His Life and Genius 141 



of what he read and thought for profitable use 

 afterwards I make no question. The advice which 

 he deliberately gives to his friend in Sonnet 77 

 to imprint his thoughts on " vacant leaves " at 

 the time, so that, thus committing to writing what 

 his memory could not contain, he might find them 

 nursed 



To make a new acquaintance of thy mind, 



points to that which was probably his own method 

 of work.* It belies common sense to suppose 

 that he worked without effort and without need 

 of revision ; no great work that has survived 

 oblivion was probably ever done in that easy 

 fashion ; his sonnets bear unquestionable evidence 

 of labouring pains taken in invention, construc- 

 tion and artistic finish, and were probably revised, 

 corrected, amended and rewritten several times. 

 That which was effortless was the spontaneous 

 outpour of rich thought and fine melody. 



they have no other effect than to show that the author was 

 reading Latin and had a knowledge of it which would have 

 been surprising in the person who made the quotation. In 

 the Taming of the Shrew, for instance, Tranio, a so-called 

 "serving man," speaks of "Aristotle's cheks" and quotes a 

 line at length from Ovid. 



* Look, what thy memory cannot contain 

 Commit to these waste blanks, and thou shalt find 

 These children nursed, delivered from thy brain 

 To make a new acquaintance of thy mind ; 

 These offices, so oft as thou shalt look. 

 Shall profit thee and much enrich thy book. 



