Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 21, ROT-Siam

Continues
his edu¬
cation.
SHAKESPEARE
756
At the same time it is quite possible, and on some grounds
even likely, that the step may have been taken somewhat
earlier. But for the five years between 1587 and 1592
we have no direct knowledge of Shakespeare’s movements
at all, the period being a complete biographical blank,
dimly illuminated at the outset by one or two doubtful
traditions. We have indeed the assurance that after leav¬
ing Stratford he continued to visit his native town at least
once every year; and if he had left in 1586 we may con¬
fidently assume that he returned the next year for the
purpose, amongst others, of consulting with his father and
mother about the Asbies mortgage and of taking part
with them in their action against John Lambert. His
uniting with them in this action deserves special notice, as
showing that he continued to take the keenest personal
interest in all home affairs, and, although living mainly in
London, was still looked upon, not only as the eldest son,
but as the adviser and friend of the family. The anec¬
dotes of Shakespeare’s occupations on going to London
are, that at first he was employed in a comparatively
humble capacity about the theatre, and that for a time he
took charge of the horses of those who rode to see the
plays, and was so successful in this work that he soon
had a number of juvenile assistants who were known
as Shakespeare’s boys. Even in their crude form these
traditions embody a tribute to Shakespeare’s business
promptitude and skill. If there is any truth in them
they may be taken to indicate that while filling some
subordinate post in the theatre Shakespeare perceived a
defective point in the local arrangements, or heard the
complaints of the mounted gallants as to the difficulty of
putting up their horses. His provisions for meeting the
difficulty seem to have been completely and even notori¬
ously successful. There were open sheds or temporary
stables in connexion with the theatre in Shoreditch, and
Shakespeare’s boys, if the tradition is true, probably each
took charge of a horse in these stables while its owner
was at the play. But in any case this would be simply a
brief episode in Shakespeare’s multifarious employments
wdien he first reached the scene of his active labours in
London. He must soon have had more serious and
absorbing professional occupations in the green room, on
the stage, and in the laboratory of his own teeming brain,
“ the quick forge and working house of thought.”
But his leisure hours during his first years in London
would naturally be devoted to continuing his education
and equipping himself as fully as possible for his future
work. It was probably during this time, as Mr Halliwell-
Phillipps suggests, that he acquired the working knowledge
of French and Italian that his writings show he must have
possessed. And it is perhaps now possible to point out
the sources whence his knowledge of these languages was
derived, or at least the master under whom he chiefly
studied them. The most celebrated and accomplished
teacher of French and Italian in Shakespeare’s day was
the resolute John Florio, who, after leaving Magdalen
College, Oxford, lived for years in London, engaged in
tutorial and literary work and intimately associated with
eminent men of letters and their noble patrons. After
the accession of James L, Florio was made tutor to Prince
Henry, received an appointment about the court, became
the friend and personal favourite of Queen Anne (to
whom he dedicated the second edition of his Italian
dictionary, entitled the World of Words), and died full of
years and honours in 1625, having survived Shakespeare
nine years. Florio had married the sister of Daniel the
poet, and Ben Jonson presented a copy of The Fox to
him, with the inscription, “ To his loving father and worthy
friend Master John Florio, Ben Jonson seals this testi¬
mony of his friendship and love.” Daniel writes a poem
of some length in praise of his translation of Montaigne,
while other contemporary poets contribute commendatory
verses which are prefixed to his other publications. There Con-
are substantial reasons for believing that Shakespeare was nexion
also one of Florio’s friends, and that during his early
years in London he evinced his friendship by yielding °’
for once to the fashion of writing this kind of eulogistic
verse. Prefixed to Florio’s Secmd Fruits, Prof. Minto
discovered a sonnet so superior and characteristic that he
was impressed with the conviction that Shakespeare must
have written it. The internal evidence is in favour of this
conclusion, while Mr Minto’s critical analysis and com¬
parison of its thought and diction with Shakespeare’s early
work tends strongly to support the reality and value of
the discovery. In his next work, produced four years
later, Florio claims the sonnet as the work of a friend
“who loved better to be a poet than to be called one,”
and vindicates it from the indirect attack of a hostile
critic, H. S., who had also disparaged the work in which
it appeared. There are other points of connexion between
Florio and Shakespeare. The only known volume that
certainly belonged to Shakespeare and contains his auto¬
graph is Florio’s version of Montaigne’s Essays in the
British Museum; and critics have from time to time
produced evidence to show that Shakespeare must have
read it carefully and was well acquainted with its con¬
tents. Victor Hugo in a powerful critical passage
strongly supports this view. The most striking single
proof of the point is Gonzalo’s ideal republic in the
Tempest, which is simply a passage from Florio’s version
turned into blank verse. Florio and Shakespeare were
both, moreover, intimate personal friends of the young
earl of Southampton, who, in harmony with his generous
character and strong literary tastes, was the munificent
patron of each. Shakespeare, it will be remembered, dedi¬
cated his Venus and Adonis and his Lucrece to this young
nobleman; and three years later, in 1598, Florio dedicated
the first edition of his Italian dictionary to the earl in
terms that almost recall Shakespeare’s words. Shake¬
speare had said in addressing the earl, “ What I have done
is yours, what I have to do is yours, being part in all I
have devoted yours.” And Florio says, “ In truth I ac¬
knowledge an entire debt, not only of my best knowledge,
but of all, yea of more than I know or can to your bounte¬
ous lordship, most noble, most virtuous, and most honour¬
able earl of Southampton, in whose pay and patronage
I have lived some years, to whom I owe and vow the
years I have to live.” Shakespeare was also familiar with
Florio’s earlier works, his First Fruits and Second Fruits,
which were simply carefully prepared manuals for the
study of Italian, containing an outline of the grammar,
a selection of dialogues in parallel columns of Italian and
English, and longer extracts from classical Italian writers
in prose and verse. We have collected various points of
indirect evidence showing Shakespeare’s familiarity with
these manuals, but these being numerous and minute
cannot be given here. It must suffice to refer in illustra¬
tion of this point to a single instance—the lines in praise
of Venice which Holofernes gives forth with so much
unction in Love's Labour's Lost. The First Fruits was
published in 1578, and was for some years the most
popular manual for the study of Italian. It is the book
that Shakespeare would naturally have used in attempting
to acquire a knowledge of the language after his arrival
in London ; and on finding that the author was the friend
of some of his literary associates he would probably have
sought his acquaintance and secured his personal help.
As Florio was also a French scholar and habitually taught
both languages, Shakespeare probably owed to him his
knowledge of French as well as of Italian. If the sonnet