2 INTRODUCTION. 



follow him to " the brook that brawls along the wood," or 

 to that sea " whose rocky shore beats back the envious 

 siege of watery Neptune," we are alike instructed by his 

 observations, and charmed with his apt descriptions. 

 How often do the latter strike us as echoes of our own 

 experience, sent forth in fitter tones than we could find. 



A sportsman is oft-times more or less a naturalist. His 

 rambles in search of game bring him in contact with 

 creatures of such curious structure and habits, with insects 

 and plants of such rare beauty, that the purpose of his 

 walk is for the time forgotten, and he turns aside from 

 sport, to admire and learn from nature. 



That Shakespeare was both a sportsman and a 

 naturalist, there is much evidence to show. During the 

 age in which he lived "hawking" was much in vogue. 

 Throughout the Plays, we find frequent allusions to this 

 sport, and the accurate employment of terms used exclu- 

 sively in falconry, as well as the beautiful metaphors 

 derived therefrom, prove that our poet had much practical 

 knowledge on the subject. We shall have occasion later 

 to discuss his knowledge of falconry at greater length. 

 It will suffice for the present to observe that there are 

 many passages in the Plays which to one unacquainted 

 with the habits of animals and birds, or ignorant of 

 hawking phraseology, would be wholly unintelligible, but 

 which are otherwise found to contain the most beautiful 

 and forcible metaphors. As instances of this may be cited 



