Shakespeare and Precious Stones / Treating of the Known References of Precious Stones in Shakespeare's Works, with Comments as to the Origin of His Material, the Knowledge of the Poet Concerning Precious Stones, and References as to Where the Precious Stones of His Time Came from

by George Frederick Kunz

A quien yra mi doloroso canto O en cuya oreja sonara su acento? (To whom will my sad song go, and in whose ears will its accents sound?)

A rather attractive bit of verse, purporting to have been written by Shakespeare and dedicated to the woman who became his wife in 1582, when he was but eighteen years old (she was eight years his senior), alludes in its third stanza to "the orient list" of gems, diamond, topaz, amethyst, emerald, and ruby. This little poem, with its play upon the lady-love's name, can find a place here, although many readers are already familiar with it.

TO THE IDOL OF MINE EYES AND THE DELIGHT OF MINE HEART,

ANNE HATHAWAY

Would ye be taught, ye feathered throng, With love's sweet notes to grace your song, To pierce the heart with thrilling lay, Listen to mine Anne Hathaway! She hath a way to sing so clear, Phœbus might wond'ring stop to hear; To melt the sad, make blithe the gay, And nature charm, Anne hath a way: She hath a way, Anne Hathaway, To breathe delight Anne hath a way.

When envy's breath and rancorous tooth Do soil and bite fair worth and truth, And merit to distress betray, To soothe the heart Anne hath a way; She hath a way to chase despair, To heal all grief, to cure all care, Turn foulest night to fairest day: Thou know'st, fond heart, Anne hath a way, She hath a way, Anne Hathaway, To make grief bliss Anne hath a way.

Talk not of gems, the orient list, The diamond, topaz, amethyst, The emerald mild, the ruby gay; Talk of my gem, Anne Hathaway! She hath a way, with her bright eye, Their various lustre to defy, The jewel she and the foil they, So sweet to look Anne hath a way. She hath a way, Anne Hathaway, To make grief bliss Anne hath a way.

But were it to my fancy given To rate her charms, I'd call them Heaven; For though a mortal made of clay, Angels must love Anne Hathaway. She hath a way so to control To rupture the imprisoned soul, And sweetest Heaven on earth display, That to be Heaven Anne hath a way! She hath a way, Anne Hathaway, To be Heaven's self Anne hath a way.

This little poem is by Charles Dibdin (1748-1814), the writer of about 1200 sea-songs, at one time great favorites with sailors. It appeared, in 1792, in his long-forgotten novel, "Hannah Hewit, or the Female Crusoe", and Sir Sidney Lee conjectures that it may have been composed on the occasion of the Stratford jubilee of 1769, in the organization of which Dibdin aided the great actor, David Garrick. In the "Poems of Places", New York, 1877, edited by Henry W. Longfellow, this poem is assigned to Shakespeare on the strength of a persistent popular error. [14] In his "Life" Dibdin says: "My songs have been the solace of sailors in their long voyages, in storms, in battle; and they have been quoted in mutinies to the restoration of order and discipline". It has been asserted that they brought more men into the navy than all the press gangs could do.

[14] Sir Sidney Lee, "A Life of Shakespeare", new edition, London, 1915, p. 26, note.