We are not like our poets or our men of action to be void of
inspiration. A gift is nothing if there is no benevolence in the giver:
For to the noble mind
Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind.
We ask for the impulse as well as the deed. Even when he is speaking of
social obligations Shakespeare makes his strongest appeal not to force
or command, but to the natural piety of the heart:
If ever you have looked on better days,
If ever been where bells have knolled to church,
If ever sat at any good man's feast,
If ever from your eyelids wiped a tear,
And know what 'tis to pity and be pitied,
Let gentleness my strong enforcement be:
In the which hope I blush, and hide my sword.
So speaks Orlando when the Duke has met his threats with fair words;
and he adds an apology:
Pardon me, I pray you;
I thought that all things had been savage here,
And therefore put I on the countenance
Of stern commandment.
The ultimate law between man and man, according to Shakespeare, is the
law of pity.
Pages:
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190