bjects law,
And is that nature which they paint and draw;
Fletcher reached that, which on his heights did grow,
While Johnson crept, and gathered all below:
This did his love, and this his mirth digest,
One imitates him most, the other best.
If they have since outwrit all other men,
'Tis from the drops which fell from Shakespear's pen.
The storm[2] which vanished on the neighb'ring shore
Was taught by Shakespear's Tempest first to roar.
That innocence and beauty which did smile
In Fletcher, grew in this Inchanted Isle.
But Shakespear's magic could not copied be,
Within that circle none durst walk but he.

The plays of this great author, which are forty-three in number, are
as follows,

1. The Tempest, a Comedy acted in the Black Fryars with applause.

2. The Two Gentlemen of Verona, a Comedy writ at the command of Queen
Elizabeth.

3. The first and second part of King Henry IV the character of
Falstaff in these plays is justly esteemed a master-piece; in the
second part is the coronation of King Henry V. These are founded upon
English Chronicles.

4. The Merry Wives of Windsor, a Comedy, written at the command of
Queen Elizabeth.

5. Measure for Measure, a Comedy; the plot of this play is taken from
Cynthio Ciralni.

6. The Comedy of Errors, founded upon Plautus's Maenechmi.

7. Much Ado About Nothing, a Comedy; for the plot see Ariosto's
Orlando Furioso.

8. Love's Labour Lost, a Comedy.

9. Midsummer's Night's Dream, a Comedy.

10. The Merchant of Venice, a Tragi-Comedy.

11. As you Like it, a Comedy.

12. The Taming of a Shrew, a Comedy.

13. All's Well that Ends Well.

14. The Twelfth-Night, or What you Will, a Comedy. In this play
there is something singularly ridiculous in the fantastical steward
Malvolio; part of the plot taken from Plautus's Maenechmi.

15. The Winter's Tale, a Tragi-Comedy; for the plot of this play
consult Dorastus and Faunia.

16. The Life and Death of King John, an historical play.

17. The Life and Death of King Richard II. a Tragedy.

18. The Life of King Henry V. an historical play.

19. The First Part of King Henry VI. an historical play.

20. The Second Part of King Henry VI. with the death of the good Duke
Humphrey.

21. The Third Part of King Henry VI. with the death of the Duke of
York. These plays contain the whole reign of this monarch.

22. The Life and Death of Richard III. with the landing of the Earl of
Richmond, and