William Shakespeare (l564-1616) was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford upon Avon in Warwickshire (see www.shakespeare.org.uk) and it was not until 1740 that a memorial statue to him was erected in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. Shortly after Shakespeare's death there was much talk about removing his remains from Stratford to the Abbey but the idea was soon abandoned.This idea gave rise to the poet Ben Jonson's lines "My Shakespeare, rise! I will not lodge thee by Chaucer or Spenser, or bid Beaumont lie a little further on to make thee room".
The life-size white marble statue, shown in the dress of his period, was erected by the Earl of Burlington, Dr Mead, Alexander Pope and Mr Martin. It was designed by William Kent and executed by Peter Scheemakers. The inscription above the head of the statue can be translated "William Shakespeare [erected] 124 years after [his] death by public esteem". The carved heads of Queen Elizabeth I, Henry V and Richard III appear on the pedestal. The figure leans his elbow on a pile of books (they have no titles) and his left hand points to a scroll on which are painted a variant of Prospero's lines from 'The Tempest':
The Cloud capt Tow'rs,
The Gorgeous Palaces,
The Solemn Temples,
The Great Globe itself,
Yea all which it Inherit,
Shall Dissolve;
And like the baseless Fabrick of a Vision
Leave not a wreck behind.
Some of the black paint has rubbed off this inscription so some letters are now incomplete.The inscription at the base of the memorial (giving his name, dates and burial place) is a modern addition.There is no other wording on the memorial.
Photographs of the monument can be purchased from Westminster Abbey Library.
Further reading:
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004
"Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey" by James Wilkinson, 2007 (available from the Westminster Abbey Shop).
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