Lines 30-43 Summary

Lines 30-40

And though thou hadst small Latin and less Greek,
From thence to honour thee, I would not seek
For names : but call forth thund'ring Aeschylus,
Euripides, and Sophocles to us,
Pacuvius, Accius, him of Cordova dead,
To life again, to hear thy buskin tread
And shake a stage : or when thy socks were on,
Leave thee alone for the comparison
Of all that insolent Greece or haughty Rome
Sent forth, or since did from their ashes come.

• Line 30 shows us a glimmer of the hypercritical Jonson we know and love. He mentions that Shakespeare had "small Latin and less Greek." That, ladies and gents, is one of the most famous literary putdowns of all time, especially coming from a diehard classicist like Jonson.
• But it doesn't matter, Jonson says, because Shakespeare doesn't even need that fancy schmancy classical training to write sick rhymes and blow everyone else out of the water.
• Jonson calls out a bunch of famous ancient writers—Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles (all famous Greek tragedians), Pacuvius, Accius (tragic Roman poets), and "him of Cordova dead" (Seneca the Younger, a Roman orator and writer)—and claims that they would all be begging to come to life again just to hear Shakespeare's "buskin tread." 
• If you don't know what a buskin tread is, you're probably in good company. Technically, it's a covering for your shoe.
• Symbolically, though, Greek and Roman tragic actors wore buskins while they were performing and they came to be a symbol of tragic drama. 
• So when Jonson says the Greek and Roman greats would come alive to "hear thy buskin tread and shake a stage", he means to say that the classical tragedians would love to hear and see Shakespeare's tragedies performed. This includes not only the plays, but the audience's reaction as well ("shake a stage").
• The second half of line 36 and line 37 express essentially the same sentiment, except they praise Shakespeare's talent for comedy, as well. "When thy socks are on" is a reference to the practice of actors wearing soft socks or slippers when acting in a comedy.
• Once again, in line 39, we see the recurring theme that Shakespeare leaves all his competitors past, present, and future, in the dust.

Lines 41-43

Triumph, my Britain, thou hast one to show
To whom all Scenes of Europe homage owe.
He was not of an age, but for all time !

• In line 41, coincidentally the middle of the poem, Jonson shifts from addressing Shakespeare to speaking to the country and people of Britain.
• He does this through a device called apostrophe—a direct address to a person, place, or thing who isn't there or is incapable of responding. In this case, Jonson addresses a country—something incapable of answering him back (at least in the conventional way).
• The gist of these lines is pretty simple: Britain, exert your bragging rights because all of Europe is in debt to Shakespeare and what he did for the stage.
• Line 43 is arguably the most famous in the poem and one that is quoted all the time by Shakespeare lovers and English teachers everywhere: he was not of an age, but for all time. That about says it all, don't you think?