SHAKESPEARE AND THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2753, 24 April 1916, Page 9

SHAKESPEARE AND THE WAR

POET'S MESSAGE FOR THE BRITAIN

OF TO-DAY

DOCTRINE OF PATRIOTISM

In a recent lecture at the Royal Institution, Sir Sidney Leo estimated the place that Shakespeare's work lield, or ought to hold, in the estimation of the English-speaking world. On what grouncj, asked the'lecturer, is Shakespeare entitled to commemoration as a national hero? A national hero was obviously one who by virtuo of his deeds made a signal contribution to tho well-being and tho good repute of his follow-countrynion and women in their colloctive capacity of a nation or Empire. . H's deeds must vividly anc permanently stir in his people tho com-, memorative instinct. Tho commcmora' tivo instinct in a nation whose spirit runs high and whose moral and intellectual sentiment is unquestioned, is nevel slow to obey a clear call.

It went without saying that an achievement which gave its doer a title to the Tank of national hero must mal« no exclusive appeal to any one class or clique of tho nation, but must bo capable of kindling an involuntary glow of appreciation or admiration, a seaiso alike of gratitude and pride through all ranks. National heroism must be manifest to tho general vision. The Elizabethan ..era was endowed,' and the lecturer, to a greater extent probably than any other with the faculty of creating incw words, and our vocabulary to-'day owed much to it. There was ail exuberance of thought and feeling which sought verbal raiment beyond the power of the existing lan. guago to supply. Shakespeare excelled nil contemporaries as an invontor ot pootic language. A magical faculty of expression was habitual to him whereby word and thought fit one another to perfection. ' .

The glorious splendour of his diction and tho stirring harmonies of sound are commonly as notable as tlio impressiveness of tho idea. Often we are magnetised by the luminous simplicity of tho phrase, by tho absence of ornament, by the presence of a graphic force which draws from all readers or hearers an instiSctive recognition that the thought or feeling could bo rightly expressed in no other way, although one is conscious at the same time that it is a way that is boyond our . power to reacli unaided. Shakespeare's gifts to our popular speech might bo divided into three classes: (1) sentences of his invention which now enjoy proverbial currency; (2) brief phrases, two or three words long; and (3) common single words or epithets compounded of two single words. Tho lecturer proceeded to quote a number of examples. Shakespeare, ho said, also employed the doublo epithet, whereby he clothed ideas of somo complexity in artificial verbal garb, uniting charm with clarity. Turning to the second national serj'lco whioh Shakespearo has rendered to. Ins country—tho teaching-of patriotism "Sir Sidney Lee said that tho dramatt ist had loft on ample record proofs of nis interest in' his country's 1 history, chiefly in tho fireat series of his history plays. The ulfluenco which that nari of his work had exerted on his fellownountiynien in spreading historical knowledge of and interest in English history was almost sufficient in itself to entitle him to the honours of a national..liero. Cut it'was not. so much their instruction in historic fact that gave the playa their value. Their importance lay in tho broad illustration thoy offered of tho virtuous or beneficent working of tho patriotic instinct, lhat theme Shakespeare, presents in every light; he'does not neglect tho malevolent symptoms incidental either to its exuberant or its defective growth nor is ho wanting .in suggestion as to how its healthy development may be best secured.

Genorally speaking, Shakespeare's dramas euforco the principle tihat an active instinct of patriotism promotes righteous conduct.

Lo sum up, said tlic lecturer, Shakespeare's dramas enjoin tlioso who lovo ■their-country Wisely to, neglect no advantage that nature offers, in the way of resisting unjust demands upon it; to remember that her safety and pros--polity depend on her command of tho sea of the "silver sea which serves it }n tho office of a wall or as a moat defensive of a house against the envy of less happier fands"; to hold firm in the, memory, the "dear souls who havo made . lier 1 reputation through ■ tho world"; to treat with disdain those in places power who make of no account their responsibility to the past as well as to tho present and the future. The political, social, and physical conditions of this country havo altered sine© Shakespeare's time, said tho lecturer. Social responsibilities are acknowledged- widely enough to have smoothed away the last of tho sundering links of rank or birth, hut. tho triumphant doctrine'- of patriotism has lost little of its pristino is relevant to current affairs.