"Soules ioye" of the first line occurs also, it may be observed, in Sidney's Astrophil and Stella (48). But when in the first stanza Pembroke tells his lady-love that, while absent, he must still bear her with him, and leave himself with her, one is easily reminded of the exchange of hearts of which Shakespeare speaks in 22 and in 62, lines 13, 14:""Tis thee (myself) that for myself I praise, Painting my age with beauty of thy days." 66 Then, as in the Sonnets (43, line 13) Shakespeare says that all days are 'nights to see" till he sees his friend, so in the poem Pembroke speaks of absence as making "a constant night," while other nights "change to light." Then, as to the kissing of souls, and of lovers finding a way to meet other than "by their feet," it is easy to see a resemblance to those meetings by night of which Shakespeare speaks in 27: "For then my thoughts (from far where I abide) And keep my drooping eyelids open wide, Save that my soul's imaginary sight! Presents thy shadow to my sightless view, Which, like a jewel hung in ghastly night, Makes black night beauteous, and her old face new." Similarities such as these must be taken in conjunction with other evidence which has been adduced. They are certainly worthy of consideration, even if it be objected that they may be found elsewhere either wholly or in part. At least they may suffice to set aside the assertion of Hallam with regard to Pembroke's Poems and Shakespeare's Sonnets. With regard to the personal beauty of William Herbert, such portraits as we possess would scarcely justify those exceedingly warm eulogies in which Shakespeare indulged. But these portraits, so far as I am aware, represent Herbert in mature life, of the age probably of forty or more, when the beauty of youth would have passed away. We should remember the prediction of Shakespeare himself: "When forty winters shall besiege thy brow, Will be a tatter'd weed, of small worth held" (2). William Herbert's mother was certainly beautiful; and it is probable enough that this beauty would be inherited by her son : "Thou art thy mother's glass, and she in thee Calls back the lovely April of her prime." It should also be noticed that, with regard to Philip, William Herbert's brother, Clarendon speaks of the influence exercised by his "comeliness of person" in " drawing the King's eyes towards him with affection” (Bk. i. 127). The allusion is, of course, to King James. Francis Osborne, also, in his Memoires on the Reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James, speaks of Philip as "a man caressed by King James for his handsome face, which kept him not long company." There need not, thus, be any difficulty in admitting the probability that William Herbert was as a youth exceedingly handsome, though, under any circumstances, the poetical and complimentary character of the Sonnets would have to be borne in mind. The social position of William Herbert and the high rank of his family would suit well the allusions to "so fair a house" in 13, to his "birth" and "wealth" in 37, and to the great difference between the station of the poet and that of his friend; a difference preventing public recognition of the acquaintance :— "I may not ever-more acknowledge thee, Lest my bewailed guilt should do thee shame, The amiability of Shakespeare's friend is not only expressly stated, but is implied also in the poet's deep love. Of Pembroke, Clarendon asserts that he "was the most universally beloved and esteemed of any man of that age." Pembroke's licentiousness has been already alluded to; and this feature of his character is entirely in accordance with the facts of the Sonnets. It has been said that, supposing the Sonnets to relate to actual facts with which Pembroke was concerned, he would have felt strong repugnance to such publication of his early transgressions as that made in 1609 in the Sonnets. But it may be answered, that the Sonnets had been already, to a greater or less extent, diffused in manuscript. Pembroke's character, moreover, was probably too well known to allow of his feeling very anxious about loss of reputation on the ground alleged. There was, however, some slight concealment afforded by the designation Mr. W. H., seeing that he had now been for some eight years Earl of Pembroke. The designation of a nobleman by his family name rather than his title cannot be looked upon as unprecedented;1 and, in addition to what has been just said, it may be observed that there was a special propriety in such designation in this case, as by far the larger portion of the Sonnets relate to the commencement of the acquaintance with Shakespeare, and to a period considerably antecedent to William Herbert's succession to the title. A much smaller amount of evidence than that which has been adduced would raise a probability that William Herbert was the favoured friend of Shakespeare. But if, keeping always in view the Dedication of 1623, the reader takes into account the multitude of accordant particulars which have been indicated, he can scarcely avoid the conclusion that probability has become changed into certainty. 1 Professor Minto refers, very appropriately, to the fact that Lord Buckhurst is designated in England's Parnassus (1600) as M. Sackville. This designation, indeed, with slight change in the termination, occurs again and again, although Thomas Sackville had been Baron Buckhurst for a considerably longer time than William Herbert had been Earl of Pembroke, when the Sonnets were issued in 1609. Moreover, if some slight disguise was intended, epithets of honour, suitable only to a nobleman, could not be added to the "Mr. W. H." of the Dedication. CHAPTER VIII. THE DARK LADY. As the first series of Sonnets (1 to 126) is mainly occupied with a young male friend of Shakespeare's, and with the relations subsisting between this friend and the poet, so the second series (127 to 152) is chiefly concerned with a certain dark lady, between whom and Shakespeare there was evidently a very close intimacy. This lady was a brunette of strongly marked type, destitute of the characteristics of beauty most highly valued in Shakespeare's time. The poet could note in her a thousand errors: 66 My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks." She had not even-so it would seem-the charm of a soft and melodious voice : "I love to hear her speak,-yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound" (130). She was, moreover, of blemished character. She could not be satisfied with the attentions of the poet, though she professed fidelity (137, 138, 152). Yet to Shakespeare her looks were "pretty looks" (139); and he could disregard even the blackness of her deeds (131). Though she was abhorred by others (150), her attraction was to him so irre sistible as to overpower both his eyes and his reason. (( My thoughts and my discourse as mad men's are For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright, He What, then, was the cause of her thus dominating over Shakespeare's soul? He himself asks the question : "O, from what power hast thou this powerful might, With insufficiency my heart to sway?" "Whence hast thou this becoming of things ill?" (150). Some answer is afforded by the repeated mention of the lady's raven-black, quick-glancing eyes (127, 139). Shakespeare loved those eyes : "Thine eyes I love, and they, as pitying me, As those two mourning eyes become thy face" (132). Then, again, Shakespeare evidently loved music; and she was skilled in touching the virginal. He was spell-bound as he listened to "the wiry concord," and saw the "jacks" dance and leap, swayed by her gentle fingers (128). She was a woman of quick wit, and she had full command of her powers. She could woo without causing disgust or so use disdain as to quicken desire. Thus, such was her tact and "warrantise of skill" (150), that she knew well, not only how to ensnare, but how to retain the prize she had won. Probably to such endowments she added superior social rank. This may be implied in her skill as a player on the virginal. It is not at all likely that such an accomplishment, in the time of Elizabeth, would be so common |