William Shakespeare (l564-l6l6) was buried in Holy Trinity
Church, Stratford upon Avon in Warwickshire (see
www.shakespeare.org.uk) and it was not until l740 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] l24 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.
A colour postcard of the memorial is available from the
Westminster Abbey shop.