Shakespeare and Precious Stones Part 16

_Count_. He blushes, and 'tis it: Of six preceding ancestors, that gem, Conferr'd by testament to the sequent issue, Hath it been owned and worn.

_All's Well That Ends Well_, Act v, sc. 3, l. 191-198.

"Comedies", p. 253, col. A, lines 1-8.

My daughter! O my ducats! O my daughter!

Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats!

Justice! the law! my ducats and my daughter!

A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats, Of double ducats, stolen from me by my daughter!

And jewels, two stones, two rich and precious stones, Stolen by my daughter! Justice! find the girl; She hath the stones upon her, and the ducats.

_Merchant of Venice_, Act ii, sc. 8, l. 15-22.

"Comedies", p. 171, col. B, lines 23-30.

I would my daughter were dead at my foot, and the jewels in her ear!

_Merchant of Venice_, Act iii, sc. 1, l. 92.

"Comedies", p. 173, col. B, lines 1, 2.

Sweet are the uses of adversity, Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.

_As You Like It_, Act ii, sc. 1, l. 13-15.

"Comedies", p. 190, col. A, lines 10-12.

Win her with gifts, if she respect not words: Dumb jewels often in their silent kind More than quick words do move a woman's mind.

_Two Gentlemen of Verona_, Act iii, sc. 1, l. 89-91.

"Comedies", p. 29, col. A, lines 63-65.

I frown the while; and perchance wind up my watch, or play with my--some rich jewel.

_Twelfth Night_, Act ii, sc. 5, l. 64-66.

"Comedies", p. 263, col. B, lines 32, 33.

A jewel in a ten-times-barr'd-up chest Is a bold spirit in a loyal breast.

_King Richard II_, Act i, sc. 1, l. 180, 181.

"Histories", p. 24, col. B, lines 28, 29.

This royal throne of Kings, this scepter'd isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise, This fortress built by Nature for herself Against infection and the hand of war, This happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone set in the silver sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall Or as a moat defensive to a house, Against the envy of less happier lands, This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

_King Richard II_, Act ii, sc. 1, l. 40-46.

"Histories", p. 28, col. B, lines 17-23.

In argument and proof of which contract, Bear her this jewel, pledge of my affection.

_I Henry VI_, Act v, sc. 2, l. 46, 47.

"Histories", p. 115, col. A, lines 8, 9.

It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night, Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear; Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear.

_Romeo and Juliet_, Act i, sc. 5, l. 47-49.

"Tragedies", p. 57, col. B, lines 59-61.

But chiefly to take thence from her dead finger A precious ring, a ring that I must use In dear employment.

_Romeo and Juliet_, Act v, sc. 3, l. 30-32.

"Tragedies", p. 75, col. A, lines 34-36.

A striking proof that Shakespeare had no fear of tautology when he wished to strengthen the impression of a word by constant reiteration is given in the _Merchant of Venice_ (Act v, sc. 2), whence we have already quoted a few lines. The pa.s.sage concerns the disposal by Ba.s.sanio of a ring he had received from Portia, and he answers her thus in the First Folio text:[34]

_Ba.s.sanio_. Sweet _Portia_, If you did know to whom I gave the Ring, If you did know for whom I gave the Ring, And would conceive for what I gave the Ring, And how unwillingly I left the Ring, When naught would be accepted but the Ring, You would abate the strength of your displeasure.

_Portia._ If you had knowne the virtue of the Ring, Or halfe her worthinesse that gave the Ring, Or your owne honour to contains the Ring, You would not then have parted with the Ring.

[Footnote 34: First Folio, "Comedies", p. 183, col. B, lines 36-46.]

It was probably more than a coincidence that Shakespeare's first printed book, "Venus and Adonis", was published, in 1593, by a fellow-townsman, Richard Field, who had come up to London from Stratford when a mere boy. Undoubtedly, when Shakespeare met him in the bustle of city life, the common memories of their quieter native town served at once as an introduction and as a link between them.

Field also published Shakespeare's "Lucrece" in the year 1594. He had been a freeman of the Stationers' Company from February 6, 1587, and died either in the year the First Folio was issued, or in the succeeding year, 1624.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Printer's mark of Richard Field, as shown on the t.i.tle-page of the first edition of Shakespeare's "Venus and Adonis", 1593, the unique copy of which is in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. A hand emerging from a cloud upholds the "Anchor of Hope", about which are twined two laurel branches.]