immortal spirit must endure,
All weakness which impairs, all griefs which bow,
Find their sole speech in that victorious brow.
Matthew Arnold, Shakespeare
7. Compare very carefully the two given extracts from Shakespeare’s plays. Observe the handling of each: the simplicity or ornateness of diction, the power of expression, and the strength and flexibility of the blank verse. On these grounds, which would you say was taken from an early and which from a later?
(1) Cordelia. He wakes; speak to him.
Doctor. Madam, do you: ’tis fittest.
Cordelia. How does my royal lord? How fares your majesty?
Lear. You do me wrong to take me out o’ the grave:
Thou art a soul in bliss; but I am bound