Page:The Psychology of Shakespeare.pdf/262

Rh The ooze, to show what coast thy sluggish carack Might easiliest harbour in " There is but one step from melancholy to music. There is but one step from delicacy of pleasure to that of pain, and from that of pain to pleasure. Highly strung sen sibility is the common term, or rather, the common condition of both. Internal or external circumstance, the events or humours of life, determine to which side the balance shall

temporarily or permanently incline. According to existing state or bias, the same thing may cause or allay emotional depression.

This is most remarkable in the influence ex

ercised by music upon persons of melancholic tendency. Melancholia may be said to be the minor key of the soul, and, in finely strung organisms, the internal vibration re sponds to the external concord of sweet sounds. It is only the uncontemplative man of action, like Harry Hotspur, who would

“rather be a kitten, and cry mew, Than one of those same metre ballad-mongers.”

Jaques, on the contrary, “can suck melancholy out of a song, as a weazel sucks eggs,” and finds as much enjoyment in the process. His delight in music may be correlated with many passages in the other dramas to the same effect.

The most obvious and beautiful of these perhaps are to be found in the Merchant of Venice, and Twelfth Night. In the former, not only is the sentiment expressed, but the reason for it is given. “Jessica. I am never merry when I hear sweet music, Lorenzo. The reason is, your spirits are attentive.” This reason is illustrated by the effect which a trumpet sound produces upon a herd of wild colts, and the conclusion is indicated that the melancholy moved by music is that of sensibility, and is opposed to the darker melancholy which is referred to by King John as that fit for a base action.