THE JUNIOR BOOK OF POETRY, FOR SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES. BY DR. WILLIAM DAVIS, B.A. LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & CO. ; 1877. 2005. f. 34. THE JUNIOR BOOK OF POETRY FOR SCHOOLS. WILLIAM SHAKSPERE. (1564-1616.) BORN at Stratford-on-Avon, in Warwickshire. The house in which he was born still standing. Educated at the Stratford Grammar School. Married when only eighteen years of age, and was compelled, either by the wants of his family or the fear of punishment for deer-stealing, to leave his native town for London, about the year 1586. It is said that he earned his living in London for some time by holding horses at the door of the theatre. However this may be, he soon became one of the proprietors of the theatre, and commenced his unrivalled career as a dramatic writer and poet. He realised a fortune, was specially noticed by Queen Elizabeth, and, having bought a house and land at his native Stratford, he retired there in 1612. Died in 1616, and was buried in Stratford Church. Shakspere's dramatic works are thirty-seven in number, and are usually divided into tragedies, comedies, and historical plays. The great tragedies are, King Lear, Macbeth, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet. The chief comedies are, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and All's Well that Ends Well. Among the historical plays, the finest perhaps are, Julius Cæsar, Coriolanus, Richard II., Richard III., and Henry VIII. MARK ANTONY'S ORATION OVER CÆSAR'S Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. The good is oft interrèd with their bones : 1 Cæsar's body. Julius Cæsar was assassinated, 44 B.C., by a band of conspirators, at the head of whom were Brutus and Cassius. Mark Antony was Cæsar's warmest friend. 2 Interred, buried. So let it be with Cæsar. Noble Brutus1 And Brutus is an honourable man. He hath brought many captives home to Rome, When that the poor have cried, Cæsar hath wept; Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; Was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke; You all did love him once, not without cause: What cause withholds you, then, to mourn for him? Have stood against the world; now lies he there, 1 Brutus, a noble Roman, who, thinking that Cæsar aimed at making himself king, conspired to murder him. 2 Ransom, the sum paid for the release of a captive. 3 Coffer, a chest for holding money. 4 Lupercal, a place at the foot of Mount Aventine, one of the seven hills of Rome, where festivals called Lupercalia were yearly celebrated. b Withholds, forbids. Oh, masters! if I were disposed to stir But here's a parchment with the seal of Cæsar: Let but the commons hear this testament And dying, mention it within their wills, Unto their issue.5 If you have tears, prepare to shed them now. Look! in this place ran Cassius' dagger through; If Brutus so unkindly knocked or no! For Brutus, as you know, was Cæsar's angel. For when the noble Cæsar saw him stab, 1 Cassius, Brutus's brother-in-law, and the originator of the plot against Cæsar. 2 Parchment, the skin of a goat or sheep prepared for writing on. 3 Closet, a small private room. 4 Bequeath, to leave by will. 5 Issue, children. 6 Nervii, a warlike tribe, who inhabited a part of what is now called Belgium. 7 Casca, one of the conspirators, and the one who gave the first blow. |