Shakspeare and His Times [Vol. 2 of 2] / Including the Biography of the Poet; criticisms on his genius and writings; a new chronology of his plays; a disquisition on the on the object of his sonnets; and a history of the manners, customs, and amusements, superstitions, poetry, and elegant literature of his age

by Nathan Drake

[240:B] Vide Greene's Groatsworth of Witte bought with a Million of Repentance, reprint.

[240:C] Of the sweetness of versification and luxuriancy of imagery which Peele occasionally exhibits, we shall quote an instance from "The Love of King David and Fair Bethsabe. With the Tragedie of Absalon;" a play which Mr. Hawkins has re-printed in his Origin of the Drama, 3 vols.; observing, that the genius of Peele seems to have been kindled by reading the Prophets, and the Song of Solomon:—

"Bethsabe. Come gentle Zephyr trick'd with those perfumes

That erst in Eden sweetened Adam's love,

And stroke my bosom with thy silken fan:

This shade (sun-proof) is yet no proof for thee,

Thy body smoother than this waveless spring,

And purer than the substance of the same,

Can creep through that his lances cannot pierce.

Thou and thy sister soft and sacred Air,