Any attempt to place the plays in a precise order of composition lies altogether outside the scope of this book, but since the Metrical Analysis (pp. 16 ff.) seems to have an important bearing on the subject and may possibly be found to modify some existing opinions, a brief reference to it will not, I hope, be thought out of place.

It will have been noticed that the Analysis follows an unusual order. Let me say at once that this is not to be taken as the order in which I should myself place the plays; beyond what may be said below, I refrain from offering any personal opinions on the question. The order is that in which the Analysis itself appears to place them, unassisted and without reference to any other considerations whatever. What I wish to explain is the method of arriving at this order.

The Analysis was made in the first instance solely for the purpose of showing in tabulated form the frequency of resolutions in Shakespeare's verse, and in its compilation the plays were examined in no previously determined sequence; I took next the play which I felt inclined to read next. Of course I was already aware that the later plays contained a good many more resolutions than the earliest, but one does not count as one reads, and it was with some surprise that, on completing the Analysis, I found the totals showed a steadily progressive increase.