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Mercy
By peace | July 25, 2007
Mercy
The quality of mercy is not strained;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest,
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown:
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway,
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s,
When mercy seasons justice.
From The Merchant of Venice ~ William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616)
William Shakespeare is recognized as one of literature’s greatest influences. William Shakespeare was the third child of John and Mary Shakespeare. The first two were daughters and William was himself followed by Gilbert who died in 1612 and Richard who died in 1613. Edmund (1580-1607), sixth in the line was baptized on May the third, 1580 and William’s oldest living sister was Joan who outlived her famous playwright brother. Of William’s seven siblings, only Judith and four of his brothers survived to adulthood. William’s father was John Shakespeare, said to be a town official of Stratford and a local businessman who dabbled in tanning, leatherwork and whittawering which is working with white leather to make items like purses and gloves. John also dealt in grain and sometimes was described as a glover by trade. John was also a prominent man in Stratford. By 1560, he was one of fourteen burgesses which formed the town council. Interestingly, William himself is often described as a keen businessman. William’s mother was Mary Arden who married John Shakespeare in 1557. The youngest daughter in her family, she inherited much of her father’s landowning and farming estate when he died. An eighteen year old William Shakespeare married the twenty-six and pregnant Anne Hathaway on 28th November 1582. Barely seven months later, they had his first daughter, Susanna. Anne never left Stratford, living there her entire life. William Shakespeare moved to London, possibly in 1591, and became an actor. His will was made in March 1616, a few months before he died, and he was buried at Stratford.
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