d to Southampton
as entirely untenable, it nevertheless has this basis,--two of the
Shakespearean poems were dedicated to Southampton. At least we may
say that, if they were addressed to any person of that class, there is
a strong probability in his favor. And in order to consider that claim
I would ask the reader to turn back to Sonnet II., page 23. That
certainly is one of the very earliest of the Sonnets, almost certainly
written when Shakespeare was not older than thirty and Southampton not
over twenty-one years of age. With these facts in mind, the assumption
that those lines were addressed to the Earl of Southampton becomes
altogether improbable. Can we imagine a man of thirty, in the full
glow of a vigorous and successful life, saying to a friend of
twenty-one,--you should marry now, because when you are _forty years_
old (about twice your present age and ten years above my own) your
beauty will have faded and your blood be cold?

We should not so slander the author of the Shakespearean plays.

* * * * *

The language of the Sonnets implies a familiarity and equality of
intercourse not consistent with the theory that they were addressed
to a peer of England by a person in Shakespeare's position.[37]

The dedication of _Lucrece_, which apparently was written in 1593,
omits no reference to title, and envinces no disposition or privilege
to ignore the rank or dignities of the Earl. I will quote no
particular Sonnet on this point; but the impression which the entire
series seems to me to convey, is that the poet was addressing a friend
separated from him by no distinction of rank. Sonnets XCVI. and XCVII.
are instances of such familiarity of address and communication.

* * * * *

On the other hand, there is not a single indication which the Sonnets
contain as to the poet's friend which in any manner disagrees with
what we know of Shakespeare. It may be said that being married the
invocation to marry could not have been addressed to him. But the test
is,--how did he pass, how was he known in London, as married or unmarried?
He is supposed to have come to London in 1586, or when he was twenty-two
years of age, and he was then married and had three children. He remained
in London about twenty-five years, and there is no indication that any
member of his family ever resided there or visited him, and the clear
consensus of opinion seems to be that they did not.