William Robb wrote: > >> Actually, Shakespeare was a second rate hack,
Hmmmm, actually I have to strongly disagree on that one. Not just 'cos "everyone else says so" either. His prose may be difficult to the modern ear, but many of his themes are so universally human that they remain true 400 years later. That alone raises him against much of the competition, and that's leaving out the massive, unique contribution he made to the English language. He might have been considered a 'hack' when he was alive, but I doubt he was ever seen as second rate. Chris