威廉·莎士比亚（1564—1616）是欧洲文艺复兴时期英国最伟大的剧作家和卓越的人文主义思想的代表。
Shakespeare is above all writers, at least above all modern writers, the poet of nature; the poet that holds up to his readers a faithful mirror of manners and of life. His characters are not modified by the customs of particular places, unpractised by the rest of the world; by the peculiarities of studies or professions, which can operate but upon small numbers; or by the accidents of transient fashions or temporary opinions: they are the genuine progeny of common humanity, such as the world will always supply, and observation will always find. His persons act and speak by the influence of those general passions and principles by which all minds are agitated, and the whole system of life is continued in motion. In the writings of other poets a character is too often an individual; in those of Shakespeare it is commonly a species.
Excerpt From The Major Works
By Samuel Johnson
［参考译文］
莎士比亚
塞缪尔·约翰逊
莎士比亚的才华高于一切作家，至少高于当今所有作家。他的诗作浑然天成，他的作品将人间百态真实地展现在读者面前。他的人物塑造并不拘泥于只为一部分人所遵循的某个特定地区的习俗，也不局限于一小部分人所从事的特定的研究或职业，也不追随短暂的潮流或暂时的思想观点：他们具有人们一贯具备的、普遍的人性特点，正如这个世界源源不断地提供一些东西，而双眼也能永不停歇地发现事物。他的人物的一言一行都受那些能够触动所有人的大众化的情感和能使整个生命体系得以延续的普遍原则影响。在其他诗人的作品中，一个人物往往就是某个个体，而莎翁笔下的人物通常代表着某类人。
［注释］
-transient [ˈtrænzɪənt] adj. 短暂的，一时的 passing with time; transitory
-progeny [ˈprɒʤənɪ] n. 子孙，后代 a person's children
-agitate [ˈæʤɪteɪt] v. 鼓动，使不安定 to stir up public interest in a cause
［作者简介］
塞缪尔·约翰逊（Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784），英国18世纪大名鼎鼎的批评家、随笔作家、辞典编纂家、诗人和传记家。 主要作品有《英语辞典》、《莎士比亚集》，长诗《伦敦》、《人类欲望的虚幻》等。