Reserving  till  a  later  lecture   the  actual   proof  of  these
dates,  and  merely  requesting  you  for  the  present  to  accept


THE    METRICAL   TESTS  209

this  chronological  scheme  as  a  working  hypothesis  if  you
should  wish  to  be  cautious,  I  ask  you  now  only  to  con-
sider the  importance  which  our  Metrical  Tests  would  as-
sume if  they  should  be  found  upon  due  examination  to
confirm,  by  cumulative  evidence  upon  evidence,  the  ar-
rangement here  given.  As  you  run  your  eye  along  this
list,  and  slowly  recall  and  compare  the  main  motives  of
plot  after  plot,  what  surprising  revelations  of  Shakspere's
inward  development  rise  up  out  of  the  mere  sequence
thus  displayed,  and  take  form  before  the  mind!  One
almost  feels  like  shrinking  back  —  as  if  one  had  suddenly
opened  the  door  of  Shakspere's  room  while  he  was  saying
his  prayers.
And,  to  put  this  development  clearly  before  you,
allow  me  to  recall  in  a  flying  way  the  main  points  sug-
gested by  this  chronological  scheme  and  to  be  confirmed
or  not  by  the  Metrical  Tests.
Shakspere  began  writing  about  the  year  1588,  when  he
was  twenty-four  years  of  age,  and  ceased  about  161 2  or
1 6 13,  when  he  was  nearly  fifty.  This  term  of  his  author-
ship naturally,  even  necessarily,  divides  itself  into  three
periods,  each  of  which  includes,  I  think,  a  very  strikingly
marked  phase  of  growth.  The  first  period  begins  about
1590  and  ends  about  1601  ;  the  second  begins  about
1602  and  ends  in  1608  ;  the  third  begins  in  1608  and
ends  in  16 13.  The  common  characteristics  among  the
plays  in  each  of  these  groups  point  in  the  most  unequivo-
cal manner  to  the  workings  of  Shakspere's  spirit.
