ost_ is "the work of a young man." It might more justly be
said of it that it is the work of a new kind of young man. The young man
knows all the trick of the theatre and uses it, as a master always uses
technique, for the statement of something new to the human soul. The
play no longer speaks to the human soul; for though it is the work of a
master, it is the work of a master not yet alive to the depths and still
doubtful among the temptations to which intellect is subject. It is one
of those works of art which remind us of Blake's saying, that "the best
water is the newest." When it came out, with all the glitter of newness
on it, the mind of man was flattered by a new possession. To us, the
persons of the play are not much more than Time's toys, who never really
lived, but only glittered a little.

_Love's Labour's Lost._

_Written._ Between 1589 and 1592.

_Published_, after correction and augmentation, from a badly
corrected copy, 1598.

_Source of the Plot._ It is thought that Shakespeare created the
plot. The names of some of the characters were taken from people
then living. The incident in Act V, scene ii (the entrance of the
King of Navarre and his men, in Russian habits), was perhaps
suggested by the visit of some Russians to Queen Elizabeth in 1584.

_The Fable._ The King of Navarre and his three courtiers, Biron,
Dumaine and Longaville, have sworn to study for three years under
the usual collegiate conditions of watching, fasting, and keeping
from the sight and speech of women. They are forced to break this
vow. The Princess of France comes with her Court to discuss State
affairs.

At the discussion, the King falls in love with the Princess, his
three courtiers fall in love with the ladies of her train.

The lovers send vows of love to their ladies. They plot to visit
them in disguises of masks and Russian clothes. The ladies, hearing
of this plot in time, mask themselves. The men fail to recognise
them. Each disguised lover makes love-vows to the wrong woman.

The ladies twit the men with a double perjury: that they have
broken their vow to study, and their love vows.

The play is kept within the bounds of fantastic comedy by the
members of the sub-plot, who intrude with their fun whenever the
action tends to become real. They intrude here, to impersonate the
Nine Wo