First published at 09:36 UTC on October 9th, 2021.
Recorded in October 2021. Written under the engraving by Martin Droeshout of Shakespeare, in the First Folio, published 1623.
"This portrait exhibits an aspect of calm benevolence and tender thought; great comprehension, and a kind of mixt fee…
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Recorded in October 2021. Written under the engraving by Martin Droeshout of Shakespeare, in the First Folio, published 1623.
"This portrait exhibits an aspect of calm benevolence and tender thought; great comprehension, and a kind of mixt feeling, as when melancholy yields to the suggestions of fancy. Mr Kemble, the celebrated actor, was much pleased with it." -- James Boaden, dramatist, 1824
Glossary:
For "graver" (line 3), understand "engraver."
There is a pun between the words "wit" (line 5) and "writ" (line 8). It serves to emphasize a contrast of thought, between a wish for the engraver "to have drawn Shakespeare's wit as well in brass, as he has hit his face"; and the inference from this, that "the print would then surpass all, that was ever writ in brass." The fact that the word "brass" is repeated, further confirms this contrast. I give a special emphasis to the word "writ" in line 8, because emphasizing "brass" there, (as would be the natural pronunciation,) would fail to bring out the pun and antithesis.
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