rive
In grace and feature,
As Heaven and Nature seem'd to strive
Which owned the creature.
Years he number'd scarce thirteen
When Fates turn'd cruel,
Yet three fill'd zodiacs had he been
The stage's jewel;
And did act (what now we moan)
Old men so duly,
As sooth the Parcae thought him one,
He play'd so truly.
So, by error, to his fate
They all consented;
But, viewing him since, alas, too late!
They have repented;
And have sought, to give new birth,
In baths to steep him;
But, being so much too good for earth,
Heaven vows to keep him."

Many of the points discussed in this chapter are still the subject of
controversy. The theories of the stage adopted here are, in general,
those of V. E. Albright, _The Shakespearean Stage_ (Macmillan, 1909).
Among the numerous books and articles on these topics, the most useful
are: G. F. Reynolds, _Some Principles of Elizabethan Staging_ (_Modern
Philology_, Vols. 3 and 4); Brodmeier, _Die Shakespeare Buehne_ (Weimar,
1904); Fleay, _Chronicle History of the London Stage_ (London, 1890);
Henslowe's _Diary_, ed. by W. Greg (London, 1904); and the works of
Creizenach and Schelling referred to in the preceding chapter.

[1] Another predecessor, the great hall of a noble or a university, is
mentioned in the section on the private theaters.

[2] In at least some of the theaters, the stage seems to have narrowed
toward the front.

[3] With this whole paragraph, cf. Albright, pp. 81 ff., and 104-105.

[4] This memorandum book of Philip Henslowe, the great manager, is one
of our chief sources of information about the Elizabethan theater.

[5] For Shakespeare's share, cf. p. 15.

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CHAPTER IV

ELIZABETHAN LONDON

Shortly after Shakespeare came to London, England demonstrated her new
greatness to an astonished world; by the defeat of Spain's greatest
fleet, the "invincible Armada," England showed herself as no longer a
small island nation, but as Mistress of the Sea. In this victory
culminated the growth which had begun under Henry VII, first of Tudor
sovereigns. Naval supremacy was, however, but a sign of a much greater
and more far-reaching transformation--a transformation which had
affected science, literature, and religion, and one which filled the
men of Shakespeare's time with such enthusiasm for