The JB aeon- Shakespeare Folly 359 



Saxo Grammaticus through Belief orest s French 

 version, a novel of Boccaccio, a miracle play, 

 whatever strikes his fancy ; he chops up his mate 

 rials and weaves them into a story without much 

 regard to classical models ; defying rules of order 

 and unity, and not always heeding probability, but 

 never forgetful of his abiding purpose, to create 

 live men and women. These people may have 

 Greek and Latin names, and their scene of action 

 may be Kome or Mitylene, decorated with scraps 

 of classical knowledge such as a bright man might 

 pick up in miscellaneous reading ; but all this is the 

 superficial setting, the mere frame to the picture. 

 The living canvas is human nature as Shakespeare 

 saw it in London and depicted with supreme poetic 

 faculty. Among the new books within his reach 

 was Chapman s magnificent translation of the Iliad, 

 which at a later day inspired Keats to such a noble 

 outburst of encomium; and in &quot; Troilus and Cres- 

 sida&quot; we have the Greek and Trojan heroes set be 

 fore us with an incisive reality not surpassed by 

 Homer himself. This play shows how keenly Shake 

 speare appreciated Homer, how delicately and exqui 

 sitely he could supplement the picture ; but there is 

 nothing in its five acts that shows him clothed in 

 the garment of ancient thought as Milton wore it. 

 Shakespeare s freedom from such lore is a great 



