And the
importance of this wisdom of life sinks the form, as of Drama or Epic,
out of notice. 'Tis like making a question concerning the paper on
which a king's message is written.
Shakspeare is as much out of the category of eminent authors, as he
is out of the crowd. He is inconceivably wise; the others, conceivably.
A good reader can, in a sort, nestle into Plato's brain, and think
from thence; but not into Shakspeare's. We are still out of doors. For
executive faculty, for creation, Shakspeare is unique. No man can
imagine it better. He was the farthest reach of subtlety compatible
with an individual self,--the subtilest of authors, and only just
within the possibility of authorship. With this wisdom of life, is the
equal endowment of imaginative and of lyric power. He clothed the
creatures of his legend with form and sentiments, as if they were
people who had lived under his roof; and few real men have left such
distinct characters as these fictions. And they spoke in language as
sweet as it was fit. Yet his talents never seduced him into an
ostentation, nor did he harp on one string.
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