Page:William Hazlitt - Characters of Shakespear's Plays (1817).djvu/298

268 And so by many winding nooks he strays, With willing sport, to the wild ocean. Then let me go, and hinder not my course; I'll be as patient as a gentle stream, And make a pastime of each weary step, Till the last step have brought me to my love; And there I'll rest, as after much turmoil, A blessed soul doth in Elysium."

If Shakespear indeed had written only this and other passages in the, he would almost have deserved Milton's praise of him—

But as it is, he deserves rather more praise than this.