De Nieuwe Gids. Jaargang 33

[p. 432]

Shakespeare. By F.V. Branford.

When to the market-place of dreams I went,
To bid a penny for the firmament,
I sudden came upon a star-high man
Whose mighty composition hid the sun
With wings as wide as worlds; and, when he ran
In space, I thought that wind and he were one.
Abrupt he checks those truceless feet, and stands
Deliberate, with lightning in his hands,
Over the Sphinx. Created things attend.
The speculations of the gods descend
Upon Earth's human champion, stood at bay.
A moments pause, slow subtle smile and he,
‘Murmuring Lord, what fools these mortals be’....
Heedless and headlong goes his boisterous way.