h. The lines are familiar; but it
is necessary to quote them at length, in fairness to those who judge
them to be a defence of the spectacular principle in the presentation
of Shakespearean drama. They run:--

O for a muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention,
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act,
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!
Then should the warlike Harry, like himself,
Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels,
Leash'd in like hounds, should famine, sword and fire
Crouch for employment. But pardon, gentles all,
The flat unraised spirits that have dar'd
On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth
So great an object: can this cockpit hold
The vasty fields of France? or may we cram
Within this wooden O the very casques
That did affright the air at Agincourt?
O, pardon! since a crooked figure may
Attest in little place a million;
And let us, ciphers to this great accompt,
On your imaginary forces work.
Suppose within the girdle of these walls
Are now confined two mighty monarchies,
Whose high upreared and abutting fronts,
The perilous narrow ocean parts asunder;
Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts;
Into a thousand parts divide one man,
And make imaginary puissance:
Think, when we talk of horses, that you see them
Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth.
For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings,
Carry them here and there, jumping o'er times,
Turning the accomplishment of many years
Into an hour glass.

There is, in my opinion, no strict relevance in these lines to the
enquiry whether Shakespeare's work should be treated on the stage as
drama or spectacle. Nay, I go further, and assert that, as far as the
speech touches the question at issue at all, it tells against the
pretensions of spectacle.

Shortly stated, Shakespeare's splendid prelude to his play of _Henry
V._, is a spirited appeal to his audience not to waste regrets on
defects of stage machinery, but to bring to the observation of his
piece their highest powers of imagination, whereby alone can full
justice be done to a majestic theme. The central topic of the choric
speech is the essential limitations of all scenic appliances. The
dramatist reminds us that the literal presentation of life itself, in
all its movement and action, lies outside the range of the stage