Soldan High School - Scrip Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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, W 1771? .Q il ' -if-E ie 1:21 fi - ,751 li : ' 2 5 .b number of books printed in foreign languages also increased. No one with an intellect like Shakespearels would have passed over this oppor- tunity for study and profit. Shakespeare's information and exquisite judgment, we know ex- tended to works of highest art, sculpture, painting, and music. His des- criptions of statuary are so admirable for truth and beauty that it is nearly impossible to suppose that they are the gems of a poet's art alone. It is also quite evident that Shakespeare had seen pictures by the great masters. We are told that pictures were a frequent decoration in the homes of the wealthy. See what a grace was seated on this browg Hyperion's curls, the front of jove himselfg An eye like Mars to threaten and command, A station like the herald Mercury New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hillg A combination and a form indeed, Where every god did seem to set his seal To give the world assurance of a man. This is truly a poet's description, but still it has all the power and reality of a finished picture. Only one endowed with a painter's inspir- ation could describe this form as Shakespeare does. The Elizabethan Age was above all the age of song and Shakes- peare appreciated melody. He speaks of it with love and admiration. His sonnets are songs in themselves, and Lymond truly says, Shakes- peare stands alone and has no second even among the nest of singing birds who lived during this high tide of song. Shakespeare's military knowledge ranks far above the usual knowl- edge of a soldier's life as known by the Elizabethan. Although Eng- lish seamen had just defeated the Spanish, and English soldiers were even then aiding the Dutch nation, the English people had little concep- tion of a soldier's duties or of his characteristic habits an-.1 thoughts. Much less did they know of the actual military operations in the Held. But Shakespeare had in some way acquired a very extensive military knowledge. The duties of a sentinel are barely understood by persons outside of the military profession, but its importance was fully recog- nized by Shakespeare when he wrote the opening lines of Hamlet. That he knew also of the discipline, strategy, generalship, and engineer- ing, besides the habitual vices and virtues of the soldiers themselves can be easily seen in his great dramas. Shakespeare's knowledge of medicine, too, is exceedingly extensive. Othello furnishes many line examples in the sayings of Iago. In one instance he says, What wound did ever heal but by degrees? Iago also expresses the belief that, 117

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. -.'N A zfi- E T in -ig: -1 Q-fe:-1-'A ' -I-N-- less way forgeting their old friend. We might shudder at such a scene if it were not for Dame Quickly's words with which we agree. She says, Nay, sure, he's not in hell, he's in Arthur's bosom if ever man went to Artl1ur's bosom. And we hope he is. -Florence King. Shakespeare and the Learning of His Time HAKESPEARE livedduring the time of the Renaissanceg ,. the time when people were not only looking back into the days of antiquity and receiving the culture of the ancient . Greeks, but were also turning toward the unknown and the .undiscovered It was a time when the intellectual pre- dominated over the religious and moral. Inventions util- ized all classes of products: free cities arose from the bounds of feudal- ismg commerce flourished. It was a period of great discovery. A new route to India was discovered after many hardships. The Genoese na- vigator, Christopher Columbus, with three small ships crossed the vast Atlantic ocean to a new and beautiful land. Soon Balboa had reached the Pacific ocean. A Renaissance intellect progressed everywhere. But because the Re- naissance was somewhat later in England, England received the bene- fit of all that the re-awakening had accomplished in Europe. For Shakespeare the seeds were already sown and sprouted. The realms of nature were outspread before him in early plays, and out of these he fashioned new creations, calling into being new flowers far exceeding the others in beauty and poetic fancy. In Shakespeare's writing Qwe have no complete and authentic rec- ord of his lifej there is ample evidence that he had access to the choicest literature of his own land and also of other lands through translations at least. Whether at the court of Denmark or in the city of Rome, his knowledge was suflicient for his need. When we do meet with pas- sages which are not perfectly accurate, they are probably either a dram- atist's disregard for facts which do not fit his need or are mistakes which a most learned scholar would make who undertakes to describe scenes he has not actually visited. Latin, Greek and the modern languages were considered necessary for one's education even more in England then than to-day. It is said that Queen Elizabeth knew eight languages. So we do not hesitate to believe that Shakespeare possessed a reasonable portion of Latin at least. Printing by type had begun to make it possible for the best lit- erature to be found in cottages and at court. As this art advanced the ' us

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4. - -Y -' Q ..'-E 'Af. 1.f : 1:5 57, :fx 'fr-E ' ' Dangerous conceits are in their natures poisons, Which at the first are scarce found to distaste, But with a little act upon the blood, Burn like the mines of sulphur. When Shakespeare says that Dangerous conceits were in themselves diseases of the mind and takes into account of influence of the mind over our physical being, he uses his knowledge unerringly and far in advance of his time. We might go at great length naming the numerous channels that his mind had travelled. His knowledge of law is far too extensive to pass over. The trial scene in the Merchant of Venice is a typical representation. In Shakespeare the lofty ideas of abstract justice ap- pear together with his ideas of legal procedure. It is hatred that takes Shylock to court to demand the pound of flesh. He who dared pre- sume that the law would aid Wrong was himself crushed by the very defense of his own case. Portia acknowledged the validity of Shylock's bond, but taking it literally saved her husband's truest friend. Shakespeare's plays amaze the traveller by the accurate description of foreign cities, scholars by the knowledge of the classics, soldiers by the military knowledge, doctors by the knowledge of medicine and law- yers by the law. Carlyle's judgment in respect to Burns I think applies even more strongly to Shakespeare. He would have ':ached the sum- mit in any Field of endeavor. It was his untiring industry as a scholar more than inborn poetic temperament that made Shakespeare stand alone on the pinnacle of literature. -,Hllie Berglund. The Climax of Hamlei', ' AMLET, probably the best known of Shakespeare's plays, g f' ' is Without a doubt the greatest of them all. The play is I filled with topics which provoke discussion and subjects of such great interest that they are as largely debated as historical problems. Some of these topics, for instance the question of Hamlet's sanity, have given rise to many famous dissertations, but these subjects still remain unsettled. It is this kind of topic, I would bring before you to-day-the old question: Where is the climax in Hamlet ? Here the judgment of the student must be left to himself for no one can definitely say this or that is the climax and positively defend his claim. From a literary point of view I cannot defend my choice entirely, but from the dramatic side there can be little argument against it. Shakespeare did not write his plays with literary fame in view, but with ns