At the point we have now reached in Shakespeare's life, the event occurred which, of all external circumstances of his time, seems to have made the deepest impression upon his mind: the ill-starred rebellion of Essex and Southampton, the execution of the former, and the latter's condemnation to imprisonment for life.
[1] Arthur Weldon: The Court and Character of King James, 1650; quoted by Drake, ii. 149.
"Nor doth the silver-tongued Melicert
Drop from his honied muse one sable teare
To mourne her death that graced his desert,
And to his laies opend her Royall eare.
Shepheard, remember our Elizabeth,
And sing her Rape, done by that Tarquin, Death."
[3] Froude: History of England, vol. xii. Conclusion.