midnight
The years 1611 , 1612 and 1613 found William at the pinnacle of his dramatic glory , and like a ripe philosopher he finished his most thoughtful plays , `` Timon of Athens , '' `` A Winter 's Tale , '' `` Antony and Cleopatra , '' `` Pericles , '' `` Cymbeline , '' `` Henry the Eighth , '' and his cap sheaf in the grain field of thought , `` The Tempest . '' The constant intellectual labor of Shakspere began to tell on his body , but his mind like a slumbering volcano , emitted flashes of heat and light , irradiating the midnight of literary mediocrity and gilding his declining days with golden flashes of fame and fortune . He sold his interest in the Blackfriars and Globe theatres , and purchased property in London and Stratford , making every preparation as a wise and thrifty man for himself and his children and family . William ever kept an eye on the glint and glory of gold , and while his bohemian theatrical companions were squandering their shillings at midnight taverns with `` belles and beaux '' he `` put money in his purse , '' and kept it there . _ Gold is power everywhere ; Best of friends in toil and care ; And it surely will outwear Royal purple here or there ! _ King James , in searching for an alliance to strengthen his throne by a marriage with his beautiful and brainy daughter , Elizabeth , finally hit upon the Elector Frederick , Count Palatine of Germany , and in the spring of 1613 all the loyal nobility of England were delighted that a matrimonial alliance had been made with a Protestant prince . While King James lent his official power to the Protestant religion and aided the Reformation in its rapid encroachments upon the papal power of Rome , he socially and clandestinely gave ear to the priests , bishops and cardinals of the Catholic church .