Shakespeare and Precious Stones eBook

George Frederick Kunz
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 61 pages of information about Shakespeare and Precious Stones.

Shakespeare and Precious Stones eBook

George Frederick Kunz
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 61 pages of information about Shakespeare and Precious Stones.

Favours from a maund[32] she drew
Of amber, crystal, and of beaded jet. 
“Lover’s Complaint”, l. 37.

[Footnote 32:  Basket, or hamper.]

ROCK-CRYSTAL

Who glazed with crystal gate the glowing roses. 
“Lover’s Complaint”, l. 286.

AMBER

With coral clasps and amber studs. 
“Passionate Pilgrim”, l. 366. 
D 4, verso, l. 2.

AMBER

Favours from a maund she drew
Of amber, crystal, and of beaded jet. 
“Lover’s Complaint”, l. 37.

JET

as above.

CORAL

That sweet coral mouth
Whose precious taste her thirsty lips well knew. 
“Venus and Adonis”, l. 542. 
D iv, l. 20, 21.

CORAL

Her alabaster skin,
Her coral lips, her snow white dimpled chin. 
“Lucrece”, l. 420. 
D 3, l. 7.

CORAL

Like ivory conduits coral cisterns filling.
Idem, l. 1234. 
I 2, verso, l. 2.

CORAL

Coral is far more red than her lips’ red. 
Sonnet CXXX, l. 2. 
H 4,1. 2.

CORAL

A belt of straw and ivy buds. 
With coral clasps and amber studs. 
“Passionate Pilgrim”, 1. 366. 
D 4, verso, l. 1, 2.[33]

[Footnote 33:  References are here given to the original editions of “Venus and Adonis”, 1593 (unique copy in the Malone Collection in the Bodleian Library, Oxford); “Lucrece”, 1594; “Passionate Pilgrim”, 1599, and Sonnets, 1609.  As there is no continuous pagination, the letters and numbers refer to the page signatures and to the line of the page.]

While it cannot be regarded as certain that whenever Shakespeare writes of jewels or of rings he means those in which precious stones were set, several of the passages more or less clearly indicate this, and we therefore present here the more characteristic of the lines in question: 

A Death’s face in a ring.
Love’s Labour’s Lost, Act v, sc. 2, l. 616. 
“Comedies”, p. 142, col.  A, line 36.

The dearest ring in Venice will I give you.
Merchant of Venice, Act iv, sc. 1, l. 435. 
“Comedies”, p. 181, col.  B, line 27.

Diana.  O behold this ring Whose high respect and rich validity Did lack a parallel; yet for all that He gave it to a commoner of the camp, If I be one.

Count.  He blushes, and ’tis it: 
Of six preceding ancestors, that gem,
Conferr’d by testament to the sequent issue,
Hath it been owned and worn.
All’s Well That Ends Well, Act v, sc. 3, l. 191-198. 
“Comedies”, p. 253, col.  A, lines 1-8.

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Shakespeare and Precious Stones from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.