e. Shakespeare influenced the English language more
than any writer before or since. First of all he made a great many new
words, some very simple and others more elaborate, but all of them so
suitable that they have become a part of the language. Such a common
word as _bump_, which it would be difficult to imagine ourselves
without, is first found in Shakespeare's writings. _Hurry_, which
seems to be the only word to express what it stands for, seems also to
have been made by Shakespeare, and also the common word _dwindle_.
Some other words which Shakespeare made are _lonely_, _orb_ (meaning
"globe"), _illumine_, and _home-keeping_.

Many others might be quoted, but the great influence which Shakespeare
had on the English language was not through the new words he made, but
in the way his expressions and phrases came to be used as ordinary
expressions. Many people are constantly speaking Shakespeare without
knowing it, for the phrases he used were so exactly right and
expressive that they have been repeated ever since, and often, of
course, by people who do not know where they first came from. We can
only mention a few of these phrases, such as "a Daniel come to
judgment," which Shylock says to Portia in the "Merchant of Venice,"
and which is often used now sarcastically. From the same play comes
the expression "pound of flesh," which is now often used to mean what
a person knows to be due to him and is determined to have. "Full of
sound and fury, signifying nothing," "to gild refined gold," "to wear
one's heart upon one's sleeve,"--these and hundreds of other phrases
are known by most people to come from Shakespeare; they are used by
many who do not. They describe so splendidly so many things which are
constantly happening that they seem to be the only or at least the
best way of expressing the meanings they signify.

But not only have hundreds of Shakespeare's own words and phrases
passed into everyday English, but the way in which he turned his
phrases is often imitated. It was Shakespeare who used the phrase to
"out-Herod Herod," and now this is a common form of speech. A
statesman could now quite suitably use the phrase to "out-Asquith
Asquith."

The next great poet after Shakespeare was Milton. He also gave us a
great many new words and phrases, but not nearly so many as
Shakespeare. Still there are a few phrases which are now so common
that many people use them without even knowing that they come from
Milton'