[647] Dante. (See note [258].)
[648] Master of the revels, etc. Emerson always expressed thankfulness for "the spirit of joy which Shakespeare had shed over the universe." See what Carlyle says in The Hero as Poet, about Shakespeare's "mirthfulness and love of laughter."
[649] Koran. The Sacred book of the Mohammedans.
[650] Twelfth Night, etc. The names of three bright, merry, or serene plays by Shakespeare.
[651] Egyptian verdict. Emerson used Egyptian probably in the sense of "gipsy." He compares such opinions to the fortunes told by the gipsies.
[652] Tasso. An Italian poet of the sixteenth century.
[653] Cervantes. A Spanish poet and romancer of the sixteenth century, the author of Don Quixote.
[654] Israelite. Such Hebrew prophets as Isaiah and Jeremiah.
[655] German. Such as Luther.
[656] Swede. Such as Swedenborg, the mystic philosopher of the eighteenth century of whom Emerson had already written in Representative Men.