Not Marble ,Nor the Gilded Monuments

Not Marble ,Nor the Gilded Monuments 

William Shakespeare

The mystery of Shakespeare's genius is something we will

probably never solve , and attempt to understand how a

human mind can be so creative fails even he most learned

scholars . Efforts to achieve a clear idea of what Shakespeare

looked like are only partially successful ,and how any man

can come to know so much about so may things in one short

lifetime is beyond us . Perhaps the most fascinating thing is

why we know so little about his unbelievable , considering

that during the the last two decades of his life he was so

famous . Going to plays was the most popular pastime during

those decades and  he was the most  successful and popular

playwright in London . He regularly performed at the courts      

of two monarchs and  partially owned                                     

London's most prominent theatre.

During the last few years of his life he was one of Stratford's leading figures . And yet he lies hidden in obscurity . Hundreds of biographers have written thick books about his life and so we have come to believe that we know a great deal about him ,but most of that is speculation . No seat Shakespeare offers you the established facts :

He was the third of the eight children of John and Mary Shakespeare of Stratford - Upon - Avon . John was a glove maker with a public - spirited attitude to life : we know that he held several local public positions during his lifetime .William was born in 1564 and baptized on 26 th April . Because it was customary to baptism a child three days  after its birth we have fixed his birth date at 23rd April,1564,but that is not a fact.We know very little about his childhood but it has been assumed that he attended the local grammar school because that is probably what he would have done ,unless he didn't go to school at all .We simply don't know,however ,we know that at the age of eighteen he married a twenty-six year old farmer's daughter ,Anne Hathaway,in 1582.  We are fairly sure that they had three children ,Susanna , born in 1583 ,and twins ,Judith and Hamnet ,born in 1585 .the boy did not survive although Anne and the two girls outlived Shakespeare .

Shakespeare left Stratford in 1587 or 1588 and went to London .By 15892 he had made his mark as an actor and playwright .He earned good money doing that because he bought New  place ,one of the biggest houses in Stratford ,in 1597 . He returned to live  permanently in Stratford in 1610 , although he  continued to write plays until his retirement in 1614 . During his last two years he enjoyed the life of a well -off country gentleman .The most fascinating fact of shakespeare's life is that during his working years he averaged 1.5 plays per year . During that time he worked as an actor commuted between Stratford and London , directed performances ,can the business side of theatres ,wrote several major poems and a large number of sonnets ,conducted a family life and a  social life ,and read widely .The physical act of writing would have been slow and laborious ,given the technology of quill and inkwell, and done with poor lighting, if done at night .

Shakespeare died on his fifty second birthday , in 1616.We do not know the cause of his death but we know that in the days leading up to it he suffered from a fever . It is  comforting to know that during the last week of his life he specialized with his two friends ,Ben Jonson and Michael Draytons Shakespeare was buried on 25 th  April ,1616, in Holy Trinty Church in Stratford . His gravestone bears the  following engraving :

Good friend  for Jesus sake forbeare 

To  digg the dust enclosed heare ;

Blese he ye man yt spares these stones 

And curst be yt moves  my bones