Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.
| NUMBER: | 1686 |
| AUTHOR: | Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) |
| QUOTATION: | England’s genius filled all measure Of heart and soul, of strength and pleasure, Gave to the mind its emperor, And life was larger than before: Nor sequent centuries could hit Orbit and sum of Shakespeare’s wit. The men who lived with him became Poets, for the air was fame. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | These lines are inscribed above the fireplace in the old reading room of the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. |
| SUBJECTS: | Shakespeare, William (1564–1616) |