In the flesh, I still can greet thee,
William Shakspeare, as a worthy brother bard.
In these times of stress and passion,
When the sword is all the fashion,
Only minstrelsy can keep the world in tune;
For the poet is a healer,
And both Will and Ella Wheeler
Are a blessing and a comfort and a boon.
A Cemeterial Celebration.
No memorial to Shakspeare can be adequate which does not express in some concrete shape the universality of his appeal. This end might be attained by erecting a cenotaph in his honour in every churchyard and cemetery in England. I admit that such a scheme would cost money and so might be contrary to the spirit of economy which ought to animate everyone at this hour. But a beginning might be made even now, and I have composed a Funeral March in Hamlet the proceeds of which I would gladly devote to the purpose,