ds sweethearts forsake,
Hie over the fields at the first blush of May,
And give thy boy's heart unto Anne Hathaway.

[Footnote 15: Edmund Falconer, "Memories, the Bequest of my Boyhood",
London, 1863, pp. 14-22.]

In none of the allusions to precious stones made by Shakespeare is
there any indication that he had in mind any of the Biblical passages
treating of gems. The most notable of these are the enumeration of the
twelve stones in Aaron's breast-plate (Exodus xxviii, 17-20; xxxix,
10-13), the list of the foundation stones and gates of the New
Jerusalem given by John in Revelation (xxi, 19-21), and the
description of the Tyrian king's "covering" in Ezekiel (xxviii, 130).
Had the poet given any particular attention to these texts we could
scarcely fail to note the fact. Other Bible mentions, such as those
elsewhere made by Ezekiel (xxvii, 16, 22), regarding the trade of
Tyre, the agates (and coral) from Syria, and the precious stones
brought by the Arabian or Syrian merchants of Sheba and Raamah, are
too much generalized to invite any special notice. The same may be
said of most of the remaining brief allusions. We might rather expect
that where the color or brilliancy of a precious stone is used as a
simile this might strike a poet's fancy and perhaps find direct
expression in his own words. The light of the New Jerusalem is likened
to "a jasper stone, clear as crystal" (Rev. xxi, 11), and in Exodus
(xxiv, 10) the sapphire stone is said to be "as it were the body of
heaven in its clearness". However, that Shakespeare wrote of "the
heaven-hued sapphire" ("Lover's Complaint", l. 215) has no necessary
connection with this, as the celestial hue of the beautiful sapphire
is spoken of time and again by many of the older writers.

FIVE OF THE SIX AUTHENTIC SHAKESPEARE SIGNATURES

[Illustration: Signature on the purchase deed of Shakespeare's house in
Blackfriars dated March 10, 1613. In the Guildhall, London]

[Illustration: Signatures on the three pages of
Shakespeare's will executed March 25, 1616. Original in Somerset
House, London]

[Illustration: Signature attached to the deed mortgaging the house
in Blackfriars, dated March 11, 1613. In the British Museum]

It should be borne in mind that the great English translation of the
Bible, popularly called "King James' Bible", was published only after
Shakespeare had completed his last play in 1611. Before that time,
dating from Tyndale's version of 152