Nervous and picturesque expressions, as well as descriptions, abound in him; but it is in vain we look either for purity or simplicity of diction.

His total ignorance of all theatrical art and conduct, however material a defect, yet, as it affects the spectator rather than the reader, we can more easily excuse, than that want of taste which often prevails in his productions, and which gives way only by intervals to the irradiations of genius.

A great and fertile genius he certainly possessed, and one enriched equally with a tragic and comic vein; but he ought to be cited as a proof, how dangerous it is to rely on these advantages alone for attaining an excellence in the finer arts.[*] And there may even remain a suspicion, that we overrate, if possible, the greatness of his genius; in the same manner as bodies often appear more gigantic, on account of their being disproportioned and misshapen.

He died in 1616, aged fifty-three years.
* Invenire etiam barbari solent, disponere et ornare non nisi eruditus .-- PLIN Jonson possessed all the learning which was wanting to Shakspeare, and wanted all the genius of which the other was possessed.

Both of them were equally deficient in taste and elegance, in harmony and correctness.