A CRITICAL EDITION OF MENAPHON BY ROBERT
GREENE WITH THE PREFACE BY THOMAS NASHE
ADISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY
OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OFYALE
UNIVERSITY INCANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF
PHILOSOPHY BYARDELLE COWIE AKA ARDELLE COWIE SHORT
This dissertation presents the first
critical edition of Menaphon by Robert Greene with
the Preface by Thomas Nashe. The work was originally
published in 1589 in London and was reprinted four times
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (1599, 1605,
1610, and 1616). For this edition three copies of the
first edition and copies of all the other early editions
have been collated. None of the later editions contains
any revisions or additions that can be ascribed to either
Nashe or Greene. Therefore the first edition is used in
this edition as the copy-text. A full textual apparatus
records all substantive variants and emendations of the
text.
The Introduction Includes
bibliographic descriptions of the various early editions
and discusses the relationship between the texts of the
early editions. An essay on Nashe’s Preface places it in
the context of his developing prose style. Greene’s Menaphon
is treated in a separate essay concerned with the
self-consciousness of the work, and its relation to
various sources and influences such as Greek romance,
Euphuism, and Sidney’s Old Arcadia.
The Commentary identifies literary
allusions, clarifies stylistic obscurities, and discusses
difficult passages. Contemporary writers, such as John
Lyly, are quoted for comparison.
The Glossary at the end includes words
which might not be easily understood, either because of
peculiarity of spelling or because of specialized,
archaic, or obsolete meaning.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
For supplying me with xerographic
copies of essential texts, I thank the staffs of the
Folger Shakespeare Library, University Microfilms, the
British Museum, the Sion College Library, the Trinity
College Library, and Beinecke Library. The staff of the
Huntington was very helpful in allowing me to examine
their copy of 1589. I appreciate Miss Pantzer's
help in providing me with necessary information
concerning the early editions of Menaphon. I wish
to express my thanks for the guidance and inspiration
afforded by Mr. Richard S. Sylvester during the course of
my work on this project.
My family has been most understanding
in a variety of ways, and I particularly wish to thank my
husband, Herbert Short, for his steadfast support and
assistance.
Wherein are deciphered the variable
effects of Fortune, the
wonders of Loue, the tri-
umphes of inconstant Time.
Displaying in sundrie conceipted
passions (figured in a continuate Historie)
the Trophees that
Vertue
carrieth triumphant, maugre
the wrath of Enuie, or the reso-
lution of Fortune.
A worke worthie the youngest eares for pleasure, or the grauest censures
for principles.
Robertus Greene in Artibus magister.
Omne tulit punctum.
[Device]
LONDON
Printed by T. 0. for Sampson Clarke, and
are to be sold behinde the Royall Exchange. 1589.
Textual Notes to Page 1
1MENAPHON]
GREENES / ARCADIA. /
OR / MENAPHON: 1610I616
2-3 Camillas
alarum to / slumbering Euphues.J CAMIL- / laes Alarum to
slumber Eu- / phues 1610 1616
9-13
Displaying . . . Fortune] omitted 1610 1616
21-23 Printed . . . 1589] See
descriptions of various editions in Introduction.
[*2J To the right Worshipfull and ver- tuous Ladie, the Ladie Hales, wife to
the late
deceased Sir
James Hales; Robert Greene
wisheth
increase of Worship and vertue.
WHen Alexander (right
worshipfull) was troubled with hottest 5
feuers, Phillip the phisition
broght him the coldest potions; extreams haue ther
Antidotes, & the driest melancholy hath a moistest
sanguin; wise Hortenzia midst hir greatest dumpes,
either playd with hir Children, or read some pleasant
verses: such as sorrow hath pinched mirth must cure. This
considered; 10
hearing (madam) of the passions your
Ladiship hath vttered a late for the losse of your
husband, a Knight in life worshipfull, vertuous, and full
of honourable thoghts; discouering by such passionate
sorowes the patterne of a louing and vertuous wife, whose
ioyes lined in hir husbands weale, and 15
ended with his. life, I thought it my
dutie to write this pastorall historie, conteyning the
manifolde iniuries of fortune, that both your Ladiship
might see her inconstant follies, and beare hir frownes
with more patience, and when your dumpes were most deepe,
then to looke on this little treatise for 20
recreation:
wherein there be as well humors to delight, as discourses
to aduise. Which if your Ladiship shall vouch to accept,
couering my presumption and faultes with your wonted
courtesie; I haue the wished end of my labors. In which
hope
IT fareth with mee Gentlemen, as with
Batillus the ouerbold poet of Rome, that at
euerie winke of Caesar would deliuer vp an hundred
verses, though neuer a one plausible, thinking 5
the
Emperours smile a priuiledge for his ignorance: so I
hauing your fauor in letting passe my Pamphlets, feare not
to trouble your patience with many works, and such as if Batillus
had liued, hee might well haue subscribed his name to. But
resting vpon your fauors I haue thus farre aduentured 10
to let you
see Camillas alarum to Euphues, who thought it
necessarie not to let Euphues censure to Phllautus,
passe without requitall. If Gentlemen you finde my stile
either magis humile in some place, or more sublime
in another, if you finde darke AEnigmaes or strange
conceipts as if Sphinx 15
on the one
side, and Roscius on the other were playing the
wagges; thinke the metaphors are well ment, and that I did
it for your pleasures, whereunto I euer aymed my thoughts:
and desire you to take a little paines to prie into my
imagination. Wherein if you shall rest mine, I shall euer
as 20
I haue done
rest yours; and so I bid you farewell.
CVrteous and
wise, whose iudgements (not entangled with enuie) enlarge
the deserts of the Learned by your liberall censures;
vouchsafe to welcome your scholler-like Shepheard with
such 5
Vniuersitie
entertainement, as either the nature of your bountie, or
the custome of your common ciuilitie may affoord. To you
he appeales that knew him ab extrema pueritia,
whose placet he accounts the plaudite of
his paines; thinking his daie labour was not altogether
lauisht sine linea, if there 10
be anie
thing of all in it, that doth olere atticum in
your estimate. I am not ignorant how eloquent our gowned
age is growen of late; so that euerie moechanicall mate
abhorres the english he was borne too, and plucks with a
solemne periphrasis, his vt vales from the
inkhorne: which I impute not 15
so much to
the perfection of arts, as to the seruile imitation of
vainglorious tragoedians, who contend not so serious- lie
to excell in action, as to embowell the clowdes in a
speach of comparison; thinking themselues more than
initiated in poets immortalitie, if they but once get Boreas
by the20
beard, and
the heauenlie bull by the deaw-lap. But herein I cannot so
full-y bequeath them to follie, as their'idiote art-
masters, that intrude themselues to our eares as the alcu-
mists of eloquence; who (mounted on the stage of
arrogance) think to cutbraue better pens with the swelling
bumbast of 254
a bragging
blanke verse. Indeed it may be the ingrafted
ouerflow of
some kilcow conceipt, that ouercloieth their imagination
with a more than drunken resolution, beeing not
extemporall in the inuention of anie other meanes to vent
their manhood, commits the disgestion of their cholerick
incumbrances, to the spacious volubilitie of a drumming 5
decasillabon. Mongst this kinde of men
that repose eternitie in the mouth of a player, [**1V] I
can but ingrosse some deepe read Grammarians, who hauing
no more learning in their scull, than will serue to take
vp a commoditie; nor Art in their brain, than was
nourished in a seruing mans idlenesse, 10
will take vpon them to be the
ironicall censors of all, when God and Poetrie doth know,
they are the simplest of all. To leaue these to the mercie
of their mother tongue, that feed on nought but the
crummes that fal from the translators trencher, I come
(sweet friend) to thy Arcadian Menaphon; 15
whose attire though not so statelie,
yet comelie, dooth entitle thee aboue all other, to that temperatum
dicendi genus, which Tullie in his Orator
tearmeth true eloquence.
Let other men (as they please) praise
the mountaine that in seauen yeares brings foorth a mouse,
or the Italionate pen, 20
that of a packet of pilfries,
affoordeth the presse a pamphlet or two in an age, and
then in disguised arraie, vaunts Quids and Plutarchs
plumes as their owne; but giue me the man, whose
extemporall vaine in anie humor, will excell our greatest
Art-masters deliberate thoughts; whose inuention 25
quicker than his eye, will challenge
the proudest Rethoritian, to the contention of like
perfection, with like expedition.
Textual Notes to Page 6
8
Grammarians3 Schoolmen or Grammarians l6l0 1616
13 these]
all these 1599 1610 1616
20 brings]
bringeth 1599 1610 l6l6
25
inuention] inuentions 1599 1610 1616
What is he
amongst Students so simple, that cannot bring forth (tandem
aliquando) some or other thing singular, sleeping
betwixt euerie sentence? Was it not Maros xij.
yeares toyle, that so famed his xij. AEneidos? or
Peter Ramus xvj. yeares paines, that so praised his
pettie Logique? 5
Howe is it
then, our drowping wits should so wonder at an exquisite
line, that was his masters day labour? Indeede I must
needes say, the descending yeares from the Philosophers Athens,
haue not been supplied with such present Orators, as were
able in anie English vaine to be eloquent of their 10
owne, but
either they must borrow inuention of Ariosto, and
his Countreymen, take vp choyce of words by exchange in Tullies
Tusculane, and the Latine Historiographers
storehouses; similitudes, nay whole sheetes and tractacts
verbatim, 15
from the
plentie of [**2] Plutarch and Plinie; and
to conclude, their whole methode of writing, from the
libertie of Comical fictions, that haue succeeded to our
Rethoritians, by a second imitation: so that, well may the
Adage, Nil dictum quod non dictum prius. bee the
most iudiciall estimate, of our latter Writers. But the
hunger of our vnsatiate humorists, 20
beeing such
as it is, readie to swallowe all draffe without
indifference, that insinuates it selfe to their senses
vnder the name of delight, imployes oft times manie thred
bare witts, to emptie their inuention of their Apish
deuices, and talke most superficiallie of Pollicie, as
those that 25
neuer ware
gowne in the Vniuersitie; wherein they reuiue the olde
saide Adage, Sus Mineruam, & cause the wiser
to quippe
Textual Notes to Page 7
1-27 text-]
leaf wanting 1605
1 amongst] among 1610 1616
3 Was it] What is 1599 1610 1616
6 our] 1599 1610 1616, out 1589
13 Tusculane] Tusculans 1610 1616
20 latter] later 1599
22 indifference] difference 1610
1616
23 delight] delights 1599 1610
1616
them with Asinus
ad Lyram. Would Gentlemen & riper iudgements
admit my motion of moderation in a matter of follie, I
wold perswade them to phisicke their faculties of seeing
& hearing, as the Sabaeans doo their dulled
senses with smelling; who (as Strabo reporteth)
ouer-cloyed with such odoriferous 5
sauours, as
the naturall encrease of their Countrey, (Balsamum,
Amomum, with Myrrhe and Frankencense) sends foorth,
refresh their nosthrills with the vnsauorie sent, of the
pitchie slime, that Euphrates casts vp, and the
contagious fumes of Goates beardes burnt; so woulde I haue
them, beeing surfetted 10
vnawares
with the sweete sacietie of eloquence, which the lauish of
our copious Language maie procure, to vse the remedie of
contraries; and recreate their rebated witts, not as they
did, with the senting of slyme or Goates beardes burnt,
but with the ouer-seeing of that sublime dicendi 15
genus, which walkes abroad for wast paper
in each seruing mans pocket, and the otherwhile perusing
of our Gothamists barbarisme; so shoulde the opposite
comparison of Puritie, expell the infection of
absurditie; and their ouer-rackte Rhethorique, bee the
Ironicall recreation of the Reader. But 20
so farre
discrepant is the idle vsage [**2V] of our
vnexperienst punies from this prescription, that a tale of
Ihon a Brainfords will, and the vnluckie furmentie, wilbe
as soon interteined into their libraries, as the best
poeme that euer Tasso eternisht: which being the
effect of an vndescerning 25
iudgement,
makes drosse as valuable as gold, and losse as welcome as
gaine, the Glow-worme mentioned in AEsops
Textual Notes to Page 8
1-27 text]
leaf wanting 1605
9 casts] cast 1599 1610 1616
21-22 vnexperienst punies]
vnexperienced and illiterated punies 1610 1616
21-23 Ihon a Brainfords] Ioan a
Brainfords 1599, Ioane of Brainfords 1610 1616
23
furmentie] frumenty 1610 1616
25 eternisht] eterniz'd 1616
fables, namelie the apes follie, to be
mistaken for fire, when as God wot poore soules, they haue
nought but their toyle for their heate, their paines for
their sweate, and (to bring it to our english prouerbe)
their labour for their trauaile. Wherin I can but resemble
them to the Panther, who 5
is so greedie of mens excrements; that
if they be hengd vp in a vessell higher than his reach, he
sooner killeth him-selfe with the ouer-stretching of his
windlesse bodie, than he wil cease from his intended
enterprise. Oft haue I obserued what I now set downe; a
secular wit that hath liued 10
all daies of his life by what doo you
lacke, to bee more iudiciall in matters of conceit, than
our quadrant crepundios, that spit ergo in the
mouth of euerie one they meete: yet those & these are
so affectionate to dogged detracting, as the most
poysonous Pasquil, anie durtie mouthed Martin,
or 15
Momus euer composed, is gathered vp with
greedinesse before it fall to the ground, and bought at
the deerest though they smell of the friplers lauander
halfe a yeere after: for I know not how the minde of the
meanest is fedde with this follie, that they impute
singularitie, to him that slanders 20
priuelie, and count it a great peece
of arte in an inkhorne man, in anie tapsterlie tearmes
whatsoeuer, to oppose his superiours to enuie. I will not
denie but in scholler-like matters of controuersie, a
quicker stile may passe as commendable; and that a quippe
to an asse is as good as a goad to 25
an oxe: but when an irregular idiot,
that was vp to the eares in diuinitie, before euer he met
with probabile in the
Textual Notes to Page 9
5 trauaile] trauell 1599 1610 1616
7 killeth] killes 1599 1610 l6l6
11 by what doo you lacke,] by, what .
. . lack? 1599 1610 1616
12 crepundios] crepundious 1599
1610 1616
14 are so affectionate] are
affectionate 1599
15 Pasquil] Pasquils 1599
1610 1616
18 after] 1599 1610 1616,
afetr 1589
21 inkhorne] inkhorned 1599
22 oppose] expose 1610 1616
26 an irregular] the irregular 1599
1610 1616
Vniuersitie, shall leaue pro
& contra before he can scarcely pronounce it,
& come to correct Common weales, that neuer heard of
the name of Magistrate before he came to [**3] Cambridge,
it is no meruaile if euery alehouse vaunt the table of
world turned vpside down; since the childe beats his
father, 5
&the asse whippes his master. But least I might
seeme with these night crowes, Nimis curiosus in
aliena republica. I'le turne backe to my first text,
of studies of delight; and talke a little in friendship
with a few of our triuiall translators. It is a common
practise now a daies amongst a 10
sort of shifting companions, that
runne through euery arte and thriue by none, to leaue the
trade of Nouerint whereto they were borne, and
busie themselues with the indeuors of Art, that could
scarcelie latinize their necke-verse if they should haue
neede; yet English Seneca read by candle light 15
yeeldes manie good sentences, as Bloud
is a begger, and so foorth: and if you
intreate him faire in a frostie morning, he will affoord
you whole Hamlets, I should say handfulls of
tragical speaches. But o griefe!tempus edax rerum, what’s that will last alwaies? The
sea exhaled by droppes will in 20
continuance be
drie, and Seneca let bloud line by line and page by
page, at length must needes die to our stage: which makes
his famisht followers to imitate the Kidde in AEsop,
who enamored with the Foxes newfangles, forsooke all hopes
of life to leape into a new occupation; and these men
renowncing 25
all
possibilities of credit or estimation, to intermeddle with
Italian translations: wherein how poorelie they
Textual Notes to Page
10
5 "beats ]
"beateth 1599 1610 1616
6 whippes] whippeth 1599 1610 l6l6
7 republica. I’le] republica,
I will 1599 1610 1616
8 studies of delightj Studies of
Delight 1599
18 Hamlets hamlets 1599
23 Kidde] Kid 1599 1610 1616
haue plodded, (as those that are
neither prouenzall men, nor are able to distinguish of
Articles,) let all indifferent Gentlemen that haue
trauailed in that tongue, discerne by their twopenie
pamphlets: & no meruaile though their home-born
mediocritie be such in this matter; for what can be 5
hoped of those, that thrust Elisium
into hell, and haue not learned so long as they haue liued
in the spheares, the iust measure of the Horizon without
an hexameter. Sufficeth them to bodge vp a blanke verse
with ifs and ands, & other while for recreation after
their candle stuffe, hauing starched 10
their beardes most curiouslie, to make
a peripateticall path into the inner parts of the Citie,
& spend two or three [**3V] howers in
turning ouer French Doudie, where they attract
more infection in one minute, than they can do eloquence
all dayes of their life, by conuersing with anie Authors
of 15
like
argument. But least in this declamatorie vaine, I should
condemne all and commend none, I will propound to your
learned imitation, those men of import, that haue laboured
with credit in this laudable kinde of Translation; In the
forefront of Whom, I cannot but place that aged Father Erasmus,
20
that
inuested most of our Greeke Writers, in the roabes of the
auncient Romaines; in whose traces, Philip
Kelancthon, Sadolet, Plantine, and
manie other reuerent Germaines insisting, haue reedified
the ruines of our decayed Libraries, and merueilouslie
inriched the Latine tongue with the expence of 25
their toyle.
Not long after, their emulation beeing transported into England,
euerie priuate Scholler, William Turner,
and who not, beganne to vaunt their
smattering of Latine, in English Impressions. But amongst
others in that Age, Sir Thomas Eliots elegance did
seuer it selfe from all equalls, although Sir Thomas
Moore with his Comicall wit, at that instant was not
altogether idle: yet was not Knowledge fullie 5
confirmed in hir Monarchie amongst vs,
till that most famous and fortunate Nurse of all learning,
Saint Iohns in Cambridge, that at that
time was as an Vniuersitie within it selfe; shining so
farre aboue all other Houses, Halls, and Hospitalls
whatsoeuer, that no Colledge in the Towne, was able to 10
compare with the tythe of her
Students; hauing (as I haue hearde graue men of credite
report) more candles light in it, euerie Winter Morning
before fowre of the clocke, than the fowre of clocke bell
gaue stroakes; till Shee (I saie) as a pittying Mother,
put too her helping hande, and sent from 15
her fruitefull wombe, sufficient
Schollers, both to support her owne weale, as also to
supplie all other inferiour foundations defects, and
namelie that royall erection of Trinitie Colledge,
which the Vniuersitie Orator, in an Epistle to the Duke of
Somerset. aptlie tearmed Colonia 20
deducta, from the Suburbes of Saint Iohns.
In which extraordinarie conception, vno partu in
rempublicam prodiere the Exchequer of eloquence Sir
Ihon Cheeke, a man of men, supernaturally traded in
al tongues, Sir Ihon Mason, Doctor Watson,
Redman, Aschame, Grindall, Leuer,
Pilkington; all which, haue either by their priuate
readings, or publique workes, repurged the errors of
Artes, expelde from their
Textual Notes to Page 12
12 more] moe 1599 1610 1616
14 of clocke] of the clock 1599
1610 1616
20-21 Colonia
deducta] 1610 1616. Colona diducta 1589
1599
22 vno]
vna1599
27 Artes]
Arte 1599 1610 1616
puritie, and
set before our eyes, a more perfect Methode of Studie. But
howe ill their preceptes haue prospered with our idle Age,
that leaue the fountaines of sciences, to follow the
riuers of Knowledge, their ouer-fraught Studies, with
trifling Compendiaries maie testifie: for I knowe not howe
5
it comes to
passe, by the doating practise of our Diuinitie dunces,
that striue to make their Pupills pulpet men, before they
are reconciled to Priscian: but those yeares,
which shoulde bee employed in Aristotle, are
expired in Epitomes; and well too, they maye haue so much
Catechisme vacation, 10
to rake vp a
little refuse Philosophie. And heere could I enter into a
large fielde of inuectiue, against our abiect
abbreuiations of Artes, were it not growen to a newe
fashion amongst our Nation, to vaunt the pride of
contraction in euerie manuarie action: in so much, that
the Pater noster, 15
which was
woont to fill a sheete of paper, is written in the
compasse of a pennies whereupon one merelie affirmed, that
prouerb to be deriued, No pennie, no pater
noster; which their nice curtailing, puts me in mind
of the custome of the Scythians, who if they be at
any time distressed with famin, 20
take in
their girdles shorter, & swaddle themselues
streighter, to the intent no vacuum beeing left in
their intrayles, [**4V] hunger should not so
much tirannize ouer their stomacks; euen so these men
opprest with a greater penurie of Art, do pound their
capacitie in barren Compendiums, and 25
bound their
base humors, in the beggerly straites of a hungry
Analysis, least longing after that infinitum which
Textual Notes to Page 13
6 comes]
commeth 1599-1616
11 rake vp] take vp 1599-1616
11 could I]
I could 1599-1616
14 amongst]
among 160 5 1610 1616
17 affirmed] assumed 1599-1616
19 curtailing] curtailing 1599-1616
19 puts] putteth 1599-1616
20 be] had beene 1605 1610 1616
21 take] tooke 160$ 1610 1616
21 swaddle] swaddled 1610 1616
the pouertie of their conceit cannot
compasse, they sooner yeeld vp their youth to destinie,
than their heart to vnderstanding. How is it then, such
bungling practitioners in principles, shuld euer profile
the Common wealth by their negligent paines, who haue no
more cunning in Logique or 5
Dialogue Latine, than appertains to
the literall construction of either; neuerthelesse it is
daily apparant to our domesticall eyes, that there is none
so forward to publish their imperfections, either in the
trade of glose or translations, as those that are more
vnlearned than ignorance, 10
and lesse conceiuing than infants. Yet
dare I not impute absurditie to all of that societie,
though some of them haue set their names to their
simplicitie. Who euer my priuate opinion condemneth as
faultie, Master Gascoigne is not to bee abridged
of his deserued esteeme, who first 15
beate the
path to that perfection which our best Poets haue aspired
too since his departure; whereto he did ascend by
comparing the Italian with the English, as Tullie
did Graeca cum Latinis. Neither was Master Turbeuile
the worst of his time, although in translating he
attributed too much 20
to the
necessitie of rime. And in this page of praise, I cannot
omit aged Arthur Golding, for his industrious
toile in Englishing Ouids Metamorphosis, besides
manie other exquisite editions of Diuinitie, turned by him
out of the French tongue into our own. Master Phaer
likewise is not to 25
be forgot in
regard of his famous Virgil, whose heauenly verse
had it not bin blemisht by his hautie thoghts England
Textual Notes to Page 14
9 the] theyr
160516101616
10 ignorance] ignorant 1605 16101616
12 though] although 159916051616
20 although] though 1599-1616
21 rime] time 1599, the time 160516101616
might haue long insulted in his wit,
and corrigat qui potest haue been subscribed to
his workes. But fortune the Mistres of change with a
pitying compassion, respecting Master Stanihursts
praise, would that Phaer shoulde fall that hee
might rise, whose heroicall Poetrie infired, I [A 1]
should 5
say inspired, with an hexameter furie,
recalled to life, what euer hissed barbarisme, hath bin
buried this hundred yeare; and reuiued by his ragged
quill, such carterlie varietie, as no hodge plowman in a
countrie, but would haue held as the extremitie of
clownerie; a patterne whereof, I will 10
propounde to your iudgements, as neere
as I can, being parte of one of his descriptions of a
tempest, which is thus
Then did
he make, heauens
vault to rebounde, with rounce robble hobble
Of ruffe raffe roaring, with thwick thwack thurlery 15
bouncing
Which strange language of the
firmament neuer subiect before to our common phrase, makes
vs that are not vsed to terminate heauens moueings, in the
accents of any voice, esteeme of their triobulare
interpreter, as of some Thrasonical huffe 20
snuffe, for so terrible was his stile,
to all milde eares, as would haue affrighted our peaceable
Poets, from intermedling hereafter, with that quarrelling
kinde of verse; had not sweete Master France by
his excellent translation of Master Thomas Watsons
sugred Amintas, animated their dulled 25
Textual
Notes to Page 15
1 insulted in his wit] insulted his
witte 1599160516101616
12 thus]
thus. 1599-1616
18 makes] make 16101616
19 moueings] moouing 1599-1616
spirits, to such high witted endeuors.
But I knowe not how, their ouer timerous cowardise, hath
stoode in awe of enuie, that no man since him, durst
imitate any of the worste, of those Romane wonders in
english, which makes methinke, that either the louers of
mediocritie, are verie many, or 5
that the number of good Poets, are
very small: and in trueth, (Master Watson except,
whom I mentioned before) I knowe not almost any of late
dayes that hath shewed himselfe singular in any speciall
Latine Poem, whose Amintas, and translated Antigone
may march in equipage of honour, with any of our 10
ancient Poets. I will not say but wee
had a Haddon whose pen would haue challenged the
Lawrell from Homer, together with Carre,
that came as nere him, as Virgil to Theocritus.
But Tho. Newton with his Leyland,
and Gabriell Haruey, with two or three other, is
almost all the store, that is left vs 15
at this hower. Epitaphers, and
position Poets haue wee more than a good ma- [A 1V]
ny, that swarme like Crowes to a dead carcas, but flie
like Swallows in the Winter, from any continuate subiect
of witte. The efficient whereof, I imagine to issue, from
the vpstart discipline, of our reformatorie 20
Churchmen, who account wit vanitie,
and poetrie impietie; whose error, although the necessitie
of Philosophie might confute, which lies couched most
closely vnder darke fables profunditie, yet I had rather
referre it, as a disputative plea to diuines, than set it
downe as a determinate position, 25
in my vnexperienst opinion. But how
euer their dissentious iudgements, should decree in their
afternoone sessions of
Textual Notes to Page 16
10 our3 your 160516101616
16 haue wee] we haue 1599-1616
15 to] by 160516101616
an sit, the priuat trueth, of my discouered
Creede in this controuersie is this, that as that beast,
was thought scarce worthie to bee sacrifised, to the
AEgiptian Epaphus, who had not some or other
blacke spotte on his skinne: so I deeme him farre
vnworthie of the name of a scholler, & so
consequentlie, 5
to sacrifice his endeuors to art, that
is not a Poet, either in whole or in a parte and here
peraduenture, some desperate quipper, will canuaze my
proposed comparison plus vltra, reconciling the
allusion of the blacke spot, to the blacke pot; which
makes our Poets vndermeale Muses so 10
mutinous, as euerie stanzo they pen
after dinner, is full poynted with a stabbe. Which their
dagger drunkennesse, although it might be excused, with Tam
Marti quam Mercurio, yet will I couer it as well as
I may, with that prouerbiall foecundi calices,
that might wel haue been doorekeeper, to 15
the kanne of Silenus, when
nodding on his Asse trapt with iuie, hee made his moist
nosecloth, the pausing intermedium, twixt euerie nappe.
Let frugale scholares, and fine fingerd nouices, take
their drinke by the ownce, and their wine by the
halpeworthes, but it is for a Poet, to examine the 20
pottle pottes, and gage the bottome of
whole gallons; aui bene vult ποιειν, debet
ante πινειν.A pot of blew
burning ale, with a fierie flaming tost, is as good as Pallas
with the nine Muses on Pernassus top: without the
which, in vaine may they crie; o thou my muse inspire mee
with some pen, 25
when they want cer- [A 2] taine liquid
sacrifice, to rouze her foorth her denne. Pardon me
Gentlemen, though somewhat
Textual Notes to Page 17
5 of the name] the name 1599-1616
7 in a] in 1599-1616
8 proposed] purposed 1599-1616
10 makes] maketh 1599-1616
10-11 so mutinous] to mutinous 160
5 1616, to mutinons 1610
merely I glaunce, at their imoderate
follie, who affirms thatno man can write with conceit, except
he take counsell of thecup: nor would I haue you thinke, that
Theonino dente, Iarme
my stile against all, since I doo knowe the moderationof many Gentlemen of that studie, to
be so fαrre from infamie, 5
as their verse from equalitie: whose
sufficiencie, were it aswell seene into, by those of higher
place, as it wandersabroade vnrewarded, in the mouthes of
vngratefull monsters,no double but the remembrance, of Moecenas
liberalitie,extended to Maro, and men of
like qualitie, would haue lefte 10
no memorie to that prouerb of
pouertie, Si nihil attuleris,ibis Homere foras. Tut saies our English Italians, thefinest witts our Climate sends foorth,
are but drie brainddoltes, in comparison of other
countries: whom if youinterrupt with redde rationem,
they will tell you of Petrache, 15
Tasso, Celiano, with an infinite
number of others; to whomeif
I should oppose Chaucer, Lidgate, Gower,
with such like,that liued vnder the tirranie of
ignorance, I do think theirbest
louers, would bee much discontented, with the collationof contraries, if I should write ouer
al their heads, Haile 20
fellow well met. One thing I am sure
of, that each of thesethree, haue vaunted their meeters,
with as much admirationin English, as euer the proudest Ariosto,
did his verse inItalian. What should I come to our
court, where the otherwhilevacations of our grauer Nobilitie, are
prodigall of more 25
pompous wit, and choyce of words, than
euer tragick Tassocould attaine too: but as for
pastorall Poemes, I will not
Textual Notes to Page 18
2 can write]
writes 1599-1616
12 Tut
saies] Tush say 1599-1616
20 vaunted] vanted 1605.
vented 16101616
make the comparison, least our
countrimens credit should bee discountenanst by the
contention, who although they cannot fare, with such
inferior facilitie, yet I knowe would carrie the bucklers
full easilie, from all forreine brauers, if their subiectum
circa quod, should sauor of any thing 5
haughtie: and should the challenge ofdeepe
conceit,
be intruded by any forreiner, to bring our english wits,
to the tutchstone [A 2V] of Arte, I would
preferre, diuine Master Spencer, the miracle of
wit to bandie line for line for my life, in the honor of England,
gainst Spaine, France, Italie, 10
and all the worlde. Neither is he, the
only swallow of our summer, (although Apollo, if
his Tripos were vp again would pronounce him his Socrates)
but he being forborne, there are extant about London,
many most able men, to reuiue Poetrie, though it were
executed ten thousand times, as in Platos, so in
15
Puritanes common wealth; as for
example Mathew Roydon, Thomas Atchelow and
George Peele, the first of whome, as hee hath
shewed himselfe singular, in the immortall Epitaph of his
be- loued Astrophel, besides many other most
absolute comicke inventions (made more publique by euerie
mans praise, than they can bee by my speache) so the
second, hath more than once or twise manifested, his deepe
witted schollership in places of credit; & for the
last, thogh not the least of them all, I dare commend him
to all that know him, as the chiefe supporter of pleasance
nowe liuing, the Atlas of 25
Poetrie, & primus verborum
Artifex: whose first encrease, the Arraignement of Paris,
might plead to your opinions, his
pregnant
dexteritie of wit, and manifold varietie of invention;
wherein (me iudice) hee goeth a step beyond all
that write. Sundrie other sweete Gentlemen I know, that
haue vaunted their pens in priuate deuices, and trickt vp
a companie of taffata fooles with their feathers, whose
beautie if our 5
Poets had not peecte with the supply
of their periwigs, they might haue antickt it vntill this
time vp and downe the countrey with the King of Fairies,
and dinde euerie dale at the pease porredge ordinarie with
Delphrigus. But Tolossa hath forgot that
it was sometime sackt, and beggers that euer 10
they caried their fardles on footback:
and in truth no meruaile, when as the deserued reputation
of one Roscius, is of force to inrich a rabble of
counterfets; yet let subiects for all their insolence,
dedicate a Deprofundis euerie morning to
the preservation of their Caesar, least their 15
encreasing indignities returne them
ere long to their [A 3] iuggling mediocritie, and they
bewaile in weeping blankes, the wane of their Monarchie.
As Poetrie hath been honored in those her forenamed
professors; so it hath not been anie whit disparaged by William
Warners absolute Albions. And 20
here Authoritie hath made a full
point: in whose reuerence insisting, I cease to oppose to
your sport the picture of those pamphleters and poets,
that make a patrimonie of In Speech. and more than
a yonger brothers inheritance of their Abcie. Read
fauorablie to incourage me in the firstlings of 25
my follie; and perswade your selues,
I’le persecute those idiots and their heires to the thirde
generation, that haue
Textual Notes to Page 20
3 know] doe knowe 1599-1616;
haue] we haue
16051610
5 taffata] taffaty 16101616
6 peeetej pecked 1599-1616
9 Tolossa] Tolasso 1605
1610 1616
10 forgot] forgotten 1599-1616
16-17 to
their iuggling mediocritie] their iugling to mediocrity 1610
1616
21 Authorities] Auhtoritie 1616:
22 to oppose] 0 oppose 1599.
to expose 16101616
26 I’le] I will 1599-1616
27 to] vnto 1599-1616
made Art banquerout of her ornaments,
& sent Poetrie a begging vp & down the countrey.
It may be my Anatomie of absurdities, may acquaint
you ere long with my skill in surgerie; wherein the
diseases of Art more merely discouered, may make our
maimed poets put together their blankes to the 5
building of an Hospitall. If you
chance to meet it in Poules shapte in a new sute
of similitudes, as if like the eloquent apprentise of Plutarch
it were popt at 7. yeres olde in double apparaile; thinke
his master hath but fulfilled couenants, and onely
cancelled the Indentures of dutie. If I please, 10
Ile thinke
my ignorance indebted to you that applaud it; if not, what
rests, but that I be excluded from your courtesie, like
Apocripha from your Bibles. How euer. Yours
euer;
THOMAS NASH.
Textual Notes to Page 21
3 may] way 1605
5 to] vnto 1599-1616
8 popt] popped 1599t propped 1605-1616
8 olde] end 1599-1616
9 but fulfilled] fulfilled 1599-1616
11 Ile] I wil 1599-1616
11 to] vnto 1599-1616
[A 4] In laudem Authoris,
Distichon amoris.
DElicious
words, the life of wanton wit,
That doo enspire our soules with sweete content;
Why have
your father Hermes thought it fit 5
My eyes should surfet by my hearts consent?
Full twentie
Summers haue I fading seene,
And twentie Floras in their golden guise:
Yet neuer
viewd I such a pleasant Greene
As this, whose garnisht gleades, compare denies. 10
COme foorth
you witts that vaunt the pompe of speach,
And striue to thunder from a Stage-mans throate:
View Menaphon
a note beyond your reach;
Whose sight will make your drumming descant doate:
Players
auant, you know not to delight;
Welcome
sweete Shepheard, worth a Schollers sight.
Smirna is drie, and Helicon exhal’d,
Caballian founts haue left their springing
sourse,
Parnassus with his Lawrell stands appal'd;
And yet His Muse keepes on her wonted course:
Wonted said
I? I wrong his paines too much,
Since that
his pen before brought foorth none such.
One writes
of loue, and wanders in the aire;
Another stands on tearmes of trees and stones:
When heauens
compare yeeldes but the praise of faire,
And christall can describe but flesh and bones:
Yet countrey
swaynes, whose thoughts are faith and troth,
Will shape
sweete words of wooll and russet cloth.
Mongst whom
if I my Tityrus should chuse,
Whose warbling tunes might wanton out my woes;
To none more
oftner would my solace vse,
Textual Notes to Page 24
1-25/4 text-]
entire poem omitted 1599-1616
Than to his Pastoralls their mortall foes.
Sweete verse, sweete prose, how haue
you plesde my vaine?
Be thou still Greene, whiles
others glorie waine.
Finis.
[B 1] Arcadia.
The
reports of the
Shepheards.
AFter that the wrath of mightie Ioue,
had wrapt Arcadia with noysome pestilence, in so
much that the ayre yeelding 5
preiudiciall sauors, seemd to be
peremptory in some fatall resolution. Democles
soueraigne and King of that famous Continent pitying the
sinister accidents of his people, being a man as iust in
his censures as royall in his possessions, as carefull for
the weale of his country, as the continuance 10
of his diadem, thinking that vnpeopled
Cities were Corasiues to Princes consciences, that the
strength of his subiects was the sinnews of his dominions,
and that euery crowne, must conteyne a care, not onely to
winne honour by forrayne conquests, but in mainteining
dignitie with ciuill and domestical 15
insights: Democles grounding
his arguments vpon these premisses, coueting to be counted
Pater Patriae, calling a Parliament together,
whether all his Nobilitie incited by summons made their
repaire, elected two of his chiefe Lordes to passe vnto Delphos,
at Apollos Oracle to heare the fatall 20
sentence, either of their future
miserie or present remedie. They hauing their charge,
posting from Arcadia to the Tripos where
Pithia sate, the sacred Nymph that deliuered out Apollos
Dylonimas, offering as their manner is their orizons
& presents, as wel to intreate by deuotion, as to
perswade 25
by bountie, they had returned from Apollo
this doome.
Dead men shall warre, and vnborne babes shall
frowne, 5
And with their fawchens hew their foemen downe.
[B 1V] When Lambes haue
Lions for their surest guide,
and Planets rest vpon th' arcadian hills:
10
When
swelling seas haue neither ebbe nor tide.
When equall
bankes the Ocean margine fills.
Then looke Arcadians for a happie time,
And sweete content within your troubled Clyme.
No sooner had Pithia deliuered this scroll
to the 15
Lordes of Arcadie,
but they departed and brought it to Democles, who
causing the oracle to be read amongst his distressed
commons, found the Delphian censure more full of
doubts to amaze, than fraught with hope to comfort;
thinking rather that the angrie God sent a peremptorie
presage of 20
ruine, than
a probable ambiguitie to applaud any hope of remedie: yet
loath to haue his carefull subiects fall into the balefull
laborinth of despaire, Democles began to
discourse vnto them, that the interpreters of Apollos
secretes, were not the conceipts of humane reason, but the
successe of 25
Textual Notes to Page 27
17 his] the
16101616
20 the
angrie God] the anger of God 160516101616
long expected euents; that Comets did
portend at the first blaze, but tooke effect in the dated
bosome of the destinies; that oracles were foretold at the
Delphian Caue, but were shapte out and finished in
the Counsell house. With such perswasiue arguments Democles
appeased the distressed 5
thoughtes of his doubtful countrimen,
and commanded by proclamation that no man should prie into
the quiddities of Apollos answere, least sundrie
censures of his diuine secrecie, shoulde trouble Arcadia
with seme sodaine mutinie. The King thus smoothing the
heate of his cares, rested a 10
melancholy man in his Courts; hiding
vnder his head the double faced figure of Ianus,
as well to cleare the skies of other mens conceiptes with
smiles, as to furnish out his owne dumps with thoughts.
But as other beasts leuell their lookes at the countenance
of the Lion, and birdes make wing 15
as the Eagle flyes: so Regis ad
arbitrium totus componitur orbis: the people were
measured by the minde of the souereigne, and what stormes
soeuer they smoothed in priuate conceipt, yet they made
haye, [B 2] and cried holiday in outward appearance:
insomuch that euerie man repaired to his 20
owne home, and fell either vnto
pleasures or labours, as their liuing or content allowed
them.
Whiles thus Arcadia rested in a silent
quiet, Menaphon the Kings Shepheard, a man of high
account among the Swaines of Arcadie, loued of the
Nymphes, as the paragon of all their 25
countrey
youngsters, walking solitarie downe to the shore, to see
if any of his ewes and lambes were straggled downe
Textual Notes to Page 28
11 Courts]
courte 16101616
15 wing]
wings 16101616
16 Eagle
flyes] Eagles flie 1599-1616
17-18 the
souereigne] theyr soueraigne 160516101616
18 smoothed]
smothered 1599-1816
to the
strond to brouse on sea iuie, whereof they take speciall
delight to feede; he found his flockes grazing vpon the
Promontorie Mountaines hardlie: whereon resting himselfe
on a hill that ouer-peered the great Mediterraneum,
noting how Phoebus fetched his Laualtos on
the purple Plaines 5
of Neptunus,
as if he had meant to haue courted Thetis in the
royaltie of his roabes: the Dolphines (the sweete
conceipters of Musicke) fetcht their carreers on the
calmed waues, as if Arion had touched the stringes
of his siluer sounding instrument: the Mermaides thrusting
their heades from the 10
bosome of Amphitrite,
sate on the mounting bankes of Neptune, drying
their waterie tresses in the Sunne beames. AEolus forbare
to throwe abroad his gustes on the slumbering browes of
the Sea-God, as giuing Triton leaue to pleasure
his Queene with desired melodie, and Proteus
libertie to followe 15
his flockes
without disquiet.
Menaphon looking ouer the champion of Arcadie
to see if the Continent were as full of smiles, as the
seas were of fauours, sawe the shrubbes as in a dreame
with delightfull harmonie, and the birdes that chaunted on
their braunches 20
not disturbed with the least breath of
a fauourable Zephirus. Seeing thus the accord of
the Land and Sea, casting a fresh gaze on the water
Nimphs, he began to consider how Venus was
feigned by the Poets to spring of the froathe of the Seas;
which draue him straight into a deepe coniecture 25
of the
inconstancie of Loue: that as if Luna were his [B
2V] load-starre, had euerie minute ebbes and
tides,
1 on] on the
16101616
1 whereof] 1599-1616,
wherfore 1589
2 grazing] gazing 1599-1616
5 purple] pupple 1610
13 gustes] guestes 1599 1605 1610
15 Proteus] Porteus 1599
1605
18 Continent were] continent was 1610
1616
19 fauours] sauours 1610
sometime ouerflowing the banks of
Fortune with a gracious look lightened from the eyes of a
fauorable louer, otherwhiles ebbing to the dangerous
shelfe of despaire, with the piercing frowne of a froward
Mistresse. Menaphon in this browne studie, calling
to mince certaine Aphorismes that 5
Auarreon had pend downe as principles of loues
follies, being as deepe an enemie to fancie, as Narcissus
was to affection, began thus to scoffe at Venus
Deitie.
Menaphon thy mindes fauours, are greater
than thy wealths fortunes, thy thoughtes higher than thy
birth, & 10
thy priuate conceipt better than thy
publique esteeme. Thou art a shepheard Menaphon,
who in feeding of thy flockes findest out natures
secrecie, and in preuenting thy lambes preiudice
conceiptest the Astronomicall motions of the heauens:
holding thy sheep-walkes to yeeld as great 15
Philosophie, as the Ancients discourse
in their learned Academies. Thou countest labour as the Indians
doo their Chrisocolla wherwith they trie euerie
mettall, and thou examine euerie action. Content sitteth
in thy minde as Neptune in his Sea-throne, who
with his trident mace 20
appeaseth euerie storme. When thou
seest the heauens frowne thou thinkest on thy faults, and
a cleere skie putteth thee in minde of grace; the summers
glorie tels thee of youths vanitie, the winters parched
leaues of ages declining weaknes. Thus in a myrrour thou
measurest thy deedes with 25
equall and considerate motions, and by
being a shepheard findest that which Kings want in their
royalties. Enuie
Textual Notes to Page 30
12 flockesj flock 160516101616
ouerlooketh thee, renting with the
windes the Pine trees of Ida; when the Affrick
shrubs waue not a leafe with the tempestes. Thine eyes are
vaylde with content that thou canst not gaze so high as
ambition: & for loue, and with that in naming of loue,
the shepheard fell into a great laughter. 5
Loue Menaphon, why of all
follies that euer Poets fained, or men euer faulted with,
this foolish imagination of loue is the greatest: Venus
forsooth for her wanton escapes must be a Goddesse, &
her bastard a Deitie: Cu- [B 3] pide must
be yong and euer a boy to prooue that loue is fond and
witlesse, 10
wings to make him inconstant, and
arrowes whereby to shew him feareful: blinde (or all were
not worth a pinne) to prooue that Cupides leuell
is both without aime and reason: thus is the God, and such
are his Votaries. As soone as our shepheards of Arcadie
settle themselues to fancie, and weare 15
the characters of Venus
stampte in their forheads, straight their attire must bee
quaint, their lookes full of amours, as their Gods quiuer
is full of arrowes; their eyes holding smiles and teares,
to leape out at their Mistres fauours or her frownes:
sighes must flie as figures of their thoughts, 20
and euerie wrinckle must be tempred
with a passion: thus suted in outward proportion, and made
excellent in inward constitution, they straight repairs to
take viewe of their Mistres beautie. She as one obseruant
vnto Venus principles, first tieth loue in her
tresses, and wraps affection in the 25
tramels of her haire; snaring our
swains in her locks as Mars in the net, holding in her
forhead Fortunes Calender,
Textual Notes to Page 31
2-3 tempestesj tempest 16101616
7 euer faulted] faulted 1616
15 weare] were 15991605
19 to leaped to leapt 1605
either to assigne dismal influence, or
some favourable aspect. If a wrinckle appeare in her brow,
then our shepheard must put on his working day face, &
frame nought but dolefull Madrigalls of sorrowe; if a
dimple grace her cheeke, the heauens cannot prooue fatal
to our kinde hearted louers; if 5
she seeme coy, then poemes of death
mounted vppon deepe drawne sighes, flie from their master
to sue for some fauour, alledging how death at the least
may date his miserie: to be briefe, as vppon the shoares
of Lapanthe the winds continue neuer one day in
one quarter, so the thoughtes of a louer 10
neuer continue scarce a minute in one
passion; but as Fortunes globe, so is fancies seate
variable and inconstant. If louers sorrowes then be like Sisiphus
turmoyles, & their fauours like honnie bought with
gall; let poore Menaphon then liue at labour, and
make esteeme of Venus as of Mars 15
his concubine; and as the Cimbrians
hold their idols in account but in euerie tempest, so make
Cupide a God, but when thou art ouer-pained with
passions, and that Menaphon wil [B 3v]
neuer loue, for as long as thou temperest thy handes with
labours, thou canst not fetter thy thoughts with 20
loues. And in this Satyricall humor
smiling at his owne conceipts, hee tooke his pipe in his
hand, and betweene euerie report of his instrument sung a
stanzo to this effect.
Menaphons
Song.
Some say
Loue
Textual Notes to Page 32
12 seate]
case 1599-1616
18 that]
then 1610 1616
Foolish Loue
Doth rule and gouerne all the Gods,
I say Loue,
Inconstant
Loue
Sets mens senses fame at ods. 5
Some sweare
Loue
Smooth’d
face Loue
Is sweetest sweete that men can haue:
I say Loue,
Sower Loue
10
Makes vertue yeeld as beauties slaue.
Abitter sweete, a follie worst of all
That forceth
wisedome to be follies thrall.
Loue is sweete.
Wherein sweete? 15
In fading pleasures that doo paine,
Beautie sweete.
Is that sweete
That yeeldeth sorrow for a gaine?
If Loues sweete, 20
Heerein sweete
That minutes ioyes are monthlie woes.
Tis not sweete,
That is sweete
Nowhere, but where repentance growes. 25
Then loue who list if beautie be so
sower:
Labour for me, Loue rest in Princes
bower
Textual Notes to Page 33
2 rule] rue
1616
11 vertue]
vertues 16101616
16 paine]
faine 1610 l6l6
19 yeeldeth]
yeelds 1599-1616
[B 4] Menaphon
hauing ended his roundelay, rising vp, thinking to passe
from the mountaine downe to the valley, casting his eye to
the sea side, espied certain fragments of a broken ship
floating vpon the waues, and sundrie persons driuen vpon
the shore with a calme, walking all wet and 5
weary vpon
the sands, wondring at this strange sight he stood amazed;
yet desirous to see the euent of this accident, he
shrowded himself to rest vnespied til he might perceiue
what would happen: at last he might descrie it was a woman
holding a childe in her armes, and an olde man directing
her 10
as it were
her guide. These three (as distressed wrackes) preserued
by some further forepoynting fate, coueted to clime the
mountaine, the better to vse the fauor of the Sunne, to
drie their drenched apparaile; at last crawled vp where
poore Menaphon lay close, and resting them vnder a
15
bush, the
old man did nothing but sende out sighes, and the woman
ceased not from streaming foorth riuolets of teares, that
hung on her cheekes like the droppes of pearled deaw vppon
the riches of Flora. The poore babe was the
touch-stone of his mothers passions; for when he smiled
and lay laughing 20
in hir
lappe, were her heart neuer so deeply ouercharged with her
present sorrowes; yet kissing the pretie infant, shee
lightened out smiles from those cheekes, that were
furrowed with continual sources of teares: but if he
cried, then sighes as smokes, and sobbes as thundercracks,
foreranne 25
those
showers, that with redoubled distresse distilled from her
eyes: thus with pretie inconstant passions trimming vp
Textual Notes to Page 39
1 rising]
rose 1599-1616
5 with] like
1599-1616
26 with]
which 1599-1616
her table,
and at last to lull him a sleepe, she warbled out of her
wofull breast this dittie.
Sephestias song
to her childe.
Weepe not my
wanton smile vpon my knee,
When thou
art olde ther's griefe inough for thee.
Mothers wagge, pretie boy,
Fathers sorrow, fathers ioy:
[B 4v]
When thy father first did see
Such a boy by him and mee,
He was glad, I was woe,
Fortune changde made him so,
When he left his pretie boy,
Last his sorowe, first his ioy.
Weepe not my
wanton smile vpon my knee:
When thou
art olde ther's griefe inough for thee.
Streaming teares that neuer stint,
Like pearle drops from a flint
Fell by course from his eyes,
That one anothers place supplies:
Thus he grieud in euerie part,
Teares of bloud fell from his hart,
When he left his pretie boy,
Fathers sorrow, fathers ioy.
Weepe not my
wanton smile vpon my knee:
When thou
art olde ther's griefe inough for thee.
Textual Notes to Page 35
12 left his
pretie boy] had left his prettie 1599, had left
his prettie boy 160516101616
The wanton smilde, father wept;
Mother cride, babie lept:
More he crowde, more we cride;
Nature could not sorowe hide.
He must goe, he must kisse 5
Childe and mother, babie blisse:
For he left his pretie boy,
Fathers sorowe, fathers ioy.
Weepe not my
wanton smile vpon my knee:
When thou
art olde ther's griefe inough for thee. 10
With this lullaby the babie fell a sleepe, and Sephestia
laying it vpon the greene grasse couered it with a mantle,
& then leaning her head on her hand, and her elbow on
her lap she fell a fresh to poure foorth abundaunce of
plaintes, which Lamedon the old man espying,
although in his 15
face
appeared the mappe of discontent, and in euerie wrinckle
was a catalogue of woes; yet to cheere vp Sephestia,
shrowding [C 1] his inward sorrow with an outward smile,
he began to comfort her in this manner.
Sephestia. thou seest no Phisick preuailes
against the 20
gaze of the
Basilisckes, no charme against the sting of the Tarantula,
no preuention to diuert the decree of the Fates, nor no
meanes to recall backe the balefull hurt of Fortune:
Incurable sores are without Auicens Aphorismes,
and therefore no salue for them but patience. Then my Sephestia
sith thy 25
fal is high,
and fortune low; thy sorrowes great, and thy
Textual Notes to Page 36
2 crowdej
crownde 1599
3 we cride]
he cride 160516101616
hope little:
seeing me partaker of thy miseries, set all thy rest vppon
this, Solamen miseris, socios habuisse doloris.
Chaunce is like Ianus double faced, as well full
of smiles to comfort, as of frownes to dismay: the Ocean
at his deadest ebbe returns to a full tide; when the Eagle
meanes to soare 5
highest, hee
raiseth his flight in the lowest dales: so fareth it with
fortune who in her highest extreames is most vnconstant:
when the tempest of her wrath is most fearfull, than looke
for a calme; when she beates thee with nettle, then thinke
she will strewe thee with roses; when shee is 10
most
familiar with furies, her intent is to be most prodigall Sephestia.
Thus are the arrowes of Fortune feathered with the plumes
of the bird Halcione, that changeth colours with
the Moone, which howsoeuer she shootes them pierce not so
deepe but they may bee cured. But Sephestia thou
art daughter 15
to a King,
exiled by him from the hope of a crowne, banisht from the
pleasures of the Court to the painfull fortunes of the
countrey, parted for loue from him thou canst not but
loue, from Maximus Sephestia, who for thee hath
suffered so many disfauours, as either discontent or death
can affoord. 20
What of all
this, is not hope the daughter of time? Haue not starres
their fauourable aspects, as they haue froward opposition?
Is there not a Iupiter as there is a Saturne?
Cannot the influence of smiling Venus, stretch as
farre as the frowning constitution of Mars? I tell
thee Sephestia, 25
Iuno foldeth in her brows the volumes-
of the Destinies; whom melancholie Saturne
deposeth from a Crowne, she mildlie
Textual Notes to Page 37
1-2 thy rest
vppon this] vpon this 1599-1616
4 his] the 160516101616
9 nettle]
nettles 1599-1616
13 colours]
colour 160516101616
aduanceth to
a Diadem: [C 1V] then feare not, for if the
mother liue in miserie, yet hath she a scepter for the
sonne: let the vnkindnesse of thy father be buried in the
cinders of obedience, and the want of Maximus be
supplied with the presence of his pretie babe, who beeing
too young for Fortune, lies smiling on thy knee and laughs
at Fortune: 5
learne by
him Sephestia to vse patience, which is like the
balme in the Vale of Iehosaphat, that findeth no
wound so deepe, but it cureth: thou seest alreadie Fortune
begins to change her hiew, for after the great storme that
rent our shippe, we 10
found a
calme that brought vs safe to shore; the mercie of Neptune
was more than the enuie of AEolus, and the
discurtesie of thy father is proportioned with the fauour
of the Gods. Thus Sephestia being copartner of thy
miserie, yet do I seeke to allay thy martyrdome: beeing
sicke to my selfe, yet 15
do I play
the Phisition to thee, wishing thou maist beare thy
sorrowes with as much content, as I brooke my misfortunes
with patience. As hee was readie to goe forwarde with his
perswasiue argument, Sephestia fetching a deepe
sigh, filling her tender eyes with teares, made this
replie. 20
Sweete Lamedon, once partner of my
royalties, now partaker of my wants, as constant in his
extreame distresse, as faithfull in higher fortunes: the
Turtle pearketh not on barren frees, Doues delight not in
foule cottages, the Lyon frequents no putrified haunts,
friends followe not after 25
pouertie,
nor hath sinister chance anie drugges from the Phisitians,
Nullus ad amissas ibit amicus opes: and yet
Textual Notes to Page 38
10 rent]
[emt 1610 1616
Lamedon the misfortune of Sephestia
abridgeth not our olde contracted amitie, thou temperest
her exyle with thy banishment, and she sayling to Styx,
thou ferriest ouer to Phlegeton; then Lamedon,
saying as Andromache sayd to Hector Tu Dominus,
tu vir, tu mihi frater eris. Thy aged yeres
5
shalbe the
calender of my fortunes, and thy gray haires the Paralells
of mine actions. If Lamedon perswade Sephestia
to content, Portia shall not exceede Sephestia
in patience; if he will her to keepe a low sayle, she will
vayle al her [C 2]
sheete; if to forget her loues, shee will quench them 20
with
labours; if to accuse Venus as a foe, I wil hate Cupide
as an enemie and seeing the Destinies haue driuen thee
from a crowne, I will rest satisfied with the Countrey,
placing all my delights in honouring thee, & nursing
vp my pretie wanton. I will imagine a small cotage to be a
spacious 15
pallaice,
& thinke as great quiet in a russet coate, as in
royall habilliments: Sephestia Lamedon will not
scorne with Iuno to turne hir self into the shape
of Semeles nurse, but vnknowne rest carelesse of
my fortunes: the hope of times returne shal be the ende of
my thoughts, the smiles of my sonne 20
shall bee
the nourishment of my hart, and the course of his youth
shall be the comfort of my yeres; euerie laughter that
leapes from his lookes, shall be the holiday of my
conceiptes, and euerie teare, shal furnish out my greeues,
and his fathers funerals. I haue heard them say 25
Lamedon, that the lowest shrubbes feele the
least tempests, that in the valleis of Affrlca is
heard no thunder, that
Textual Notes to Page 39
15 to he a] 1599-1616,
to a 1589
27 that in] in 1599-1616
in countrey roomes is greatest rest,
and in little wealth the least disquiet: dignitie treadeth
vpon glasse, and honour is like to the hearbe Synara,
that when it bloometh most gorgeous, then it blasteth: Aulica
vita splendida miseria, Courts haue golden dreames,
but cotages sweet 5
slumbres: then Lamedon will I
disguise my self, with my cloathes I will change my
thoughts; for being poorelie attired I will be meanelie
minded, and measure my actions by my present estate, not
by former fortunes. In saying this the babe awakte and
cride, and she fell to teares mixed 10
with a
lullabie.
All this while Menaphon sate
amongst the shrubs fixing his eyes on the glorious obiect
of her face, hee noted her tresses, which hee compared to
the coloured Hiacinth of Arcadia, her
browes to the mountaine snowes that lie on the 15
hils, her
eyes to the gray glister of Titans gorgeous
mantle, her alabaster necke to the whitenesse of his
flockes, her teares to pearle, her face to borders of
Lillies interseamed with Roses: to be briefe our shepheard
Menaphon that heeretofore [C 2V] was an
Atheist to loue, and as the Thessalian of 20
Bacchus, so hee a contemner of Venus,
was nowe by the wylie shaft of Cupid so intangled
in the perfection & beauteous excellence of Sephestia;
as now he wore no beningne Planet but Venus, no
God but Cupide, no exquisite deitie but Loue.
Being thus fettered with the pliant perswasions of fancie,25
impatient in
his newe affections, as the horse that neuer before felt
the spurre, he could not bridle his new
Textual Notes to Page 40
3to] vnto 1599-1616
7 I will] will I 1599-1616
15 lie] lies 159916051610
16 the gray glister] ther graie
glister 16051610
18 teares] 1599-1616.
teates 1589
23 excellence] excellencie 1599-1616
conceaued amors, but watching when
they shoulde depart, perceiuing by the gestures of the
olde man, and the teares of the Gentlewoman, that they
were distrest, thought to offer anie helpe that laie
within the compasse of his abilitie. As thus he mused in
his new passions, Lamedon and Sephestia 5
rose vp, and resolued to take their
course which way the winde blew: passing so downe the
mountaine to goe seeke out some towne, at last they pacing
softlie on, Lamedon espied Menaphon:
desirous therefore to know the course of the countrey,
hee saluted him thus. 10
Shepheard, for so farre thy attire warrants me;
courteous, for so much thy countenance imports: if
distressed persons whom Fortune hath wronged, and the seas
haue fauored, (if we may count it fauour to liue and want)
may without offence craue so farre ayde as to know some
place where to 15
rest our wearie and weather-beaten
bones, our charges shall be paid, and you haue for
recompence such thankes as Fortunes outlawes may yeeld to
their fauourers. Menaphon hearing him speak so
grauelie, but not fitting his eare to his eye, stood
staring still on Sephestias face, which shee
perceiuing, 20
flashed out such a blush from her
alabaster cheeks that they lookt like the ruddie gates of
the Morning: this sweete bashfulnesse amazing Menaphon,
at last hee began thus to answere.
Strangers, your degree I know not, therefore pardon
if 25
I giue lesse title than your estates
merit: Fortunes frownes are Princes fortunes, and Kings
are subiect to chance &
Textual Notes to Page 41
6 take their course] take course 16101616
8 pacing] passing 1599-1616
11 attire] attires 1610
17 paid] plaide 1605
17 Fortunes] Forunes 1610
20 on] one 1610
20 Sephestias] Sephestis 1605
27 Kings] King 1610
destinie. Mishap is to he salued with
pitie, not scorne: and we [C 33] that are Fortunes
darlings, are bounde to relieue them that are distrest:
therefore follow me, and you shal haue such succour, as a
shepheard may affoord. Lamedon and Sephestia
were passing glad, and Menaphon led the way, not 5
content
onelie to feed his sight with the beautie of his new
Mistres, but thought also to inferre some occasion of
parley, to heare whether her voyce were as melodious, as
her face beautiful, hee therefore prosecuted his prattle
thus. Gentlewoman, when first I saw you sitting vpon the Arcadian
10
Promontorie
with your babie on your lappe, & this olde father by;
I thought I had seene Venus with Cupide on
her knee courted by Anchises of Troy: the
excellence of your
looks could
discouer no lesse than Mars his paramour, and the
beautie of the childe as much as the dignitie of her15
wanton: at
last perceiuing by your teares and your childs shrikes,
that ye were passengers distrest, I lent you sighes to
partake your sorrowes, and luke warme drops to signifie
how I pitie ouercharged persons, in lieu whereof let mee
craue your name, countrey, and parentage. Sephestia
seeing 20
by the
shepheards passionate lookes, that the swaine was halfe in
loue, replyed thus; Curteous shepheard, if my blubbered
cheekes did look like Venus at a blush, it was
when the wofull Goddesse wept for her
faire Adonis, my boye is no Cupide but the
sonne of care, Fortunes fondling in his 25
youth, to
bee I hope her darling in his age: in that your lookes saw
our griefe, & your thoughts pitied our woes,
Textual Notes to Page 42
2 relieue]
belieue 15991605
12 on] one 1610
22 if my] my 1599-1616
23 blubbered] blubbering 1599-1616
our tongues shal giue thanks (the
bountie of sorrowes tenants) and our hearts praye that the
Gods may be as friendly to your flockes, as you fauourable
to vs. My name is Samela, my countrey Cipres,
my parentage meane, the wife of a poore Gentleman now
deceased: how we arriued heere by 5
shipwrack, gentle shepheard inquire
not, least it be tedious for thee to heare it, and a
double griefe for mee to rehearse it. The shepheard not
daring displease his Mistres, as hauing loues threates
hanging on her lippes, he conueighed them home to his
house: as soone as they were 10
arriued there, he bagan at the dore to
entertaine [C 3V] them thus. Faire Mistres the
flower of all our Nymphes that liue heere in Arcadia,
this is my cotage wherein I liue content, and your
lodging, where (please it you) ye may rest quiet. I haue
not rich cloathes of AEgypt to couer the walls, 15
nor store of plate to discouer anie
wealth; for shepheards vse neither to be proud nor
couetous: you shall find heere cheese and milke for
dainties, and wooll for cloathing; in euerie corner of the
house Content sitting smiling, and tempering euerie
homelie thing with a welcome: this if ye 20
can brooke & accept of, (as Gods
allow the meanest hospi-talitie) ye shall haue such
welcome and fare as Philemon and Baucis
gaue to Iupiter. Sephestia thankt him
heartelie, and going into his house found what he promist:
after that they had sate a little by the fire and were
well warmed, 25
they
went to supper, where Sephestia fedde well,
as one whom the sea had made hungrie, and Lamedon so
plide his teeth, that
Textual Notes to Page 43
3 favourable] fauouroble 1610
3 to vs] vnto
vs 1599-1616
13 Arcadi] Arcadia1610
15 not] no 1599-1616
15 of] if 1610
all supper he spake
not one word: after they had taken their repast, Menaphon
seeing they were wearie, and that sieepe chimed on to rest,
he let them see their lodging, and so gaue them the good
night. Lamedon on his flocke bedde, and Sephestia
on her countrey couch were so wearie, that they5
slept well:
but Menaphon, poore Menaphon neither asked
his swaynes for his sheepe, nor tooke his mole-spade on
his necke to see his pastures; but as a man pained with a
thousand passions, drenched in distresse, and ouerwhelmed
with a multitude of vncouth cares, he sate like the
pictures 10
that Perseus
tourned with his Gorgons head into stones. His
sister Carmela kept his house, (for so was the
Countrey wench called) and shee seeing her brother sit so
malcontented, stept to. her cupboorde and fetcht a little
beaten spice in 15
an olde
bladder, she sparde no euening milke, but went amongst the
cream bowles, and made him a posset. But alas, Loue had so
lockt vp the shepheards stomacke, that none
would down
with Menaphon: Carmela seeing her brother
refuse his spicte drinke, thought all was not well, and
therefore sate downe and wept; to be short, she blubbered
and he20
sightht, and his men that came in [C
4] and saw their master with a kercher on his head
mournde; so that amongst these swaines there was such
melodie, that Menaphon tooke his
bow and arrowes and went to bedde:
where casting himselfe, he thought to haue beguiled his
passions with some sweete 25
slumbers.
But Loue that smiled at his newe interteined champion,
sitting on his beddes head, prickt him forward with
Textual Notes to Page 44
1 all] at 1616
3 to rest, he let] to rest, let 1605,
the rest, let 16101616
10 vncouth]
vncoucht 159916051610
new desires;
charging Morpheus, Phobetor, and Icolon
the Gods of sleepe, to present vnto his closed eies the
singular beautie and rare perfections of Samela:
(for so will we now call her) in that the Idea of
her excellence, forst him to breath out scalding sighes
smothered within the fornace 5
of his
thoughts, which grew into this or the like passion.
I had thought Menaphon, that he which
weareth the bay leafe had been free from lightening, and
the Eagles penne a preseruatiue against thunder; that
labour had been enemie to loue, and the eschewing of
idlenesse an Antidote against 10
fancies but
I see by proofe there is no adamant so harde, but the
blood of a Goate will make soft; no fort so wel defenced,
but strong batterie will enter; nor anie hart so pliant to
restlesse labours, but inchantments of loue will ouercome.
Unfortunate Menaphon, that a late thoughtst Venus
a strumpet 15
and her
sonne a bastard, now must thou offer incense at her
shrine, and sweare Cupide no lesse than a God:
thou hast reason Menaphon; for hee that liues
without loue, liues without life; presuming as Narcissus
to hate all, and beeing like him at length despised of
all. Can there bee a sweeter 20
blisse than
beautie, a greater heauen than her heauenly perfections
that is mistres of thy thoughts? If the sparkle of her
eyes appeare in the night, the starres blush at her
brightnesse: if her haire glister in the daye, Phoebus
puts off his wreath of diamonds, as ouercome with the
shine of 25
her tresses;
if she walke in the fields, Flora seeing her face,
bids al her glorious flowers close themselues, as being
Textual Notes to Page 45
9 had] hath
1605
27 al her]
her al 1605 1610
by her
beautie disgraced; if her alabaster necke appeere, then Hiems
couereth his snowe, as surpassed in whitenesse. To be
shorte [C 4V] Menaphon, if Samela
had appeared in Ida, Juno for maiestie, Pallas
for wisedome, and Venus for beautie had let my Samela
haue the supremacies why shouldest thou not 5
then loue, and thinke there is no life
to loue, seeing the end of loue is the possession of such
a heauenly Paragon? But what of this Menaphon,
hast thou anie hope to enioy her person, she is a widdow,
true, but too high for thy fortunes; she is in distresse,
ah Menaphon, if thou hast anie sparke 10
of comfort, this must set thy hope on
fire. Want is the load stone of affection, distresse
forceth deeper than Fortunes frownes, and such as are
poore will rather loue than want reliefe, fortunes frownes
are whetstones to fancies and as the horse starteth at the
spurre, so loue is prickt forward 15
with distresse. Samela is
shipwrackt, Menaphon relieues her; she wants, he
supplies with wealth; he sues for loue, either must she
grant, or buy deniall with perpetuall repentance. In this
hope rested the poore shephearde, and with that Menaphon
laide head downe the pillow and toke a sounnd nappe, 20
sleeping out fancie, with a good
slumber.
As soone as the sunne appeared the shepheard got
him vp, and fed fat with this hope, went merely with his
men to the foldes, and there letting foorth his sheepe,
after that hee had appointed where they should graze,
returned home, and 25
looking when his guests should rise,
hauing supt il the last night went roundly to his
breakfast: by that time he had
Textual Notes to Page 46
20 laide head down the pillowj laide
his head down on the pillow 1599-1616
26 suptj slept 1599-1616
ended his desiune, Lamedon
was gotten vp, and so was Samela. Against their
rising Carmela had showen her cookerie, & Menaphon
tired in his russet iacket, his redde sleeues of chainlet,
his blew bonnet, and his round slop of countrey cloth,
bestirred him, as euerie ioynt had been set to a 5
sundrie office. Samela no
sooner came out of her chamber, but Menaphon as
one that claimed pitie for his passions, bad her good
morrow with a firme louers looke: Samela knowing
the fowle by the feather, was able to cast his disease
without his water, perceiued that Cupide had
caught the poore shepheard in his net, and vnles he sought
quickly to break out of the snare [D 1] would make him a
tame foole: faire lookes she gaue him, & with a
smiling sorow discouered how she grieued at his
misfortune, and yet fauoured him. Well, to breakfast they
went: Lamedon and Samela fed hard, but 15
Menaphon like the Argiue in the Date
gardens of Arabia, liued with the contemplation of
his Mistres beautie: the Salamander liueth not without the
fire, the Herring from the water, the Mole from the earth,
nor the Cameleon from the aire, nor coulde Menaphon
liue from the sight of his Samela; 20
whose breath was perfumed aire, whose
eyes were fire wherein he delighted to dallie,- whose
heart the earthlie Paradice wherein hee desired to
ingraffe the essence of his loue and affection: thus did
the poore shepheard bathe in a kinde of blisse, whiles his
eye feeding on his mistres face, did 25
surfet with the excellencie of her
perfection. So long he gazde, that at length breakfast was
ended, and he desirous
Textual Notes to Page 47
6 slop] slops 1599-1616
7 pitie] piety 1616
11 sought] fought 1616
18 liueth] liues 1599 1605
18 without
the fire] without fire 1599-1616
20 from the sight] in the sight 1599.
but in sight 1610 1616
25 whiles] while 1599-1616
27 length] lenght 1610
to doo her
anie seruice, first put her childe to nurse, and then led
her forth to see his folds; thinking with the sight of his
flockes to inueigle her, whose minde had rather haue
chosen anie misfortune, than haue deined her eyes on the
face and feature of so lowe a peasant. Well, abroad they
went, 5
Menaphon with his sheephooke fringed with
cruell, to signifie he was chiefe of the swaynes, Lamedon
and Samela after: plodding thus ouer the greene
fields, at last they came to the mountains where Menaphons
flockes grazed, and there he discoursed vnto Samela
thus; I tell thee faire Nymph, these 10
Plaines that
thou seest stretching Southward, are pastures belonging to
Menaphon: there growes the cintfoyle, and the
hyacinth, the cowsloppe, the primrose, and the violet,
which my flockes shall spare for flowers to make thee
garlands, the milke of my ewes shall be meate for thy
pretie 15
wanton, the
wool of the fat weathers that seemes as fine as the fleece
that Iason fet from Colchos, shall serue
to make Samela webbes withall; the mountaine tops
shall be thy mornings walke, and the shadie valleies thy
euenings arbour: as much as Menaphon owes shall be
at Samelas command, if she 20
like to liue
with Menaphon. This [D 1V] was spoken
with such deepe effects, that Samela could scarce
keepe her from smiling, yet she couered her conceipt with
a sorrowful countenance, which Menaphon espying,
to make her merrie, and rather for his own aduantage,
seeing Lamedon was a sleepe, 25
tooke her by
the hand and sate downe, pulling foorth his pipe, began
after some melodie to carroll out this roundelay.
Textual Notes to Page 48
10 vnto] to
1599-1616
12
cintfoyle] cinqfoile 1599-1616
13
cowsloppe] cowslip l610 1616
15 thy] my 16101616
16 seemes]
seem 1599-1616
17 fet]
fetcht 1616
18-19
mornings] morning 16101616
22 effects]
affects 1610 1616
Menaphons roundelay.
When tender ewes brought home with
euening Sunne
Wend to their foldes,
And to their
holdes
The shepheards trudge when light
of-day is done. 5
Vpon a tree
The Eagle Ioues
faire bird did pearch,
There
resteth hee.
A little
flie his harbor then did search,
And did
presume (though others laught thereat) 10
To pearch
whereas the princelie Eagle sat.
The Eagle frownd, and shooke her
royall wings,
And chargde the Flie
From thence
to hie:
Afraid in
hast the little creature flings, 15
Yet seekes
againe
Fearfull to
pearke him by the Eagles side,.
With moodie
vaine
The speedie
post of Ganimede replide;
Vassaile
auant or with my wings you die, 20
1st fit an
Eagle seate him with a Flie?
The Flie craude pitie, still the Eagle
frownde,
The sillie Flie
Readie to
die
Textual Notes to Page 49
5 trudge] 1599-1616,
trugde 1589
9 his
harbor] harbour 16101616
12 her] his 1599-1616
Disgracte,
displacte, fell groueling to the ground.
[D 2] The Eagle
sawe
And with a
royall minde said to the Flie,
Be not in
awe,
I scorne by
me the meanest creature die; 5
Then seate
thee heeres the ioyfull Flie vp flings,
And sate
safe shadowed with the Eagles wings.
As soone as Menaphon had ended this
roundelay, turning to Samela, after a countrey blush, he
began to court her in this homely fashion; What thinke you
Samela of the Eagle for 10
this royall
deede? That he falsified the olde Prouerbe Aguila non
capit muscas. But I meane Samela are you not
in opinion, that the Eagle giues instance of a princelie
resolution, in preferring the safetie of a Flie before
the credit of her royall Maiestie? I thinke Menaphon
that high minds 15
are the
shelters of pouertie, and Kings seates are couerts for
distressed persons; that the Eagle in shrowding the Flie
did well, but a little forgot her honour. But how thinke
you Samela, is not this proportion to be obserued
in loue? I gesse no, for the Flie did it not for loue, but
for succour. 20
Hath loue
then respect of circumstance? Els it is not loue, but
lust; for where the parties haue no simpathie of Estates,
there can no firme loue be fixed; discord is reputed the
mother of diuision, and in nature this is an vnrefuted
principle, that it falteth which faileth in vniformitie.
25
He that
grafteth lillyflowers vpon the Nettle marreth the
Textual Notes to Page 50
19 Samela, is not this] said Samela,
is this 1599-1616
24 and] as 1610 1616
26 grafteth] 1599-1616
smell; who coueteth to tie the Lambe
and the Lion in one tedder maketh a brawle; equall
fortunes are loues fauourites, and therefore shoulde
fancie bee alwayes limitted by Geometricall proportion;
least if young matching with olde, fire and frost fall at
a combate; and if rich with poore 5
there happe manie daungerous and
brauing obiections. Menaphon halfe nipte in the
pate with this replie, yet like a tall souldier stoode to
his tackling, 'and made this aunswere; Suppose gentle Samela,
that a man of meane estate, whome disdainefull Fortune had
abased, intending to make hir power 10
prodigall in his [D 2V]
misfortunes, being feathered with Cupides bolt,
were snared in the beautie of a Queene, should he rather
die than discouer his amors? If Queens (quoth she) were of
my mind, I had rather die, than perish in baser fortunes.
Venus loued Vulcan replied Menaphon;
truth quoth 15
Samela, but though he was polt-footed, yet
he was a God. Phaon enioyed Sapho he a
Ferriman that liued by his hands thrift, she a Princesse
that sate inuested with a diadem. The more fortunate quoth
Samela was he in his honours, and she the lesse
famous in her honestie. To leaue these 20
instances replied Menaphon,
(for loue had made him hardie) sweete Samela
inferre these presupposed premisses, to discouer the
basenesse of my mean birth, and yet the deepnesse of my
affection, who euer since I saw the brightnesse of your
perfection shining vpon the mountains of Arcadie,
25
like the glister of the Sunne vpon the
toplesse Promontorie of Sicilia, was so snared
with your beautie, and so inueigled
Textual Notes to Page 51
1 coueteth] couets 1599-1616
2 maketh] makes 1599-1616
17 Phaon] Phano 1610, Phao1616
with the excellence of that perfection
that exceedeth all excellencie, that loue entring my
desire, hath mainteined himselfe by force; that vnlesse
sweete Samela grant me fauour of her loue, and
play the princelie Eagle, I shall with the poore Flie
perish in my Fortunes: he concluded this period 5
with a deepe sigh, and Samela
grieuing at this follie of the Shephearde, gaue him
mildelie this aunswere.
Menaphon my
distressed haps'are the resolutions of the Destinies, and
the wrongs of my youth, are the forerunners of my woes in
age; my natiue home is my worst nurserie, 10
& my friends denie that which
strangers preiudiciallie grant: I arriued in Arcady
shipwrackt, and Menaphon fauouring my sorrowes
hath affoorded me succours, for which Samela rests
bound, and will prooue thankfull: as for loue, knowe that
Venus standeth on the Tortoys, as shewing that Loue
creepeth 15
on by degrees; that affection is like
the Snayle, which stealeth to the top of the lance by
minutes: the grasse hath his increase, yet neuer anie sees
it augment, the Sonne shadowes, but the motion is not
seene; loue like those should to [D 3] enter into the eye,
and by long gradations passe into 20
the heart; Cupid hath wings to
flie, not that loue should be swift, but that he may soare
high to auoyd base thoughts. The Topace being throwne into
the fire burneth straight, but no sooner out of the flame
but it freezeth; strawe is soone kindled, but it is but a
blase; and loue that is caught in 25
a moment, is lost in a minute: giue me
leaue then Menaphon first to sorrow for my
fortunes, then to call to minde
Textual Notes to Page 52
1 exceedeth] exceeds 1599-1616
8 resolutions] resolution l6l0
1616
16 which] that 1599-1616
17 stealeth] steales 1599-1616
19 shadowes] shadoweth 1599-1616
23 burneth] burnes 1599-1616
26 leaue then Menaphon] leaue
Menaphon 1599-1616
my husbands late funeralls, then if
the Fates haue assigned I shall fancie, I will account of
thee before anie shepheard in Arcadie. This
conclusion of Samela draue Menaphon into
such an extasie for ioy, that he stood as a man
metamorphozed; at last calling his senses together, hee
tolde her he rested 5
satisfied with her answere, and
therupon lent her a kisse, such as blushing Thetis
receaues from her choycest lemman. At this Lamedon
awakte, otherwise Menaphon no doubt had replied,
but breaking off their talk they went to view their
pastures, and so passing downe to the place where the
sheepe 10
grazed, they searched the shepheards
bagges, and so emptied their bottles as Samela
meruailed.at such an vncouth banquet: at last they
returned home, Menaphon glorying in the hope of
his successe, interteining Samela still with such
courtesie, that shee finding such content in the cotage,
began to despise 15
the honors of the Court. Resting thus
in house with the shepheard, to auoide tedious conceipts
she framed her selfe so to countrey labours, that she oft
times would lead the flocks to the fieldes her selfe, and
being, drest in homelie attire, she seemd like Oenone
that was amorous of Paris. As 20
she thus often traced alongst the
Plaines, she was noted amongst the shepheardes of one Doron
next neighbour to Menaphon, who entered
into the consideration of her beautie, and made report of
it to all his fellow swaines, so that they chatted nought
in the fields but of the new shepheardesse. 25
One daye amongst the rest, it chaunced
that Doron sitting in parley with another countrey
companion of his, amidst other
Textual Notes to Page 53
1 draue] drewe 16101616
8 otherwise Menaphon no doubt]
otherwise, no doubt, Menaphon 1599-1616
21 noted] notest 1610
tattle, they prattled of the beautie
of Samela. Hast thou seene her quoth Melicer-
[D 3V] tus, (for so was his friend
called) I quoth Doron and sigtht to see her, not
that I was in loue, but that I greeued shee shuld be in
loue with such a one as Menaphon. What manner of
woman is shee quoth Mellcertus? 5
As well as I can answered Doron
I will make description of her.
Dorons description
of Samela.
Like to Diana
in her Summer
weede
Girt with a
crimson roabe of brightest die,
goes faire Samela. 10
Whiter than
be the flockes that straggling feede,
When washt
by Arethusa faint they lie:
is faire Samela.
As faire Aurora
in her morning gray 15
Deckt with
the ruddie glister of her loue,
is faire Samela.
Like louelie
Thetis on a calmed day,
When as her
brightnesse Neptunes fancie moue,
shines faire Samela. 20
Her tresses
gold, her eyes like glassie streames,
Her teeth
are pearle, the breasts are yuorie
of faire Samela.
Her cheekes
like rose and lilly yeeld foorth gleames,
Her browes
bright arches framde of ebonie: 25
Textual Notes to Page 54
3 sight]
sighed 1599-1616
Thus faire Samela.
Passeth
faire Venus in her brauest hiew,
And Iuno
in the shew of maiestie,
for she’ is Samela.
Pallas in wit, all three if you well view, 5
For beautie,
wit, and matchlesse dignitie
yeeld to Samela.
Thou hast quoth Melicertus made such a
description, as if Priamus young boy should paint
out the perfection of his Greekish Paramour. Me thinkes
the Idea of her person re- 10
[D4]
presents it selfe an obiect to my fantasie, and that I see
in the discouerie of her excellence, the rare beauties of:
and with that he broke off abruptlie with such a deepe
sigh, as it seemed his heart should haue broken; sitting
as the Lapithes when they gazed on Medusa.
Doron meruailing 15
at this
sodayne euent, was halfe afraid, as if some appoplexie had
astonied his senses, so that cheering vp his friend, he
demanded what the cause was of this sodaine conceipt. Melicertus
no niggarde in discouerie of his fortunes, began thus. I
tell thee Doron before I kept sheepe in Arcadie,
I was a 20
Shepheard
else where, so famous for my flockes, as Menaphon for
his foldes; beloued of the Nymphes, as hee likte of the
Countrey Damzells; coueting in my loues to vse Cupids
wings, to soare high in my desires, though my selfe were
borne to base fortunes. The Hobbie catcheth no pray,
vnlesse she mount 25
beyonde her
marke, the Palme tree beareth most bowes where it
Textual Notes to Page 55
5 well] will 1616
11 fantasie] fansie 160516101616
groweth highest, & Loue is most
fortunate where his courage is resolute, and thought
beyond his compasse. Grounding therefore on these
principles, I fixte mine eye on a Nymph, whose parentage
was great, but her beautie farre more excellent, her birth
was by manie degrees greater than mine, and my woorth by 5
manie discents lesse than hers: yet
knowing Venus loued Adonis, and LunaEndymion, that Cupide had boltes feathered
with the plumes of a Crowe, as well as with the pennes of
an Eagle, I attempted and courted her, I found her lookes
lightening disdaine, 10
and her forhead to conteine fauours
for others, and frownes for me: when I alledged faith, she
crost me with AEneas, when loyaltie, she tolde me
of Iason; when I swore constancie, shee questioned
me of Demophoon; when I craued a finall resolution
to my fatall passions, shee filde her browes 15
full of wrinckles, and her eyes full
of furie, turned her backe, and shooke me off with a Non
placet. Thus in loues I lost loues, and for her loue
had lost all, had not when I neere despaired the clemencie
of some curteous starre, or rather the verie excellence of
my Mistres fauours [D 4V] 20
salued my halfe despairing maladie:
for shee seeing that I helde a supersticious opinion of
loue, in honouring him for a Deitie, not in counting him a
vaine conceipt of Poetrie, that I thought it sacriledge to
wrong my desires, and the basest fortune to inhance my
fortune by falsing my loues to a woman, 25
she left from being so rammage, and
gentlie came to the fist, and granted me those fauours
shee might affoord, or my
Textual Notes to Page 56
2 thought] though 1616
3 eye] eies 1610 1616
11- 61/21 text]
1605 wanting
18 not when I] I not when I 16101616
20 my] some 16101616
25 falsing] falsifying 1616
thoughts desires with this he ceast
and fell againe to his sighes, which Doron noting,
answered thus. If (my good Melicertus) thou didst
enioy thy loues, what is the occasion thou beginnest with
sighes, and endest with passions. Ah Doron there
endes my ioyes, for no sooner had I triumpht in my
fauours,5
but the trophees of my fortunes fell
like the hearbes in Syria, that flourish in the
morne, and fade before night; or like vnto the flie Tyryma,
that taketh life and leaueth it all in one day. So my Doron
did it fare with me, for I had no sooner enioyed my loue,
but the heauens enuious a shepheard should 10
haue the fruition of such a heauenly
Paragon, sent vnreuocable Fates to depriue me of her life,
& shee is dead: dead Doron, to her, to my
selfe, to all, but not to my memorie, for so deepe were
the characters stamped in my inwarde senses, that obliuion
can neuer race out the forme of her excellence. And 15
with that he start vp, seeking to fall
out of those dumpes with Musique, (for he plaid on his
pipe certaine sonets he had contriued in praise of the
countrey wenches) but plaine Doron as plaine as a
packstaffe, desired him to sound a roundelay, and he would
sing a song, which he carolled to this 20
effect.
Dorons Iigge.
Through the shrubbes as I can cracke,
For my Lambes little ones.,
Mongst many pretie' ones,
Textual Notes to Page 57
24 little] prettie 159916101616
25 pretie] little 1599 1610 1616
Nimphes I
meane, whose haire was blacke
As the crow:
Like the snow
[E 1] Her face and browes shinde I
weene:
I saw a little one, 5
A bonny prety one,
As bright, buxsome and as sheene
As was shee,
On hir knee
That lulld the God, whose arrowes
warmes 10
Such merry little ones,
Such faire fac'd prety ones,
As dally in Loues chiefest harmes,
Such was mine:
Whose gray eyne 15
Made me loue. I gan to woo
This sweete little one,
This bonny pretie one.
I wooed hard a day or two,
Till she bad; 20
Be not sad,
Wooe no more I am thine owne,
Thy dearest little one,
Thy truest pretie one:
Thus was faith and firme loue showne,
25
As behoues
Shepheards loues.
Textual Notes to Page 58
4 shinde] shine 16101616
16 woo] woe 1599
20 bad] bade 1599
How like you this Dittie of mine owne deuising,
quoth Doron? As well as my musique replied Melicertus;
for if Pan and I striue, Midas being
Iudge, and should happe to giue me the garland, I doubt
not but his Asses eares should be doubled: but Doron
so long we dispute of loue, and forget 5
our labours, that both our flockes
shall be vnfolded, and tomorrow our merrie meeting
hindered. Thats true quoth Doron, for there will
be all the shepheards Daughters and countrey Damzels, and
amongst them feare not but Menaphon will bring his
faire Shepheardesse, there Melicertus shalt thou
see 10
her that will amate all our moodes,
and amaze [E 1V] thee, and therefore good Melicertus
let vs be going. With this prattle away they went to their
foldes, where we leaue them, & returne to Menaphon,
who triumphing in the hope of his new loues, caused Samela
to tricke her vp in her countrey attire, and 15
make her selfe braue against the
meeting: she that thought, to be coye were to discouer her
thoughts, drest her selfe vp in Carmelas russet
cassocke, and that so quaintly, as if Venus in a
countrey peticoate had thought to wanton it with her
louely Adonis. The morow came, and away they went,
but 20
Lamedon was left behinde to keep the house.
At the houre appointed, Menaphon, Carmela
and Samela came, when all the rest were readie
making merie. As soone as word was brought, that Menaphon
came with his newe Mistres, all the companie began to
murmur, and euery man to prepare his eye for so 25
miraculous an obiect: but Pesana
a heardsmans daughter of the same parish, that long had
loued Menaphon, and he had filled
Textual Notes to Page 59
6 flockes]
stocks 16101616
7 Thats]
That is 1616
9 bring]
bright 1610
16 that]
then 159916101616
23 readie
making merie] readie to make merrie 159916101616
her browes
with frownes, her eyes with furie, and her heart with
griefe; yet coueting in so open an assemblie, as well as
shee coulde to hide a pad in the straw, she expected as
others did the arriuall of her newe corriuall: who at that
instant came with Menaphon into the house. No
sooner was she entred 5
the Parlour,
but her eyes gaue such a shine, & her face such a
brightnesse, that they stood gazing on this Goddesse; and
shee vnacquainted, seeing her selfe among so manie
vnknowen swaines, died her cheekes with such a vermilion
blush, that the countrey maides themselues fel in loue
with this faire Nimph, and could 10
not blame Menaphon
for being ouer the shooes with such a beautifull creature.
Doron iogde Melicertus on the elbowe, and
so awakte him out of a dreame, for he was deeply drownd in
the contemplation of her excellencie; sending out vollies
of sighs in remembrance of his old loue, as thus hee sate
meditating on 15
her fauour,
how much she resembled her that death had depriued him
off: well her welcome was great of all the companie, &
for that she was a stranger they graced her to make her
the mistres of the Feast. Menaphon seeing Samela
thus [E 2] honoured, conceiued no smal content in the
aduancing of his 20
Mistres,
being passing ioconde and pleasant with the rest of the
companie, insomuch that euerie one perceiued howe the
poore swayne fedde vppon the dignities of his Mistres
graces. Pesana noting this began to lowre, and Carmela
winking vpon her fellowes, answered her frownes with a
smile, which doubled 25
her griefe;
for womens paines are more pinching if they be girded with
a frumpe, than if they be galled with a mischiefe.
Textual Notes to Page 60
5 entred]
entred in the 1599. entred into the 1610 1616
Whiles thus
there was banding of such lookes, as euerie one imported
as much as an impreso, Samela willing to
see the fashion of these countrey yong frowes, cast her
eyes abroad, and in viewing euerie face, at last her eyes
glaunced on the lookes of Melicertus; whose
countenance resembled so vnto her 5
dead Lord,
that as a woman astonied she stood staring on his face,
but ashamed to gaze vppon a stranger, she made restraint
of her looks, and so taking her eye from one particular
obiect, she sent it abroad to make generall suruey of
their countrey demeanours. But amidst all this gazing, he
that had 10
seene poore
Menaphon, how infected with a iealous furie, he
stared each man in the face, fearing their eyes should
feede or surfet on his Mistres beauties if they glaunst,
he thought straight they would be riualls in his loues; if
they flatlie lookt, then they were deepely snared in
affection; if they 15
once smiled
on her, they had receyued some glance from Samela that
made them so malepart; if she laught, she likte; and at
that he began to frowne: thus sate poore Menaphon
all dinner while pained with a thousande iealous passions,
keeping his teeth ganders of his stomacke, and his eyes
watchmen of his 20
loues, but Melicertus
halfe impatient of his new conceiued thoughts, determined
to trie how the Damzell was brought vp, and whether she
was as wise as beautifull, hee therefore began to breake
silence thus.
The Orgies which the Bacchanals kept in' Thessaly,
the 25
Feasts which
the melancholy Saturn!sts founded in Danuby,
were neuer so quatted with silence, but on their festiual
Textual Notes to Page 61
8 one] her 16101616
25 the] that
1605
27 quatted]
quailed 1599-1616
daies [E 2v]
they did frolicke amongst themselues with manie pleasaunt
parlies: were it not a shame then that we of Arcadie.
famous for the beautie of our Nymphes, & the amorous
roundelaies of our shepheards, shoulde disgrace Pans
holiday with such melancholy dumpes: curteous countrey
Swaines shake 5
off this
sobrietie, and seeing we haue in our companie Damzels both
beautifull and wise, let vs interteine them with prattle,
to trie our wittes, and tire our time; to this they all
agreed with a plaudite. Then quoth Mellcertus;
by your leaue since I was first in motion, I will be first
in question, 10
&
therefore new come shepheardesse first to you: at this Samela
blusht, and he began thus,
Faire Damzel, when Naereus chatted with Iuno,
he had pardon, in that his prattle came more to plesure
the Goddesse than to ratifie his owne presumption: if I
Mistres be ouerbold, 15
forgiue me;
I question not to offend, but to set time free from
tediousnesse. Then gentle shepheardesse tell me, if you
should bee transformed through the anger of the Gods, into
some shape; what creature would you reason to be in forme?
Samela blushing that she was the first that was
boorded, yet 20
gathered vp
her crums, and desirous to shew her pregnaunt wit, (as the
wisest women be euer tickled with self loue) made him this
answere.
Gentle shepheard, it fits not strangers to be nice,
nor maidens too coy; least the one feele the weight of a
scoffe, 25
the other
the fall of a frumpe: pithie questions are mindes
whetstones, and by discoursing in iest, manie doubts are
Textual Notes to Page 62
2 not] 1599-1616,
no 1589
4
shepheards] 1599-1616, shepheaeds 1589
16 question]
request 1599-1616
19 reason]
wish 16101616
deciphered
in earnest: therefore you haue forestalled me in crauing
pardon, when you haue no neede to feele anie grant of
pardon. Therefore thus to your question; Daphne I
remember was turned to a bay tree, Niobe to a
flint, Lampetia & her sisters to flowers, and
sundrie Virgins to sundrie shapes 5
according to their merites; but if my
wish might serue for a Metamorphosis, I would be turned
into a sheepe. A sheepe, and why so Mistres? I reason thus
quoth Samela, my supposition should be simple, my
life quiet, my food the pleasant [E 3] Plaines of Arcadie
and the wealthie riches of Flora, my drinke 10
the coole streames that flowe from the
concaue Promontorie of this Continent, my aire should bee
cleere, my walkes spacious, my thoughts at ease, and can
there now shepheard be any better premisses to conclude my
replie than these? But haue you no other allegations to
confirme your resolution? Yes sir quoth 15
she, and fame greater. Then the law of
our first motion quoth hee commands you to repeate them.
Fame be it answered Samela that I should not doo
of free will anie thing that this pleasant companie
commands: therefore thus; Were I asheepe,
I should bee garded from the foldes with iollie 20
Swaines, such as was Lunas
Loue on the hills of Latmos; their pipes sounding
like the melodie of Mercurie, when he lulld
asleepe Argus: but more, when the Damzells tracing
along the Plaines, should with their eyes like Sunne
bright beames, drawe on lookes to gaze on such sparkling
Planets: then wearie 25
with foode, shoulde I lye and looke on
their beauties, as on the spotted wealthe of the richest
Firmament; I should listen
Textual Notes to Page 63
9 food] foote 1605 1610 1616
13 can there now shepheard he any] can
there none shepheard be my 1589, can there he
(shepheard) anie 1599-1616
21 Latmos] Larmos 1599
to their sweete layes, more sweete
than the Sea-borne Syrens: thus feeding on the
delicacie of their features, I should like the Tyrian
heyfer fall in loue with Agenors darling. I but
quoth Mellcertus, those faire facde Damzells oft
draw foorth the kindest sheepe to the shambles. And what
of that sir 5
aunswered Samela, would not a
sheepe so long fed with beautie, die for loue. If he die
(quoth Pesana) it is more kindnes in beasts, than
constancie in men: for they die for loue, when larkes die
with leekes. If they be so wise quoth Menaphon,
they shew but their mother witts; for what sparkes they
haue 10
of inconstancie, they drawe from their
female fosterers, as the Sea dooth ebbes and tides from
the Moone. So be it sir answered Pesana, then no
doubt your mother was made of a Weathercocke, that brought
foorth such a wauering companion: for you master Menaphon
measure your looks, by minutes and your 15
loues are like lightning, which no
sooner flash on the eie, but they vanish. It is then quoth
Menaphon because [E 3V] mine eye is a
foolish Iudge, and chooseth too baselie: which when my
heart censures of, it casts away as refuse. Twere best
then said Pesana, to discharge such vniust Iudges
of ther seates, 20
and to set your eares hearers of your
loue pleas. If they fault quoth Melicertus, euerie
market towne hath a remedie, or els there is neuer a Baker
neere by seauen miles. Stay curteous Shepheards quoth Samela,
these iestes are too broade before, they are cynicall like
Diogenes quippes, that had 25
large feathers and sharpe heads, it
little fits in this companie to bandie taunts of loue,
seeing you are vnwedded and
Textual Notes to Page 64
6 beautie] beautiy 1610
7 it] there 1599-1616
10 mother] mothers 16101616
18 eye] eyes 1605
19 Twere] It were 1599-11l6
these all maidens addicted to
chastitie. You speake well as a Patronesse of our credite
quoth Pesana, for in deede we be virgins, &
addicted to virginitie. Now quoth Menaphon that
you haue got a virgin in your mouth you wil neuer leaue
chaunting that word, till you prooue your selfe either a5
Vestall or a Sybill. Suppose she were
a Vestall quoth Melicertus, I had almost said a
virgine (but God forbidde I had made such a doubtfull
supposition) shee might carrie water with Amulia
in a siue: for amongst all the rest of the virgins we read
of none but her that wrought such a miracle. Pesana 10
hearing how pleasantly Melicertus
plaid with her nose, thought to giue him as great a bone
to gnaw vppon, which she cast in his teeth thus briefelie.
I remember sir that Epicurus
measured euerie mans diet by his owne principles; Abradas
the great Macedonian Pirate, 15
thought euerie one had a letter of
Marte, that bare sayles in the Ocean; none came to knocke
at Diogenes tub but was supposed a Cinick; and
fancie a late hath so tied you to his vanities, that you
will thinke Vesta a flat figured Conceipt of
Poetrie. Samela perceiuing these blowes woulde
growe to 20
deepe wounds, broke off their talke
with this prety digression. Gentlemen, to end this
strife, I praye you let vs heare the opinion of Doron,
for all this while neither he nor Carmela haue
vttered one word, but sate as Censers of our pleas; twere
necessarie he tolde vs how his heart came thus on his 25
halfepenie. Doron hearing Samela
thus, pleasaunt, [E 4] made presentlie this blunt replie;
I was faire Mistres in a
Textual
Nots to Page 65
5 that] the 1599-1616
9 of the] of 1599-1616
12 as great a] a great 1599-1616
15 Abradas] Apradas 1599-1616
16 bare sayles] sailes 1605 1610
1616
18 a late] of late 1599-1616
21 broke] brake 1599-1616
24 of] at 1605
1610 1616
27 in a] in
1605 1610 1616
solempne
doubt with my selfe, whether in beeing a sheepe, you would
be a Ram or an Ewe? An Ewe no doubt quoth Samela,
for homes are the heauiest burden that the head can beare.
As Doron was readie to replie, came in sodainly to
this parley foure or fiue olde shepheards, who broke off
their prattle, 5
that from
chat they fel to drinking: and so after some parley of
their flocks, euerie one departed to their own home where
they talked of the exquisite perfection of Samela,
especially Melicertus, who gotten to his owne
cotage, and lyen downe in his couch by himselfe, began to
ruminate on Samelas shape. 10
Ah Melicertus, what an obiect fortune this
day brought to thy eyes, presenting a strange Idaea
to thy sight, as appeared to Achilles of his dead
friend Patroclus, tresses of
gold like
the tramels of Sephestias lockes, a face fairer
than Venus, such was Sephestia; her eye
paints her out Sephestia, 15
her voyce
sounds her out Sephestia, she seemeth none but Sephestia:
but seing she is dead, & there liueth not such another
Sephestia, sue to her and loue her, for that it is
either a selfe same or another Sephestia. In this
hope Meliertus fel to his slumber, but Samela
was not so content: for 20
shee began
thus to muse with her selfe: May this Melicertus be
a shepheard? or can a countrie cotage affoord such
perfection? doth this coast bring forth such excellence?
then happie are the virgins shall haue such suters, and
the wiues such pleasing husbands; but his face is not
inchacte with anie 25
rusticke
proportion, his browes containe the characters of
nobilitie, and his lookes in shepheards weeds are Lordlie,
Textual Notes to Page 66
3 burden] burthen 1605 1610 1616
17 liueth] liues 1605 l610 1616
20 so content] content 1605 1610
1616
23 excellence] excellencie 1605
1610 1616
27 weeds] weed 1610 1616
his voyce
pleasing, his wit full of gentries weigh all these
equallie, and consider Samela is it not thy Maximus?
Fond foole away with these suppositions; could the
dreaming of Andromache call Hector from
his graue? or can the vision of my husband raise him from
the seas? Tush stoop not to such vanities: 5
hee is dead,
and therefore grieue not thy memorie with the imagination
of his new reuiue, for there hath been but one Hippolitus
[E 4V] found to be Virbius, twise a
man, to salue Samela than this suppose; if they
court thee with hyacinth, interteine them with roses; if
he send thee a lambe, present 10
him an eawe;
if he wooe, be wooed; and for no other reason, but, hee is
like Maximius. Thus she rested, and thus she
slept, all parties being equally content and satisfied
with hope except Pesana, who fettred with the
feature of her best beloued Menaphon sate cursing
Cupide as a parciall Deitie, that would 15
make more
daye light in the Firmament than one Sunne, more
rainebowes in the heauen than one Iris, & more
loues in one heart than one settled passion: manie praiers
she made to Venus for reuenge, manie vowes to Cupide,
manie orizons to Hymaeneus, if shee might possesse
the type of her desires. 20
Well poore
soule, howsoeuer she was paid, she smothered all with
patience, and thought to braue loue with seeming not to
loue; and thus she daily droue out the time with labour,
& looking to her heard, hearing euerie day by Doron
who was her kinsman, what successe Menaphon had in
his loues. Thus Fates 25
and Fortune
dallying a dolefull Catastrophe, to make a mere pleasing
Epitazis, it fell out amongst them thus. Mellcertus
Textual Notes to Page 67
11 an] a 1610
1616
12
Maximius] Maximus
1605 1610 1656; she rested] rested 1605 1610
1616
21 paid]
pained 1610 1616
26 Fortune]
fortunes 1605 1610 1616
going to the
fields, as he was wont to doo with his flockes, droue to
graze as neere the swaines of Menaphon as he
might, to haue a view of his new enterteined Mistres; who,
according to his expectation came thether euerie day. Melicertus
esteeming her to bee some Farmers daughter at the most,
could 5
not tell how
to court her: yet at length calling to remembrance her
rare wit discouered in her last discourses, finding
opportunitie to giue her both bal and racket, seeing the
coast was cleere, and that none but Samela and he
were in the field, he left his flocke in the valley, and
stept vnto her, and saluted 10
her thus.
Mistres of al eyes that glance but at the
excellence of your perfection, soueraigne of all such as Venus
hath allowed for louers, Oenones ouermatch, Arcadies
comet, beauties second
comfort; all
haile: seeing you sit like luno when shee first 15
watchte her
white heyfer on the Lincen downes, as [F 1] bright
as siluer Phoebe mounted on the high top of the
ruddie element, I was by a strange attractiue force
drawne, as the adamant
draweth the
yron, or the ieat the straw, to visits your sweete selfe
in the shade, and affoord you such companie as a poore 20
swaine may
yeeld without offence; which if you shall vouch to deigne
of, I shall be as glad of such accepted seruice, as Paris
first was of his best beloued Paramour. Samela
looking on the shepheardes face, and seeing his vtterance
full of broken sighes, thought to bee pleasant with her
shepheard 25
thus. Arcadies
Apollo, whose brightnesse draws euerie eye to turne
as the Heliotropion doth after her load; fairest
of the
Textual Notes to Page 68
3 a view]
view 1605 1610 1616
6 remembrance] 1599-1616.
rembrance 1589
7 her last] her last 1610 1616
19 draweth] drawes 1599-1616
23 first was] was first 1599-1616
24 pm] vpon 1599-1616
shepheards, the Nimphes sweetest
obiect, womens wrong, in wronging manie with ones due;
welcome, and so welcome, as we vouchsafe of your seruice,
admitte of your companie, as of him that is the grace of
al companies; and if we durst vpon any light pardon,
woulde venter to request you shew vs a cast of 5
your cunning. Samela made this
replie, because she heard him so superfine, as if Ephaebus
had learnd him to refine his mother tongue, wherefore
thought he had done it of an inkhorne desire to be
eloquent; and Melicertus thinking that Samela
had learnd with Lucilia in Athens to
anotamize wit, and speake 10
none but Similes, imagined she
smoothed her talke to be thought like Sapho Phaos
Paramour. Thus deceiued either in others suppositions, Samela
followed her sute thus; I know that Priamus wanton
could not be without flockes of Nymphes to follow him in
the Vale of Ida, beautie hath legions to 15
attende her excellence if the
shepheard be true; if like Narcissus you
wrap not your face in the cloude of disdaine, you cannot
but haue some rare Paragon to your Mistres, whome I woulde
haue you in some sonnet describe. Ioues last loue,
If Ioue coulde get from Iuno, my pipe shal
presume and I aduenture 20
with my voice to set out my Mistres
fauour for your excellence to censure of, and therefore
thus. Yet Melicertus for that hee had a farther
reach, would not make anie clownish description, chanted
it thus cunningly.
[F 1V]
Melicertus description of his Mistres. 25
Textual Notes to Page 69
8 mother]
mothers 1599-1616
8 thought]
thogh 1599-1616
9 that Samela]
Samela 1599-1616
14 that Priamus]
Priamus 1599-1616
14 could]
coufd 1610
16
excellence] excellencie 1599-1616
17 not] 1599-1616,
not not 1589
25 Melicertus]
Melicretus 1605
Tune on my
pipe the praises of my Loue,
And midst thy oaten harmonie recount
How faire she is that makes thy
musicke mount,
And euerie string of thy hearts harpe
to moue.
Shall I compare her forme vnto the
spheare 5
Whence Sun-bright Venus vaunts
her siluer shine?
Ah more than that by iust compare is
thine,
Whose Christall lookes the cloudie
heauens doo
cleare.
How oft haue I descending Titan
seene 10
His burning lockes couch in the
Sea-queenes lap,
And beauteous Thetis his red
bodie wrap
In watrie roabes, as he her Lord had
been.
When as my Nimph impatient of the
night
Bad bright Atraeus with his
traine giue place, 15
Whiles she led foorth the day with her
faire face,
And lent each starre a more than Delian
light.
Not Ioue or Nature should they
both agree
To make a woman of the Firmament,
Of his mixt puritie could not inuent
20
A Skie borne forme so beautifull as
she.
When Melicertus had ended this
roundelay in prayse of
Textual Notes to Page 70
7 vaunts] 1599-1616.
vauuts 1589
22 Melicertus] Melicretus
160 5
his Mistres, Samela perceiued
by his description, that either some better Poet than
himselfe had made it, or else that his former phrase was
dissembled: wherefore to trie him thoroughly, and to see
what snake laye hidden vnder the grasse, she followed the
chase in this manner. 5
Melicertus, might not a straunger
craue your Mistres name. At this the Shepheard blusht, and
made no-reply. How [F 2] now quoth Samela,
what is she meane that you shame, or so high as you fear
to bewray the souereign of your thoughts? Stand not in
doubt man, for be she base, I reade that mightie 10
Tamberlaine after his wife Zenocrate (the
worlds faire eye) past out of the Theater of this mortall
life, he chose stigmaticall trulls to please his humorous
fancie. Be she a princesse, honour hangs in high desires,
and it is the token of a high minde to venter for a
Queene: then gentle shepheard 15
tell me thy Mistres name. Melicertus
hearing his goddesse speake so fauourably, breathed out
this sodaine replie; Too high Samela, and
therefore I feare with the Syrian Wolues to barke
against the Moone, or with them of Scyrum to shoot
against the starres; in the height of my thoughts soaring
too 20
high, to fall with wofull repenting Icarus:
no sooner did mine eye glance vpon her beautie, but as if
loue and fate had sate to forge my fatall disquiet, they
trapte mee within her lookes, and haling her Idaea
through the passage of my sight, placde it so deeply in
the center of my heart, as maugre al 25
my studious indeuour it still and euer
will keepe restlesse possession: noting her vertues, her
beauties, her perfections,
her
excellence, and feare of her too high born parentage,
although painfully fettered, yet haue I still feared to
dare so haute an attempt to so braue a personage; least
she offensiue at my presumption, I perish in the height of
my thoughts. This conclusion broken with an abrubt
passion, could not so 5
satisfie Samela but she would
bee further inquisitive. At last after manie questions, he
answered thus; seeing Samela I consume my selfe,
& displease you; to hazarde for the salue that maye
cure my malady, & satisfie your question, know it is
the beauteous Samela. Be there more of that name
in Arcady 10
beside my selfe quoth she. I know not
qd Melicertus, but wer there a million, onely you
are Melicertus Samela. But of a million quoth she,
I cannot be Melicertus Samela, for loue hath but
one arrowe of desire in his quiuer, but one string to his
bow, & in choyce but one aime of affection. Haue ye 15
alreadie quoth Melicertus set
your rest vpon some higher personage? [F 2V]
quoth Samela, I meane by your selfe, for I haue
hearde that your fancie is linked alreadie to a beautiful
shepherdesse in Arcadie. At this the pore swaine
tainted his cheeks with a vermilion die, yet thinking to
carrie out the 20
matter with a iest, he stood to his
tackling thus; Whosoeuer Samela descanted of that
loue, tolde you a Canterbury tale; some
propheticall full mouth that as he were a Coblers eldest
sonne, would by the laste tell where anothers shooe
wrings, but his sowterly aime was iust leuell, in thinking
euerie 25
looke was
loue, or euerie faire worde a pawne of loyaltie. Then
quoth Samela taking him at a rebound, neither may
I
Textual Notes to Page 72
2 although]
though 1599-1616
3 haute]
hauty 1599-1616
12 Melicertus] Melicretus
1605
13 Melicertus] Melicretus
1605
14 hath but] hath put 1616
16 quoth] said 1599-16l6
16 Melicertus] Melicretus
1605
17 quoth] said 160 5 1610 1616
24 laste] laast 1599 1605.
laest 1610. Last 1616
27 quoth] said 1599-1616
thinke your glaunces to be fancies,
nor your greatest protestation any assurance of deepe
affection; therefore ceasing off to court any further at
this time, thinke you haue prooued your selfe a tall
souldier to continue so long at batterie, and that I am a
fauorable foe that haue continued so long a 5
parley; but I charge you by the loue
you owe your deerest Mistres, not to say any more as
touching loue for this time. If Samela quoth hee,
thou hadst enioyned me as Iuno did to Hercules,
most daungerous labours, I would haue discouered my loue
by obedience, and my affection by death: yet let me 10
craue this, that as I begunne with a
Sonnet, so I may ende with a Madrigale. Content Melicertus
quoth she, for none more than I loue Musique. Vpon this
replie the shepheard proud folowed with this Dittie.
Melicertus
Madrigale. 15
What are my sheepe without their
wonted food?
What is my life except I gaine my
Loue?
My sheepe consume and faint for want
of blood.
My life is lost vnlesse I grace
approue.
No flower that saplesse thriues: 20
No Turtle without nheare.
The day without the Sunne dooth lowre
for woe,
[F 3] Then woe mine eyes vnlesse they
beautie see:
My Sunne Samelaes
eyes, by whom I know
Textual Notes to Page 73
3 off] of 1605
4 a tall]
too tall a 1599-1616
5-6 a
parley] at parley 1599-1616
7 for] at 1610
1616
8 quoth]
said 1599-1616
12
Melicertus] Melicretus 1605 1610
14 with
this] 1599-1616. this 1589
15
Melicertus] Melicretus 1605
17 is my] my
1599 1605 1610
23 they] thy
1616
Wherein delight consists, where
pleasures be.
Nought more the heart reuiues
Than to imbrace his deare.
The starres from earthly humors gaine
their light,
Our humors by their light possesse
their power: 5
Samelaes eyes fedde by my weeping sight,
Insues my paine or ioyes by smile, or
lower.
So wends the source of loue.
It feedes, it failes, it ends.
Kinde lookes cleare to your ioy behold
her eyes, 10
Admire her heart, desire to taste her
kisses;
In them the heauen of ioy and solace
lies,
Without them evry hope his succour
misses.
Oh how I loue to prooue
Wheretoo this solace tends. 15
Scarce had the shepheard ended this Madrigale, but
Saroela began to frowne, saying he had broken
promise. Melicer- tus alledged if he had
vttred any passion, twas sung, not said. Thus these Louers
in a humorous descant of their prattle espied a fsrre off
olde Lamedon and Menaphon comming towards
20
them;
wherevpon kissing in conceipt, & parting with
interchaunged glaunces, Melicertus stole to his
sheepe, and Samela sate her downe making of nets
to catche birds. At last Lamedon and her Loue
come, and after manie gracious lookes, and much
Textual Notes to Page 74
8 Insues]
Infudes 1599-1616
8 paine] paines 1599-1616
17-18 Melicertus]
Melicretus 1605
21 parting] prating 1605.
pratling 1610 1616
22 Melicertus] Melicretus 1605
22 to] ta
good parley, helpte her home with her
sheepe, and put them in the folds. But leauing these
amorous shepheardes busie in their loues, let vs retourne
at length to the pretie babie Samelas childe, whom
Menaphon had put to nurse in the countrey. This
infant being by Nature beautifull, and by birth 5
noble, euen in his cradle exprest to
the eyes of the gazers such glorious presages of his ap-
[F 3V] proching fortunes, as if another Alcides
(the arme-strong darling of the doubled night) by
wrastling with snakes in his swadling cloutes, should
prophecie to the world the approching wonders of his 10
prowesse; so did his fierie looks
reflect terror to the weake beholders of his ingrafted
nobilitie, as if some God twise born like vnto the Thracian
Bacchus, forsaking his heauen borne Deitie, shoulde
delude our eyes with the alternate forme of his infancie.
Fiue yeres had full runne their monthly 15
reuolution, when as this beauteous boy
began to shew himselfe among the shepheards children, with
whom he had no sooner contracted familiar acquaintance,
but straight he was chosen Lord of the May game, king of
their sports, and ringleader of their reuils; insomuch
that his tender mother beholding him 20
by chance mounted in his kingly
maiestie, and imitating honorable iustice in his gamesom
exercise of discipline, with teares of ioy took vp these
propheticall termesj well doo I see, where God and Fate
hath vowed felicitie, no aduerse fortune may expel
prosperitie. Pleusidlppus thou art young, thy 25
lookes high, and thy thoughtes hautie;
souereigntie is seated in thy eyes, and honour in thy
heart; I feare this fire will
Textual
Notes to Page 75
8 Aleides] Alciades 1599-1616
13 vnto] to 1599-1616
18 acquaintance] acquaintaine 1610
19 ringleader of] ringleaderto 1605 1610 1616
25 Pleusidippus] Plusidippus
1605
27 thy eyes] thine eyes 1605 1610
1616
haue his flame, and then am I vndone
in thee my sonne; my countrey life (sweete countrey life)
in thy proud soaring hopes, despoyled and disroabed of the
disguised aray of his rest, must returne russet weedes to
the foldes where I lefte my feares, and hast to the court
my hell, there to inuest me 5
in my wonted cares. How now Samela,
wilt thou be a Sybil of mishap to thy selfe? the
angrie heauens that haue eternisht thy exile, haue
establisht thy content in Arcadie. My content in Arcadie,
that may not be no longer than my Pleusidippus staies
in Arcadie, which I haue cause to feare, for the
whelps 10
of the Lion are.no longer harmlesse
than when they are whelpes, and babes no longer to be
awed, than while they are babes. I but nature, &
therewith she pawsed, being interrupted by a tumult of
boies, that by yong Pleusidippus command fell vpon
one of their fellowes, and beate him most cruelly for
playing 15
false playe at [F 4] nine holes: which
she espying through her lattise window, could not chose
but smile aboue measure. But when she saw him in his
childish termes condemne one to death for despising the
authoritie bequeathed him by the rest of the boyes, then
she bethought her of the Persian Cyrus that
deposed 20
his Grandfather Astyages.
whose vse it was at like age to imitate maiestie in like
manner. In this distraction of thoughts she had not long
time staid, but Lamedon and Menaphcn calde
her awaye to accompany them to the foldes, whiles Pleusidfcippus
hasting to the execution of iustice, dismissed his boyish
session till their next meeting: where how imperiouslie he
behaued himselfe in punishing misorders amongest his
Textual
Notes to Page 76
5 my] of my 1599-1616
6 in] with 1599-1616
7 mishap] mishaps 1605 .1610 1616
7 eternisht] eterniz'd 1616
9 may not he] we may be 1599-1616
9 Pleusidippus] Plusidippus
160 5
10 staies] daies 160 5 1610 1616
12 no] are no 1$99-1616
16 her] he 1599»
the 1605 1610 1616
20 bethought] bethough 160 5
24-25 Pleusidippus]
Plusidippus 160 5
2525 his]
off his 1599. of his 1605 1610 1616
equals, in
vsing more than testing iustice towards his vntamed
copesmates, I referre it to the Annuals of the Arcadians
that dilate not a little of this ingenious argument. In
this sort did Pleusidippus draw foorth his
infancie, till on a time walking to the shore, where hee
with his mother were wrackt, 5
to gather
cockles and pebble stones, as children are wont: there
arriued on the strond a Thessalian Pirate named Eurilachus,
who after he had foraged in the Arcadian confines,
driuing before him a large bootie of beasts to his ships
espied this pretie infant; when gazing on his face as
wanton 10
Ioue gazed on Phrygian C-animede
in the fields of Ida, hee exhaled into his eyes
such deepe impression of his perfection, as that his
thought neuer thirsted so much after any pray, as this
pretie Pleusidippus possession: but determining
first to assay him by curtesie before hee assayled him
with rigour, he 15
began to
trie his wit after this manner. My little childe, whence
art thou, where wert thou borne, whats thy name, and
wherefore wandrest thou thus all alone on the shoare. I
pray ye what are you sir quoth Pleusidippus, that
deale thus with me by interrogatories, as if I were some
runne away. Wilt 20
thou not
tell me then who was thy father? Said he, Good sir, if ye
will needes knowe goe aske that of my mother. Hath said
wel my Lord quoth Romanio who was one of his
especiall associates, for wise are the children in these
[F 4V] dayes that know their owne fathers,
especially if they be begotten in Dogge daies, when their
mothers are franticke with loue, & yong men furious
for lust. Besides, who knows not, that these
Textual Notes to Page 77
2 Annuals 3 Annals 1606 1610 1616
6 cocklesj cockle 1610 1616
17 whats] what is 1599-1616
19 you] ye 1699-1616
23 especiall] special 1699-l6l6
24 these] those 1610
Arcadians are giuen to take the benefit of
euerie Hodge, when they will sacrifice their virginitie to
Venus, though they haue but a bush of nettles for
their bedde; and sure this boy is but some shepheards
bastard at the most, howsoeuer his wanton face importeth
more than appeerance. Pleusidippus 5
eyes at this speach resolued into
fire, and his face into purple, with a more than common
courage in children of his yeares and stature, gaue him
the lie roundly in this replie; Pesant, the bastard in thy
face, for I am a Gentleman: wert thou a man in courage, as
thou art a Kowe in proportion, thou 10
wouldst neuer haue so much empayred
thy honestie, as to derogate from my honor. Look not in my
face but leuel at my heart by this that thou seest, and
therewith let driue at him with such pebble stones as hee
had in his hat, insomuch that Romanio was driuen
to his heeles, to shun this sodaine 15
haile shot, and Eurilochus
resolued into a laughter, and in tearmes of admiration
most highly extolled so exceeding magnanimitie in so
little a bodie; which how auaileable it prooued to the
confirmation of his fancie, that was before inflamed with
his features, let them imagine, that haue noted 20
the imbecilitie of that age, and the
vnresisted furie of men at armes. Sufficeth at this
instant to vnfolde (all other circumstance of praise laid
apart) that Eurilochus being farre in loue with
his extraordinarie lineaments, awaited no farther parley,
but willed his men perforce to hoyse him 25
a shipboord, intending as soone as
euer he arriued in Thessaly, by sending him to the
Courte as a present, to make
Textual
Notes to Page 78
5 his] this 1599-1616
6 face into] face in 1599-1616
15 Romanio"! Romania 1599
16 into a] into 1605 1610 1616
18 how] now 1605
20 inflamed] inflamed inflamed 1605
23 circumstance] circumstances 1605
1610 1616
his peace with his Lord and Master Agenor,
who not long before had proclaimed him as a notorious
Pirate throughout all his dominions. Neither swarued hee
one whit from his purpose, for no sooner had he cast anker
in the Port of Hadrionopolis, but he arraied him
in choyce silkes and Tyrian purple, & so 5
sent him as a prize to the King of
that Country, who wal- [G 1] king as then in his summer
garden with his Queen the beauteous Eriphila, fell
to discourse (as one well seene in Philosophie) of hearbes
and flowers, as the sauour or colour did occasion; and
hauing spent some time in disputing their medicinable 10
properties, his Ladie reaching him a
Marigold, he began to moralize of it thus merely. I
meruaile the Poets that were so prodigall in painting the
amorous affection of the Sunne to his Hyacinth, did neuer
obserue the relation of loue twixt him and the Marigold:
it shoulde either seeme they were loath 15
to incurre the displeasure of women,
by propounding in the way of comparison any seruile
imitation for head strong wiues, that loue no precepts
lesse, than those pertaining vnto duty; or that that
flower not so vsual in their gardens as ours, in her
vnacquainted name did obscure the honour of her amors to
20
Apollo; to whose motions reducing the
methode of her springing, she waketh and sleepeth,
openeth and shutteth her golden leaues, as he riseth and
setteth. Well did you forestall my exception quoth Eriphila,
in terming it a seruile imitation; for were the condition
of a wife so slauish as your similitude 25
would inferre, I had as leaue be your
page as your spouse, your dogge as your darling. Not so
sweete wife
Textual Notes: to Page 79
1 his peace]
peace 1599-1616
4 Hadrionopolis] Hadrianopolis
1599-1616
15 either seeme] seeme either 1610
1616
16 in] 1599-1616. it in
1589
19 that that] that the 1599-1616
26 leaue] liefe 1599 1605 1616
answered Agenor, but the
comparison holdeth in this, that as the Marigold
resembleth the Sunne both in colour and forme, so each
mans wife ought euerie way to be the image of her
husband, framing her countenance to smile, when she sees
him disposed to mirth; and contrariwise her eyes to
teares, he 5
being surcharged with melancholy: and
as the Marigold displaieth the orient ornaments of her
beautie to the resplendant viewe of none but her louer Hyperion,
so ought not a woman of modestie lay open the allurements
of her face to anie but her espoused pheere; in whose
absence like the Marigold in the 10
absence of the Sunne, she ought to
shut vp her dores, and solemnize continuall night, till
her husband her sunne making a happie return, vnsealeth
her silence with the ioy of his sight. Beleeue me, but if
all flowers (quoth Eriphila) affoord such
influence of eloquence to our aduerse o- [G 1V]
rators, lie exempt them all from my smell, for feare they
be all planted to poyson. Ofte haue I heard (replied Agenor)
our cunning Phisitions conclude, that one poyson is
harmelesse to another; which if it be so, there is no
cause why a thistle should feare to be stung of a nettle.
I can tell you sir, you best 20
were beware, least in wading too farre
in comparisons of thistles and nettles, you exchange not
your rose for a nettle. If I do quoth Agenor, it
is no more, but my gardeners shall plucke it vp by the
rootes, and throw it ouer the wal as a weed. To end this
iest that els would issue to a iarre, what 25
purple flower is this in forme like a
hyacinth (quoth Eriphila) so cunningly
dropped with bloud, as if Nature had intermedled
Textual Notes to Page 80
6 and as] As 1605 1610 1616
7 to] and to 1599-1616
19 they 1599-1616
20-21 best were] were best 1599-1816
23 gardeners] gardener 1599-1616
.
25 that ] which l6l0 l6l6
medled with the Heralds arte to
emblazon a bleeding heart. It is the flower into the which
Poets doo faigne Venus dying Adonis to be
turnd, a faire boy but passing infortunate. Was it
possible quoth Eriphila, that euer Nature should
bee so bounteous to a boy, to giue him a face in despite
of women 5
so faire: faine would I see such an
obiect, and then would I defie beautie, for imparting our
excellencie to any inferiour abiect. In saying these words
(as if Fortune meant to present her fancie with his
desired felicitie) Romanio conducted by one of the
Lords came with yong Pleusidippus in his hand into
10
the priuie garden: where discoursing
vnto the king the intent of Eurilochus in
presenting him with such an inestimable Iewell, the manner
of his taking in the Strond of Arcadie, with other
circumstance of vowed alleageance; all which being
gratefully accepted of Agenor, he sealed their
seuerall pardons, 15
& so gaue them leaue to depart.
But when he had throughly obserued euerie perfection of
yong Pleusidippus, he burst into these tearmes of
passion; Had sea-borne Pontia then an appliable
eare in our idlenesse, that to testifie hir eternall
deitie, she should send vs a second Adonis to
delude 20
our senses? What euer may deserue the
name of faire haue I seen before, beautie haue I beheld in
his brightest orb, but neuer set eye on immortalitie
before this houre. Eriphila likewise in no lesse
extasie, seeing her eyes to dazle with the [G 2j reflexe
of his beautie, and hir cheekes tainted 25
with a blush of disgrace by too too
much gazing on his face, said; that eyther the Sunne had
lefte his bower to beguile
Textual Notes to Page 81
2 the which] which 1599-1616
2 Poets doo faigne] Poets faigne 1599-1616
2 Venus dying] Venus
caused dying 1599-1616
8 abiect] obiect 1605 1610 1616
9 his] her 1599-1616
14 circumstance] circumstances 1599-1616
16 & so] and 1610 1616
21 name of] name 1599-1616
22 brightest] 1599-1616,
brighest 1589
their eyes with a borrowed shape
(which could not keepe in his brightnesse) or Cupide
dismounted from his mothers lappe, left his bow &
quiuer at randon, to outbraue the Thessalian dames
in their beautie. In this contrarietie of thoughts, being
all plunged welnigh in a speachlesse astonishment, the 5
faire childe Pleusidippus not
vsed to such hyperbolical spectators, broke off the
silence by calling for his victualls, as one whose emptie
stomack since his comming from sea, was not ouercloyed
with delicates, whereat Agenor reuiued from his
trance, wherein the present wonder had inwrapt him, 10
demanded such questions of his name
and parentage as the Pirates ignorance could not vnfold;
but he being able to tel no more than this, that his
mother was a shepheardesse, & his owne name Pleusidippus,
cut off all their further Interrogatories by calling
after his childish manner againe for 15
his dinner. Whereupon Agenor
commanding him to be had in, and vsed in euerie respect as
the childe of a Prince, began in his solitarie walke by
his countenance to calculate his Natiuitie, and measure
his birth by his beautie, contracting him in thought heyre
to his kingdome of Thessaly, and husbande 20
to his daughter, before he knewe
whence the childe descended, or who was his father.
But leauing yong Pleusidippus thus spending
his youth in the Thessalian Court, protected with
the tender affection of such a courteous Foster-father as
Agenor; returne wee where we lefte backe vnto Arcadie,
and meete his Mother the faire Samela returning
from the foldes: who hauing discoursed
by the way as she came home to Lamedon
and Menaphon what shee late sawe and obserued in
her sonne, they both conioyned their iudgements to this
conclusion, that hee was doubtles borne to some greater
fortunes than the sheepcoates could containe, and
therefore it behooued her to further his Destinies 5
with some good and liberall education,
[G 2V] and not to detaine him any longer in
that trade of life, which his fortune withstood: but by
the way to rebuke him for tyrannising so Lordlie ouer the
boies, least the neighbor shepheards might happely intrude
the name of iniurie on them being 10
strangers for his insulting ouer their
children. With this determination came she home, &
calling for Pleusidippus according to their
former consaile, he would in no wise be found. Thereupon
enquirie was made amongest all the shepheards, diligent
search in euerie village, but stil the most 15
carefullest post returned with Non
est inuentus. Which Samela hearing,
thinking she had vtterly lost him whome Fortune had saued,
began in this manner to act her vnrest; Dissembling
heauens, where is your happinesse? vnconstant times, what
are your triumphes? haue you therefore hethertoo fed me
with 20
honie, that you might at last poyson
me with gall? Haue you fatted mee so long with Sardenian
smiles, that like the wracke of the Syrens, I
might perrish in your wiles? Curst that I was to affie in
your curtesie, curst that am to taste of your crueltie. 0
Pleusidippus, liuest thou, or art thou 25
dead? No thou art dead, dead to the
world, dead to thy kinsfolkes, dead to Cipres,
dead to Arcadie, dead to thy mother
Textual
Notes to Page 83
3 this] their 1599-1616
4 than the] than 1599-1616
14 amongest] among 1599-1616
21 that you] that ye 1599-1616
24 am] I am 1599-1616
Samela; and with thee dies the worlds
wonder, thy kinsfolkes comfort, Cipres soule, Arcadies
hopes, thy mothers honours. Was this the prophecie of thy
souereigntie, to yeeld vp thy life to death so vntimely?
wretched was I of al women to bring thee foorth to this
infancie. O cruel Themis that didst 5
reuolue such vneuitable fate; hard
harted death to prosecute me with such hate. Haue wee
therefore escapte the furie of the seas, to perish on the
land? was it not inough that we were exiled from higher
prosperitie, but we must all of vs thus sodainly be
ouerwhelmed with the ouerflowe of a second 10
aduersitie? my husband and thy father
to be swalowed in the furie of the surge, and now thou to
bee (and therewith her eyes distilled such abundance of
teares, as stopt the passage of her plaints, & made
her seeme a more than second Niobe, bewailing her
seauen fold sorrow vnder the forme of [G 3] a 15
weeping Flint.) Menaphon who
had ouer heard her all this while, as one that sought
opportunitie to plead his vnrest, perceiuing her in that
extremitie of agonie for hir sons supposed losse, stept to
hir presently, & cheerde hir vp in these tearmes;
Faire shepheardesse, might the teares of 20
contrition raise the dead from
destruction, then were it wisedome to bewaile what weeping
might recall; but since such anguish is fruitelesse, and
these plainings bootlesse; comfort your self with the hope
of the liuing, and omit the teares for the dead. Why quoth
Samela how is it possible a woman should 25
loose him without griefe, whom she
hath conceiued with sorrow: he was sweete Menaphon,
the diuided halfe of my essence,
Textual Notes to Page 84
10 thus
sodainly] suddenly 1605 1610 1616
11 thy] my 1605
1610 1616
15 of a] of
1605 1610 1616
soule to my
ioyes, and life to my delights; as beauteous in his birth,
as is our bright bow-bearing God, that played the
shepheard awhile for loue, amiddest our pleasant Arcadian
Downes. What ere hee was in beautie quoth Menaphon,
proceeded from your bountie; who may by marriage make his
like when you 5
please:
therefore there is no cause you shuld so much grieue to
see your first worke defacde, that of a newe molde can
forme a farre better than euer he was. Ah Menaphon,
nere more may his like proceede from my loynes; I tell
thee he made the chamber bright with his beautie when he
was born, and chacte 10
the night
with the golden rayes that gleamed from his lookes: nere
more may I bee the mother of such a sonne. Yes Samela
(quoth the frolicke shephearde) thinke not but if thou
wilt list to my loues, I will enrich thee with as faire
increase as euer he was. Alas pore swaine said she, thou
hopest in 15
vaine, since
another must reape what thou hast sowne, and gather into
his barnes what thou hast scattered in the furrowe.
Another reape what I haue sowen: therwith he scracht his
head where it icht not, and setting his cap he could not
tell which way, in a hot fustian fume he vttred these
words of furie; 20
Strumpet of
Greece, repaiest thou my loue with this lauish
ingratitude? haue I therefore with my plentie supplied thy
wants, that thou with thy pride shouldst procure my wo?
did I relieue thee in distresse, to wound me [G 3V]
in thy welfare with disdaine? deceitfull woman (and
therewith hee swore a 25
holiday
oath, by Pan the God of the Shepheards) either
returne loue for loue, or I will turne thee forth of
doores to
Textual Notes to Page 85
4 ere J euer
1599-1616
6 cause J
cause why 1599 -1616
10 chacte]
checkt 1599-1616
12 nere]
neuer 1599-1616
20 fume J 1599-1616,
fumes 1589
scrape vp
thy crummes where thou canst; and make thee pitied for thy
pouertie, that earst while wert honoured in euerie mans
eye through the supportance of thy heautie. Belike then
quoth Samela, when you intertained me into your
house, you did it not in regarde of the lawes of
hospitalitie, but onely 5
with this
policie to quench the flames of your fancies then sir haue
I mistooke your honestie, and am lesse indebted to your
courtesie. Nay I thought no lesse said Menaphon,
when your straggling eye at our last meeting would he
gadding throughout euerie corner of our companie, that you
would10
proue such a
kinde kistrell; but if you will needes hee starting, lie
serue yee thereafter I warrant you: then see which of our
beardlesse yongsters will take ye in, when I haue cast you
foorth. Those quoth shee that countenance Menaphon and
his pelfe, and are better able than your selfe: but
howsoever 15
I finde
their fauour, I henceforth defie you and your fellowship,
And therewith in great rage she flung away into the next
chamber, where her vncle Lamedon laye a sleepe; to
whome complaining of Menaphons discurtesies, he
straight inuented this remedie; there was a shepheard
called Moron 20
(brother to
Doron) that not long before died of a surfet, whose
house and flocke beeing set to sale after his decease, he
bought them both foorthwith for Samela with certaine
remainder of money he had, and therein enfeaft her maugre
the fuirie of Menaphon; who when hee saw she was
able to support 25
her state
without his purse, became sicke for anger, and spent whole
Eclogues in anguish. Sometime lying comfortlesse
Textual Notes to Page 86
7 haue I] I
haue 1599-1616
12 yee] you
1599-1616
13 ye] you 1605
1610 1616
14 quoth]
said 1599-1616
14
countenance] out countenance 1610 1616
18 a sleepe]
sleeping 1605 1610 1616
18-19 to
whome] who 1605 1610 1616
on his bedde
he would complaine him to the windes of his woes, in these
or such like woords; Forlorne, and forsooke since Phisick
dooth-loathe thee; despaire be thy death, Loue is a God
and despiseth thee a man; Fortune blinde, and can not
beholde thy desertes: die, die, fonde Menaphon,
that vngratefully 5
hast abando-
[G 4] ned thy Mistresse. And therewith stretching himselfe
vppon his bedde, as thinking to haue slept, hee was
restrained by cares that exiled all rest from his eyes:
whereuppon taking his pipe in his hande, twixte playing
and singing hee playned him thus.10
Menaphons Song
in his bedde.
You
restlesse cares companions of the night,
That wrap my
ioyes in folds of endlesse woes:
Tyre on my
heart, and wound it with your spight,
Since Loue
and Fortune proues my equall foes.15
Farewell my hopes, farewell my happie dales:
Welcome sweete griefe, the subiect of my laies.
Mourne
heauens, mourne earth, your shepheard is forlorne;
Mourne times
and houres since bale inuades my bowre:
Curse euerie
tongue the place where I was borne,
Curse euerie
thought the life which makes me lowre.
Farewell my hopes, farewell my happie dales,
Welcome sweete griefe the subiect of my laies.
Textual Notes to Page 87
1 onj in 1599-1616
7
stretchingj stretched 1599-1616
13 wrap]
wrapt 1610 1616
19 my] by 1599-1616
Was I not
free? was I not fancies aime?
Framde not desire my face to front
disdaine?
I was; she did: but now one silly
maime
Makes me to droope as he whom loue
hath slaine.
Farewell my hopes, farewell my happie dales, 5
Welcome sweete griefe the subiect of my layes.
Yet drooping, and yet liuing to this
death,
I sigh, I sue for pitie at her shrine,
Whose fierie eyes exhale my vitall
breath,
And make my flockes with parching
heate to pine. 10
Farewell my hopes, farewell my happie dales,
Welcome sweete griefe the subiect of my layes.
[G 4V] Fade they, die I,
long may she liue to blisse
That feedes a wanton fire with fuell
of her forme,
And makes perpetuall summer where shee
is; 15
Whiles I doo crie oretooke with enuies
storme,
Farewell my hopes, farewell my happie daies:
Welcome sweete griefe, the subiect of my laies.
No sooner had Menaphon ended this dittie,
but Pesana hearing that he was lately falne
sicke, and that Samela &20
hee were at mortall iarres; thinking
now to make hay while the Sunne shinde, and take
opportunitie by his forelockes, comming into his chamber
vnder pretence to visite him, fell into these tearmes; Why
how now Menaphon, hath your newe
Textual
Notes to Page 88
4 as] eas 1599
21 now to] to 1599-1616
22 his] her l6l0 1616
change driuen you to a night cap?
Beleeue me this is thestrangest
effect of loue that euer I saw, to freeze so quicklye the
heart it set on fire so lately. Why maye it not bee a
burning feuer as well quoth Menaphon blushing? Nay
that can not be said Pesana, since you shake for
cold, not swelt 5
for heat.
Why if it be so it is long of cold interteinment. Why
quoth Pesana, hath your hot intertainment cooled
your courage? No, but her vndeserued hate quite hindered
my conquest. You knowe quoth Pesana where you
might haue been let in long ere this, without either
assalt or anie such 10
battrie. With this the shephearde was
mute, and Pesana ashamed: but at length
regathering his spirites to bewray his martyrdome, and
make his olde Mistresse some new musicke, he strained
foorth this dittie.
Faire fields proud Floras
vaunt, why is’t you smile 15
when as I languish?
You golden meads, why striue you to
beguile
my weeping anguish?
I liue to sorrow, you to pleasure
spring:
why doo you spring thus? 20
What will not Boreas tempests
wrathfull king
take some pitie on vs?
[H 1] And send foorth Winter in hir
rustle weede,
to waite my bemonings;
Whiles I distrest doo tune my countrey
reede 25
vnto my gronings.
Textual
Notes to Page 89
3 heart it] heart, is 1605 1610,
heart yt is 1616
5 swelt] sweat 1605 1610 1616
7 quoth] said 1599-1616
9 quoth] said 1599-1616
23 in hir] in 1616
24 waite] waile 1599-1616
But heauen, and earth, time, place,
and euerie power
haue with her conspired
To turrie my blissefull sweetes to
balefull sower,
since fond I desired
The heauen whereto my thoughts may not
aspire: 5
ay me vnhappie.
It was my fault t'imbrace my bane the
fire
that forceth me die.
Mine be the paine, but hirs the cruell
cause
of this strange torment: 10
Wherefore no time my banning praiers
shall pause,
till proud she repent.
Well I perceiue quoth Pesana, for all she
hath let you flie like a Hawke that hath lost hir tyre;
yet you meane to follow sute and seruice, though you get
but a handfull of 15
smoake to the bargaine. Not so quoth Menaphon,
but perhaps I seek to
returne an ill bargaine as deare as I bought it. If you
doo so, you are wiser than this kercher dooth shew you
quoth Pesana. Much idle prattle to this purpose
had Menaphon with Pesana in his
sicknesse, and long it was not, but that 20
with good diet and warme broths, (and
especially by her carefull attendance) hee began to gather
vp his crummes, and listen by litle and litle to the loue
he late scorned. Leaue we them to their equall desires, as
surfeiting either of others societie; and let vs looke
back to Thessaly, where 25
Samelaes stripling (now growne vp to the age
of sixteene
Textual
Notes to Page 90
3 sweetes] sweete 1599-1616
4 fond I] I fond 1599-1616
4 desired] desired. 1599-1616
8 die] to die 1616
9 the paine] my paine 1616
13 quoth] said 1599-1616
16 quoth] said 1599-1616
18 dooth shew] sheweth 1599-1616
19 quoth] said 1599-1616
19 purpose] end 1599-1616
24 as] and 1599-1616
yeres) flourisht in honour &
feates of armes aboue all the Knights of the Court,
insomuch that the eccho of his Fame, was the onely newes
talkt on throughout euerie towne in Greece; but Olympia
the Mistres of his prowesse, (for so was the Kings
daughter named) was she that most of all exalted in 5
the farre renow- [H 1V] med
reports of his martiall perfections, to whose praise hee
did consecrate al his indeuours, to whose exquisite forme
he did dedicate all his aduentures.
But hell-borne Fame, the eldest daughter of Erinnis,
enuying the felicitie of these two famous Louers,
dismounted eftsoones 10
from hir brasse sounding buildings,
and vnburdened hir selfe of hir secrets in the presence of
yong Pleusidippus, among whose catalogue she had
not forgot to discouer, the incomparable beautie of the Arcadian
shepheardesse; whereof the young Prince no sooner had
receiued an inckling, but he 15
stood vpon thornes til he had
satisfied his desire with her sight. Therefore on a time
sitting with his Mistresse at supper, when for table talke
it was debated amongst them, what Countrey bredde the most
accomplisht Dames for all things? After straungers and
others had deliuered vp their opinions 20
without parcialitie, one amongst them
all who had been in Arcadie, gaue vp his verdit
thus freely; Gentlewomen (quoth hee) bee it no disgrace
for the Moon to stoope to the Sunne, for the starres to
giue place when Titan appeares; then I hope
neither the Thessalians will be moued, nor the Grecians
25
agrieued, if I make Apollos
Arcadie beauties Meridian. Neither wil 1 proceede
heerein as our Philosophical! Poets are wont,
Textual Notes to Page 91
5 exalted] exulted 1599-1616
6 renowned] renowned 16l6
21 amongst] among 1610 1616
that muster euerie moouer in the
Zodiacke, euerie fixed starre in the firmament, euerie
elementall worde of arte in an Almanacke, to prooue that
Countrey for beautie most Canonicall where their Mistresse
abideth; when as God wot, had they but learned of Apelles.
Ne sutor vltra crepidam, they 5
wold not haue aspired aboue their
birth, or talkt beyond their sowterly bringing vp. Our Arcadian
Nimphs are faire & beautifull, though not begotten of
the Suns bright rayes; whose eyes vant loues armorie to
the viewe, whose angelical faces are to the obscure earth
in steed of a Firmament: 10
viewe but this counterfeits (and
therewithall hee shewed the picture of Samela) and
see if it be not of force to draw the Sunne from his
spheare, or the Moone from hir circle to gaze as the one
did on the beautie of Daphne, or al night
contemplate as the [H 2] other on
the forme of Endymion. Pleusidippus 15
who al this while heard his tale with
attentiue patience, no sooner beheld the radiant glory of
this resplendant face, but as a man alreadie installed in
eternitie, he exclaimed thus abruptly, O Arcadie,
Arcadie storehouse of 20
Nimphs, and nurserie of beautie. At
which words Olympia starting vp suddenly, as if
she a second Iuno, had taken hir Ioue in
bed with Alcmena: & ouercasting the chamber
with a frown that was able to mantle the world with an
eternall night, she made passage to her choller in these
termes of contempt; Beardlesse vpstart of I know not
whence, haue the 25
fauors of my bounty (not thy desert)
entred thee so deeply in ouerweening presumption, that
thou shouldst be the formost
Textual Notes to Page 92
9 vant] vaunt 1616
10 of a] of 1699-1616
19 storehouse] storehouses 1610
1616
in derogation of our dignitie, and
blaspheming of my beautie? I tell thee recreant, I scorne
thy clownish Arcady with his inferiour
comparisons, as one that prizeth her perfection aboue anie
created constitution. Pleusidippus vpon this
speach stood plunged in a great perplexitie whether he
should excuse 5
himselfe mildly, or take her vp
roundly: but the latter being more leuel to his humor than
the former, he begun thus to rowze vp his furie;
Disdainful dame that vpbraidest me with my birth as it
were base, & my youth as it were boyish, know that
although my parents and progenie are enuied by obscuritie,
10
yet the sparkes of renowm that make my
Eagle minded thoughts to mount, the heauenly fire
imprisoned in the pannicles of my crest, inciting me to
more deeds of honor, than stout Perseus effected
with his fauchon in the fields of Hesperia,
assertaineth my soule I was the sonne of no coward, but a
Gentleman: 15
but since my inequalitie of parentage,
is such an eye sore to thy enuie, holde take thy fauors,
(and therewith he threw her her gloue) and immortalize
whom thou wilt with thy toyes; for I will to Arcadie
in despite of thee and thine affinitie, there either to
seeke out mischance, or a new Mistres. 20
With this in a ereat rage he rose from
the boord, & would haue mounted himselfe to depart in
that mood, had not the Lords & gentlemen there present
disswaded him from such an vnaduised enterprise. [H 2V]
Neither was this vnkindnesse kept so secret, but it came
to the Kings eare as he was new 25
risen from dinner; who for the loue he
bare to Pleusidippus whome hee had honoured with
Knighthood not long before, and
Textual Notes to Page 93
2 recreant] miscreant 1610 1616
4 Pleusidippus] 1599-1616. Pleusidippns
1589
7 he begun] began 1599-1616
10 although] though 1599-1616
11 renowm] renowne 1605 1610 1616
12 fire] 1599-1616. fir
1589
14-15 assertaineth] ascertaines 1599-1616
16 an] a 1599 1605
18 her her] her 1610 1616
19 despite] spite 1599-1616
19 thine] thy 1599-1616
26 risen] 1599-1616,
rise 1589
for the toward hopes he saw in him,
tooke paines to goe to the chamber where they were; and
finding his daughter in straunge manner perplexed with the
thought of Pleusidippus departure, her eyes red,
and her cheekes all to be blubbered with her iealous
teares, he tooke her vp in this manner. Daughter, I 5
thought I had chose such a one to be
the obiect of your eie, as you might haue euerie way loued
and honoured as the Lord of your life, and not haue
controlled as the slaue of your luste. Did I therefore
grace him with my countenance, that you should distaine
him with your taunts; peeuish girle, I aduise thee 10
on my displeasure, either reconcile
thy selfe betimes, and reforme thy vnreuerent tearmes, or
I will disclaime the loue of a Father, and deale by thee
no more as a daughter. Olympia who alreadie had
sufficiently bitten on the bridle, took 15
these words more vnkindly than all her
former bitternesse, which she disgested but sowerly;
neuerthelesse making necessitie the present times best
pollicie, shee humbled her selfe as shee might with
modestie, and desired the best interpretation of what was
past: Pleusidippus whose courteous inclination
coulde not withstand this submission, in sign of 20
reconcilement gaue her a stoccado
des lables: yet was he not so reconciled, but he
kept on his purpose of going to Arcadie; whereat Olympia
(although she grudged inwardly, yet being loath to offend)
helde her peace, and determined to bestowe vppon him a
remembrance, whereby he might bee brought to 25
thinke vppon her in his absence; which
was the deuise of a bleeding heart floting in the sea,
waues curiouslie stampt in
Textual
Notes to Page 94
3 thought] thoughts 1610 1616
7 you] ye 1599-1616
20 this] his 1599
23 although] though 1599-1616
26 vppon] on 1599-1616
27 sea, waues] sea waues, 1599-1616
golde, with this Motto about
it, Portum aut mortem; alluding as it seemed to
the deuise in his shield, wherein (because he was taken vp
by Eurilochus on the shore) was cunningly drawne
in a field argent, the sea waues with Venus
sitting on the top, in token that his affection was
alreadie fettered. Here 5
holde this [H 33] said she my sweet Pleusidippus,
and hang it about thy neck, that when thou art in Arcadie
it may be euer in thine eye; so shall these droppes of
ruth that paint out a painfull trueth, withdraw thy fancie
from attracting strange beautie: which said, the teares
gusht from her eyes, and good 10
Agenors likewise, who gaue him nothing so
much in charge, as to make hast of his returne. Pleusidippus
although he could haue bin content to haue done the like
for companie, yet he had such a minde on his iourney, that
he broke off such ceremonies, and hasted a shipboord; and
in a Barke bounde for 15
Arcadie, hauing the winde fauourable made a
short cut, so that in a daye and nights sayling, he
arriued on the shore adioyning to the Promontorie wher he,
his mother, and his vnckle Lamedon were first
wrackt.
Leaue we him wandring with some few of his traine
that 20
came with him alongst the sea side, to
seeke out some town or village where to refresh
themselues; and let vs awhile to the Court of Democles
where our Historie began; who hauing committed his
daughter with her tender babe, her husbande Maximius,
and Lamedon his vnckle without oare or marriner to
25
the furie of the merciles waues,
determined to leaue the succession of his kingdome to
vncertaine chance; for his Queene
Textual Notes to Page 95
1 Motto"] potto l6l0
2 he] it 1599-1616
thine] thy 1599-1616
10-11 good Agenors] Agenors
1599-1616
12 although] though 1599-1616
14 broke] brake 1605 1610 1616
16 that] as 1599-1616
17-18 adioyning to] ioyning on 1599-1616
18 Promontorie] Promontarie 1605
1610
18-19 his vnckle Lamedon] Lamedon.
1599-1616
21alongst] along 1599-1616
25 Maximius3 Maximinus 1605 1610 1616
with Sephestiaes losse (whom
she deemed to be dead) tooke such thought, that within
short time after she died. Democles as carelesse
of all weathers, spent his time Epicure-like in all kinde
of pleasures that either art or expence might affoord; so
that for his dissolute life he seemed another Heliogabalus,
5
deriuing his securitie from that
grounded tranquiltie, which made it prouerbiall to the
world, No heauen but Arcadie. Hauing spent manie
yeares in this varietie of vanitie, Fame determining to
applye her selfe to his fancie, sounded in his eares the
singular beautie of his daughter Samela; he, 10
although he were an olde colte, yet
had not cast all his wanton teeth, which made him vnder
the brute of beeing sicke of a grieuous appoplexie, steale
from his Court secretly in the disguise of a shepheard, to
come and seek out Same- [H 3V] la;
who not a little proud of hir new flocke, liude more 15
contented than if she had been Queene
of Arcadie; and Melicertus ioying not a
little that shee was parted from Menaphon, vsed
euerie day to visite her without dread, and courte her in
such shepheards tearmes as he had; which howe they pleased
her I leaue to you to imagine, when as not long after she
20
vowed mariage to him solemnly in
presence of all the shepheards, but not to be solemnized
till the Prophecie was fulfilled, mentioned in the
beginning of this Historie. Although this penance exceeded
the limits of his patience; yet hoping that the Oracle was
not vttered in vaine, and might as well 25
(albeit he knew not which way) bee
accomplished in him as in any other, was contented to make
a vertue of necessitie, and
Textual
Notes to Page 96
5 that] as 1599-1616
10 eares] eare 1599-1616
await the vtmost of his destinie. But
Pleusidippus, who by this time had perfected his
pollicies, exchaunging his garments with one of the
heardgroomes of Menaphon, tracing ouer the Plaines
in the habit of a Shepheard, chanced to meete with Democles
as he was new come into those quarters; whom 5
mistaking for an olde shepheard, he
began many impertinent questions belonging to the
Sheepecoates, at last he askt him if he knew Samelas
sheepfold; who answering doubtfully vnto all alike, made
him halfe angrie: and had not Samela past by at
that instant to fill her bottle at a spring neere the 10
foote of the Promontorie, he should
lyke inough haue had first hansell of our new Shepheards
sheepehooke. But the wonder of her beautie so wrought with
his wounded fancie, that he thought report a partiall
spreader of her praises, and fame too base to talke of
such formes. Samela espying 15
this faire shepheard so farre
ouer-gone in his gazing, stept to him, and askt him if he
knew her that hee so ouerlookt her. Pardon me faire
shepheardesse (quoth Pleusidippus) if it be a
fault, for I cannot chuse being Eagle sighted but gaze on
the Sunne the first time I see it. And truely I cannot 20
chuse but compare you to one of AEsops
Apes, that finding a Gloworme in the night, tooke it for
fire; and you seeing a face full of deformities, mistake
it for the Sunne. In- [H 4] deede it maye be mine eyes
made opposite to such an obiect may faile in their office,
hauing their lights rebated by 25
such brightnesse. Nay not vnlike quoth
Samela, for els out of doubt you would see your way
better. Why quoth Pleusidippus
Textual Notes to Page 97
8 vnto] to 1599-1616
18 quoth] said 1599-1616
22 fire] a fire 1605 1610 l6l6
I cannot go out of the way, when I
meete such glistering Goddesses in my way. How now sir Paris,
are you out of your Arithmeticke, I thinke you haue lost
your witts with your eyes, that mistake Arcadie
for Ida, and a Shepheardesse for a Goddes. How
euer it please you (quoth Pleusidippus) to 5
derogate from my prowesse by the title
of Paris, know that I am not so farre out of my
Arithmetick, but that by Multiplication I can make two of
one, in an houres warning, or bee as good as a cypher to
fill vp a place at the worst hand; for my 10
wit sufficeth be it neuer so simple to
proue both re and voce that there can be
no vacuum in rerum natura, and mine eyes (or else
they deceiue me) will enter so farre in arte as niger
est contrarius albo, and teach mee how to discerne
twixt blacke and white. Much other circumstaunce of
prattle passed betweene them, which the Arcadian
Records doo not shew, 15
nor I remember; sufficeth he pleaded
loue, and was repulst: which droue him into such a cholar,
that meeting his supposed shepheard, (who lying vnder a
bush, had all this while ouer heard them) he entred into
such termes of indignation, as Ioue shaking his
earthquaking haire, when he sate in consultation 20
of Licaon. Wherefore Democles
perceiuing Pleusidippus repulst, who was euery way
gracde with the ornaments of Nature, began to cast his bad
peniworths, in whose face age had furrowed her wrinckles;
except hee should lay his crowne at her feete, and tell
her he was King of Arcadia; which in Common
wealths 25
respectes, seeming not commodious, he
thought to turne a new leafe, and make this yong shepheard
the meanes to perfect his
Textual Notes to Page 98
6 title] tittle 1610
23 cast] cast ouer 1605 1610 1616
24 crowne] crowne downe 1605 1610
1616
purpose. Hee had not fame from that
place a strong Castle, which was inhabited as then by none
but tilsmen and heard- groomes: thether did he perswade Pleusidippus
to carrie her perforce, & effect that by constraint,
that he could not atchieue by intreatie; who [H 4V]
listning not a little to 5
this counsaile, that was neuer platted
for his aduantage, presently put in practise what he of
late gaue in precepts, and waiting till the euening that Samela
should fold hir sheep, hauing giuen his men the watch
word, maugre al the shepheards adioyning he mounted her
behind him; and being by 10
Democles directed to the Castle, he made such
hauocke among the stubborne heardsmen, that wil they nill
they, he was Lord of the Castle. Yet might not all this
preuaile with Samela, who constant to her olde
shephearde, would not interteine anie new loue; which made
Pleusidippus thinke all his haruest 15
lost in the reaping, and blemisht al
his delights with a mournful drooping. But Democles
that lookt for a mountaine of golde in a Mole hill,
finding her all alone, began to discourse his loue in more
ample manner than euer Pleusidippus, telling her
how he was a King, what his reuenewes were, what 20
power he had to aduance her; with many
other proud vaunts of his wealth, and prodigal termes of
his treasure. Samela hearing the name of a King,
& perceiuing him to be hir Father, stoode amazed like
Medusaes Metamorphosis, and blushing oft with
intermingled sighes, began to thinke how iniurious
fortune 25 was to her showen in such an incestuous
father. But he hot spurred in his purpose, gaue hir no
time to deliberate,
Textual Notes to Page 99
6 platted] plotted 1605 1610 1616
13 all this] this 1605 1610 1616
16 blemisht] blemish 1610 1616
18 all alone] alone 1599-1616
27 deliberate] deliberate or consider
of the matter 1605 1610 1616
but required either a quicke consent,
or a present deniall. She tolde him, that the Shepheard Melicertus
was alreadie intitled in the interest of hir beautie,
wherefore it was in vain what he or anie other could plead
in the way of perswasion. He thereupon entring into a
large field of the basenesse 5
of Shepheards, and royalties of Kings,
with manie other assembled arguments of delight, that
would haue fetcht Venus from her sphere to
disport: but Samela whose mouth could disgest no
other meate saue onely hir sweete Melicertus,
ashamed so long to holde parley with her father about such
a 10
matter, flung away to her withdrawing
chamber in a dissembled rage, and there after her wonted
manner bewailed her misfortunes.
Democles plunged thus in a Laborinth of
restles passi- [I 1] ons, seeing Melicertus figure
was so deepely printed 15
in the center of her thoughts, as
neither the resolution of his fancie, his Metamorphosis
from a King to a traueler, Crownes, Kingdomes,
preferments, (battries that soone ouerthrowe the fortresse
of womens fantasies) when Democles I saye, saw
that none of these colde remooue Samela; hearing
that 20
the Arcadian shepheardes were
in an vprore for the losse of their beautiful
shepheardesse, his hot loue changing to a bird of coye
disdaine; he intended by some reuenge, either to obtaine
his loue, or satisfie his hate: whereupon throughly
resolued, he stole away secretly in his shepheards
apparaile, 25
& got him down to the Plaines;
where he found all the swains in a mutinie about the
recouerie of their beautiful Paragon.
Democles stepping amongst the route, demanded
the cause of their controuersie. Marie sir quoth Doron
bluntly, the flower of all our garland is gone. How meane
you that sir, quoth he? We had answered Doron, an
Eaw amongst our Ramms, whose fleece was as white as the
haires that grow on father Boreas chinne, 5
or as the dangling deawlap of the
siluer Bull, her front curled like to the Erimanthian
Boare, and spangled like the woosted stockings of Saturne,
her face like Mars treading vpon the milke white
cloudes: beleeue me shepheard, her eyes were like the
fierie torches tilting against the Moone: this paragon, 10
this none such, this Eaw, this Mistres
of our flockes, was by a wily Foxe stolne from our foldes;
for which these shepheards assemble themselues, to recouer
so wealthie a prize. What is he quoth Menaphon
that Doron is in such debate with? Fellowe canst
thou tell vs anie newes of the faire shepheardesse, 15
that the Knight of Thessaly
hath carried away from her fellow Nymphes. Democles
thinking to take opportunitie by the forhead: and seeing
Time had feathred his bolte, willing to assaye as hee
might to hit the marke, began thus.
Shepheardes, you see my profession is your trade,
and 20
although my wandring fortunes be not
like your home borne fauours; yet were I in the groues of
Thessalian Tempe, as [I 1V] I am in the
plaines of Arcadie, the swaines would giue mee as
manie due honors, as they present you here with submisse
reuerence. Beautie that drew Apollo from heauen to
playe the 25
shepheard, that fetcht Ioue from
heauen to bear the shape of a Bul for Agenors
daughter, the excellence of such a Metaphusicall
Textual Notes to Page 101
7 like the] like to the 1605 1610
1616
9-10 eyes were like] eyes like 1605
1610 1616
27 Metaphusicall] Metaphysicall 1599-1616
vertue, I meane shepheards the fame of
your faire Samela, houering in the eares of euerie
man as a miracle of nature, brought me from Thessaly
to feede mine eyes with Arcadies wonder: stepping
alongst the shoare to come to some sheepcoate where my
wearie limmes might haue rest, Loue that for my 5
labors thought to lead me to fancies
pauilion, was my conduct to a castle, where a Thessalian
knight lyes in holde, the Portcullis was let downe, the
bridge drawen, the Court of garde kept, thether I went;
and for by my tongue I was known to be a Thessalian,
I was enterteined and lodged: the Knight 10
whose yeares are young, and valure
matchlesse, holding in his armes a Ladie more beautifull
than Loues Queene, all blubbered with teares, asked me
manie questions, which as I might I replide vnto: but
while he talkt, mine eye surfeiting with such excellence,
was detained vpon the glorious shew of such 15
a wonderfull obiect; I demanded what
she was of the standers by, & they said she was the
faire shepheardesse whome the Knight had taken from the
swaines of Arcadie, and woulde carrie with the
first winde that serued into Thessaly: This
shepheards I knowe, and grieue that thus your loues should
be 20
ouermatcht with Fortune, and your
affections pulde backe by contrarietie of Destinie. Melicertus
hearing this, the fire sparkling out of his eyes began
thus; I tell thee shephearde, if Fates with their
forepointing pencels did pen down, or Fortune with her
deepest varietie resolue, or Loue with his 25
greatest power determine to depriue Arcadie
of the beautifull Samela, we would with our blood signe
downe such spels on the
Textual Notes to Page 102
1 shepheards] 1599-1616.
shepheard 1589
5 rest] rost 1605
9 by my] my 1616
22 Melicertus] Melecertus
1599 1605
25 her deepest] the deepe 1610
1616:
Plaines, that either our Gods should
summon her to Elizium, or shee rest with vs quiet
& fortunate: thou seest the shep- heardes are vp in
armes to reuenge, onely it rests who shall haue the honour
[I 2] and principalitie of the field. What needs that
question quoth Menaphon, am not I the Kings
shepherd, 5
and chiefe of all the bordering
swaines of Arcadie. I grant quoth Melicertus,
but am not I a Gentleman, though tirde in shepheardes
skincoate; superiour to thee in birth, though equall nowe
in profession. Well from words they had falne to blowes,
had not the shepheards parted them; and for the 10
auoyding of farther troubles, it was
agreed that they should in two Eclogs make description of
their loue, and Democles, for he was a stranger,
to sit Censor, and who best could decipher his Mistres
perfection, should be made Generall of the rest. Menaphon
and Melicertus condescended to this motion, 15
& Democles sitting as
Iudge, the rest of the shepheards standing as witnesses
of this combat Menaphon began thus.
Menaphons Eclogue.
Too weake the wit, too slender is the
braine
That meanes to marke the power and
worth of loue; 20
Not one that Hues (except he hap to
proue)
Can tell the sweete, or tell the
secret paine.
Yet I that haue been prentice to the
griefe,
Like to the cunning sea-man from a
farre,
Textual Notes to Page 103
2 shee] she the 1599
2 with vs] with 1599
7 am not I] I am not 1599
8 in shepheardes] in a shepheardes 1610
1616
16 as] as a 1599-1616
17 this] his 1599
By gesse will take the beautie of that
starre,
Whose influence must yeeld me chiefe
reliefe.
You Censors of the glcrie of my deare,
With reuerence and lowlie bent of
knee,
Attend and marke what her perfections
bee: 5
For in my words my fancies shall
appeare.
Hir lockes are pleighted like the
fleece of wooll
That Iason with his Gretian
mates atchiude,
As pure as golde, yet not from golde
deriude;
As full of sweetes, as sweete of
sweetes is full. 10
[I 2VJ Her browes are
pretie tables of conceate,
Where Loue his records of delight
dooth quoate,
On them her dallying lockes doo daily
floate
As Loue full oft dooth feede vpon the
baite.
Her eyes, faire eyes, like to the
purest lights
That animate the Sunne, or cheere the
day,
In whom the shining Sun~beames
brightly play
Whiles fancie dooth on them diuine
delights.
Hir cheekes like ripened lillies
steept in wine,
Or faire pomegranade kernels washt in
milke,
Or snow white threds in nets of
crimson silke,
Or gorgeous cloudes vpon the Sunnes
decline.
Textual Notes to Page 104
1 ake] talke 1589 1599 1605
16 cheere] cleare 16101616
20 pomegranate] Pomegranate 1616
Her lips are roses ouerwasht with dew,
Or like the purple of Narcissus
flowers
No frost their faire, no winde doth
wast their power,
But by her breath her beauties doo
renew.
Hir christall chin like to the purest
molde, 5
Enchac'de with daintie daysies soft
and white,
Where fancies faire pauilion once is
pight,
Whereas imbrac'de his beauties he doth
holde.
Hir necke like to an yuorie shining
tower
Where through with azure veynes sweete
Nectar runnes, 10
Or like the downe of Swannes where Senesse
woons,
Or like delight that doth it selfe
deuoure.
Hir pappes are like faire apples in
the prime,
As round as orient pearles, as soft as
downe:
They neuer vaile their faire through
winters frowne, 15
But from their sweetes Loue suckt his
summer time.
Hir bodie beauties best esteemed
bowre,
[I 3] Delicious, comely, daintie,
without staine:
The thought whereof (not touch) hath
wrought my paine.
Whose faire, all faire and beauties
doth deuoure. 20
Teares are his truce-men, words doo
make him tremble.
How sweete is loue to them that can
dissemble
In thoughts and lookes, till they haue
reapt the gaines,
Alonely I am plaine, and what I say 15
I thinke, yet what I thinke tongue
cannot tell:
Sweete Censors take my silly worst for
well:
My faith is firme, though homely be my
laye.
After the haples Menaphon had in this
homely discourse shadowed his heauenly delight, the
shepheard Melicertus after 20
some pause began in this sort.
Melicertus Eclogue.
What neede compare where sweete
exceedes compare?
Who drawes his thoughts of loue from
senselesse things,
[I 3V] Their pompe and
greatest glories doth impaire,
And mounts Loues heauen with ouer
leaden wings, 5
Stones, hearhes and flowers, the
foolish spoyles of
earth,
Flouds, mettalls, colours, dalliance
of the eye:
These shew conceipt is staind with too
much dearth:
Such abstract fond compares make,
cunning die. 10
But he that hath the feeling taste of
Loue
Deriues his essence from no earthlie
toy;
A weake conceipt his power cannot
approue,
For earthly thoughts are subiect to
annoy.
Be whist, be still, be silent Censers
now;15
My fellow swaine has tolde a pretie
tale
Which moderne Poets may perhaps allow,
Yet I condemne the tearmes; for they
are stale.
Apollo when my Mistres first was borne
Cut off his lockes, and left them on
hir head,20
And said; I plant these wires in
Natures scorne,
Whose beauties shall appeare when Time
is dead.
Textual Notes to Page 107
4 glories] glory 1599-l6l6
5 mounts] mount 1599-1616
12 toy] ioy 16101616
16 has] h'as 16101616
19 was] vas 1610
22 beauties] beautie 1599-1616
From foorth the Christall heauen when
she was made,
The puritie thereof did taint hir
brow:
On which the glistering Sunne that
sought the shade
Gan set, and there his glories doth
auow.
Those eyes, faire eyes, too faire to
be describde, 5
Were those that earst the Chaos did
reforme:
To whom the heauens their beauties
haue ascribde,
That fashion life in man, in beast, in
worme.
When first hir faire delicious cheekes
were wrought,
Aurora brought hir blush, the Moone hir
white: 10
Both so combinde as passed Natures
thought,
[I 4] Compilde those pretie orbes of
sweete delight.
When Loue and Nature once were proud
with play,
From both their lips hir lips the
Corail drew:
On them doth fancy sleepe, and euerie
day 15
Doth swallow ioy such sweete delights
to view.
Whilome while Venus Sonne did
seeke a bowre
To sport with Psiches his
desired deare,
He chose her chinne; and from that
happie stowre
He neuer stints in glorie to
appeare.20
Desires and Ioyes that long had serued
Loue,
Besought a Holde where pretie eyes
might woo them:
Textual Notes to Page 108
7 heauens] 160 5 1610 1616,
heauen 1589 1599
22 Besought] Behold 1605 1610 1616
22 where] whece 1610. whence 1616
Loue made her necke, and for their
best behoue
Hath shut them there,'whence no man
can vndoo them.
Once Venus dreamt vpon two
pretie things,
Hir thoughts they were affections
chiefest neasts:
She suckt and sightht, and bathde hir
in the springs, 5
And when she wakt they were my Mistres
breasts.
Once Cupide sought a holde to
couch his kisses,
And found the bodie of my best
beloude.
Wherein he closde the beautie of his
blisses,
And from that bower can neuer be
remoude. 10
The Graces earst, when Alcidelian
springs
Were waxen drie, perhaps did finde hir
fountaine
Within the vale of blisse, where Cupides
wings
Doo shield the Nectar fleeting from
the mountaine.
No more fond man: things infinite I.
see15
Brooke no dimension: Hell a foolish
speech;
For endles things may neuer talked be.
[I 4V] Then let me liue to
honor and beseech.
Sweete Natures pompe, if my deficient
phrase
Hath staind thy glories by too little
skill,20
Yeeld pardon though mine eye that long
did gaze,
Hath left no better patterne to my
quill.
Textual Notes to Page 109
13 vale] bale 1599-1616
I will no more, no more will I detaine
Your listning eares with dallyance of
my tongue:
I speake my ioyes, but yet conceale my
paine;
My paine too olde, although my yeres
be yong.
As soone as Melicertus had ended this
Eclogue, they 5
expected the doome of Democles,
who hearing the sweete description, wherein Melicertus
described his Mistres, wondered that such rare conceipts
could bee harboured vnder a shepheards gray cloathing, at
last he made this aunswere.
Arcadian Swaines, whose wealth is content,
whose labours 10
are tempred with sweete loues, whose
mindes aspyre not, whose thoughts brooke no enuie; onely
as riualls in affection, you are friendly emulators in
honest fancie: sith fortune (as enemie to your quiet) hath
reft you of your fayre shepheardesse, (the worlds wonder,
and Arcadies miracle) & one of you 15
as champion must lead the rest to
reuenge, both desirous to shew your valour as your
forwardnesse in affections, and yet (as I said) one to be
sole chieftaine of the traine, I award to Melicertus
that honor (as to him that hath most curiously portrayed
out his Mistres excellencie) to beare the 20
sole rule and supremacie. At this Menaphon
grudged, and Melicertus was in an extasie for ioy;
so that gathering all his forces together of stout
headstrong clownes, amounting to the number of some two
hundred, he apparailed himselfe in armour, colour sables,
as mourning for his Mistres, in his 25
shield he had figured the waues of the
sea, Venus sitting on
Textual Notes to Page 110
17 affections] affection 1599-1616
18 sole] whole 1599-1616
20 excellencie] excellence 1605
1610 1616
22 for] of 1605 1610 1616
them in the height of all her pride.
Thus marched Melicertus forward with olde Democles
the supposed shepheard [K l] till they came to the castle,
where Pleusidippus and his faire Samela
were resident. As soone as they came there, Melicertus
begirt the Castle with such a siege, as so manie
sheepish5
Caualiers could furnish: which when he
had done, summoning them in the Castle to parley, the yong
Knight stept vpon the walls, and seeing such a crue of
base companions, with Iackets and rustie bills on their
backs, fell into a great laughter, and began to taunt them
thus. 10
Why, what straunge Metamorphosis is
this? Are the Plaines of Arcadie, whilome filled
with labourers, now ouerlaide with launces? Are sheepe
transformed into men, swaines into souldiers, and a
wandring companie of poore shepheards, into a worthie
troope of resolute champions? No doubt, either Pan
15
meanes to playe the God of warre, or
else these be but such men as rose of the teeth of Cadmus.
Nowe I see the beginning of your warres, and the pretended
ende of your stratagems: the shepheards haue a madding
humor like the Greekes to seek for the recouerie
of Helena; so you for the regaining of your faire
20
Samela. Heere she is Shepheards, and I a Priam
to defende hir with resistance of a ten yeares siege; yet
for I were loath to haue my Castle sackte like Troy,
I pray you tell me which is Agamemnon?
Melicertns
hearing the youth speake thus proudly, hauing 25
the sparkes of honor fresh vnder the
cinders of pouertie, incited with loue and valor (two
things to animate the most
Textual Notes to Page
111
6 summoning] summoned 1599-1616
8 crue] crow 160 5
19 haue] haulng 1599-1616
21 Shepheards] a shepheardesse 1616
23 my] any 160 5 1610 16l6
25 speake] speaking 1610 1616
dastard Thersites to enter
combate against Hercules) aunswered thus.
Vnknowen yongster of Thessaly, if the feare
of thy hardie deedes, were like the Diapason of thy
threates, wee woulde thinke the Castle of longer siege,
than either our 5
ages would permit, or our valour
aduenture: but where the shelfe is moste shallowe, there
the water breakes most high; emptie vessells haue the
highest sounds, hollowe rockes the loudest ecchoes, and
pratling gloriosers, the smallest performaunce of courage;
for proofe whereof, seeing thou 10
hast made a rape of faire Samela,
one of her vowed Shepheards [K 1V] is come for
the safetie of hir sweete selfe to challenge thee to
single combat; if thou ouercome me, thou shalt freelie
passe with the shepheardesse to Thessaly; if I
vanquish thee, thou shalt feele the burthen of thy
rashnesse, and Samela the 15
sweetnesse of her libertie. Pleusidippus
meruailed at the resolution of the shepheard; but when Democles
heard how if hee wonne, she should be transported into Thessaly,
a world of sorowes tombled in his discontented braine,
that he hammered in his head many meanes to stay the
faire Samela; for 20
when Pleusidippus in a great
choller was readie to throwe downe his gantlet, and to
accept of the combat, Democles stepped vp and
spoke thus: Worthie mirrors of resolued mag- nanimitie,
whose thoughts are aboue your fortunes, & whose valour
more than your reuenewes, knowe that Bitches that 25
puppie in hast bring foorth blind
whelpes; that there is no herbe sooner sprong vp than the
Spattarmia, nor sooner fadeth;
Textual Notes to Page 112
20 many] by many 1599-1616
23 spoke] spake 1599-1616
that fruits too soone ripe are quickly
rotten; that deedes done in hast are repented at leisure:
then braue men in so weightie a cause, and for the
conquest of so excellent a Paragon, let not one minute
begin and end the quarrell, but like Fabius of Rome
vse delay in such dangerous exploytes, 5
when honor sits on wreaths of Lawrell
to giue the victor his garland: deferre it some three
daies, and then in solemne manner end the combat. To this
good motion not onely Pleusidippus and Melicertus
agreed, but all the companie were consenting, and vpon
pledges of truce being giuen, they 10
rested. But Democles seeing in
couerte he could not conquer, and that in despairing
loues, secrecie was no salue, he dispatched letters to
the Nobilitie of his court, with straight charge that they
should bee in that place within three dayes with tenne
thousand strong. This newes no sooner came to the 15
Generall of his Forces, but leuying so
many approoued souldiers, he marched secretly by night to
the place Democles in his letters had prescribed;
and there ioyfully interteined by the King, they were
placde in ambush readie when the signall should be giuen
to issue out of the place, and per- 20
[K 2] forme their Souereignes command.
Well, the third day being come, no sooner did Titan
arise from the watrie Couche of his Lemman, but these two
champions were readie in the listes, accompanied with the
route of all the Arcadian shepheards, and olde Democles
whom they had appoynted for one of 25
the Iudges. Pleusidippus
seeing Melicertus aduance on his shield the waues
of the sea with a Venus sitting vppon them,
Textual Notes to Page 113
1 that] the 1610 1616
10 being giuen] giuen 1599-1616
15 no sooner came] came no sooner 1599-1616
meruailed what the shepheard should he
that gaue his armes, & Melicertus was as much
amazed to see a strange Thessalian Knight vant
his armes without difference; yet being so fraught with
direfull reuenge, as they scorned to salute each other, so
much as with threates, they fell toughly to blowes. 5
Samela standing on top of the turret, and
viewing the combate; the poore Ladie grieuing that for her
cause such a stratageme should arise in Arcadie,
her countenance ful of sorrow, and flouds of teares
falling from her eyes, she began to breath out this
passion. 10
Vnfortunate Samela born to mishaps, and
forepointed to sinister fortunes, whose bloomes were
ripened by mischance, and whose fruite is like to wither
with despaire; in thy youth sate discontent pruning her
selfe on thy forhead, now in thine age sorrow hides her
selfe amongst the wrinckles of 15
thy face: thus art thou infortunate in
thy Prime, and crossed with contrarie accidents in thy
Autumne; as haplesse as Helena to haue the the
burden of warres laid on the wings of thy beautie. And who
must be the champion? whose sword must pearce the helme of
thine enemie? whose bloud must purchase 20
the freedoms of Samela, but Melicertus?
If he conquer, then Samela triumphs, as if she had
been chiefe victor in the Olympiades; if he loose,
euerie drop falling from his wounds into the center of my
thoughts, as his death to him, so shall it be to me the
ende of my loues, my life, and my libertie. 25
As still shee was about to goe
forwarde in hir passion, the trumpet sounded and they fell
to fight in such furious sorte,
Textual Notes to Page 114
1 his] this 1599-1616
6 the] a 1699-1616
10 this] her 1599-1616
12 ripened] repined 1599
12 by] to l605 1610 1616
15 thine] thy 1599-1616
16 in thy] in the 1599-1616
20 helme] helmet 1605 1610 1616
24 my] his 1599-1616
25 ende] ends 1599 1605
as the Arcadians and Democles
himselfe wondered to see the courage of the Shepheard,
that tied the Knight to such [K 2V] a sore
taske, Pleusidippus likewise feeling an
extraordinarie kinde of force, and seeing with what
courage the Knight of the shepheards fought, beganne to
coniecture diuersly of the 5
waues, and to feare the euent of the
combate. On the contrarie parte, Melicertus halfe
wearied with the heauie blowes of Pleusidippus,
stoode in a maze howe so yong a wagge should be so expert
in his weapon. Thus debating diuersly in their seueral
thoughts, at length being both wearie, they stepte 10
backe, and leaning on their swordes
tooke breath, gazing each vpon other. At last Pleusidippus
burst into these speaches.
Shepheard in life, though now a Gentleman in
armour, if thy degree be better, I glorie I am not
disgracde with the combate: tell me, how darest thou so
farre wrong mee, as to 15
weare mine Armes vpon thy shield?
Princockes (quoth Melicertus) thou liest,
they bee mine owne, and thou contrarie to the Lawe of
Armes bearest my Creast without difference, in which
quarrell, seeing it concernes mine honour, I will reuenge
it as frre as my loues; 20
and with that he gaue such a charging
blowe at Pleusidippus healme, that hee had almost
ouerturned him: Pleusidippus lefte not the blowe
vnrequitted, but doubled his force; insomuch that the
hazard of the battaile was doubtfull, and both of them
were faine to take breath againe. Democles seeing
his 25
time, that
both of them were sore weakened, gaue the watchword, and
the ambush leapt out, slaughtered manie of the
Textual Notes to Page 115
2 tied] he
tied 1599-1616
6 waues] war
re 1610 1616
12 vpon] on
1610 1616
16 weare]
beare 1605 1610 1616
16 vpon] on
1599-1616
19-20
concernes mine] concerneth my 1599-1616
21
Pleusidippus] Plensidippus
1599
26 sore] so
1599-1616
26-27
watchword] wathword 1605
shepheards,
put the rest to flight, tooke the two champions prisoners,
and sacking the Castle, carried them and the faire Samela
to his Court: letting the Shepheardesse haue her libertie,
but putting Melicertus and Pleusidippus
into a deepe and darke dungeon. 5
Where leauing these passionate Louers in this Catastrophe,
againe to Doron the homely blunt Shephearde; who
hauing been long enamoured of Carmela, much good
wooing past betwixte them, and yet little speeding; at
last, both of them met hard by the Promontorie of Arcadie,
shee [K 3] leading 10
foorth her
Sheepe, and hee going to see his newe yeand Lambes. As
soone as they met, breaking a few quarter blowes with such
countrey glaunces as they coulde, they geerde one at
another louingly. At last Doron manfully begun
thus.
Carmela by my troth God morrow, tis as
daintie to see 15
you abroad,
as to eate a messe of sweete milke in Iuly: you are proude
such a house doue of late, or rather so good a Huswife,
that no man may see you vnder a couple of Capons; the
Church-yeard may stand long inough ere you will come to
looke on it, and the Piper may begge for euerie pennie he
gets 20
out of your
pursse: but it is no matter, you are in loue with some
stout Ruffler, and yet poore folkes, such as I am, must be
content with porredge: and with that, turning his backe,
he smiled in his sleeue to see howe kindely hee had giuen
her the bobbe: which Carmela seeing, she thought
to be euen with 25
him thus.
Indeede Doron you saye well, it is long since wee
met,
Textual Notes to Page 116
15 God] good
1599-1616
15 tis] 1599-1616
22 as] 1599-1616,
a 1589
23 porredge]
pottage 1616
and our
house is a Grange house with you: but we haue tyed vp the
great Dogge, and when you come you shall haue greene
rushes you are such a straunger: but tis no matter; soone
hot soone colde, hee that mingles himselfe with draffe,
the hogges will eate him: and she that layes her loue on
an vnkinde man, 5
shall finde
sorrowe inough to eate hir soppes withall. And with that Carmela
was so full stomackt that she wept.
Doron to shewe himselfe a naturall young
man, gaue her a few kinde kisses to comfort her, and sware
that she was the woman he loued best in the whole worlde,
and for proofe 10
quoth he,
thou shalt heare what I will praise: and you quoth she,
what I will performe. And so taking hand in hand, they
kindly sate them downe, and began to discourse their loues
in these Eclogues.
[K 3v]Dorons
Eclogue iovnd with Carmelas. 15
Sit downe Carmela
here are cubbs for kings,
Slowes
blacke as ieat, or like my Christmas shooes,
Sweete Sidar
which my leathren bottle brings:
Sit downe Carmela
let me kisse thy toes. 20
Carmela.
Ah Doron,
ah my heart, thou art as white,
As is my
mothers Calfe or brinded Cow,
Textual Notes to Page 117
3 tis] it is
1610 1616
7 she] he 1610
10 whole
worlde] world 1610 1616
15
Eclogue] Eclogues
1605 1610 1616
Thine eyes
are like the slow wormes in the night,
Thine haires
resemble thickest of the snow.
The lines
within thy face are deepe and cleere
Like to the
furrowes of my fathers waine,
Thy sweate
vpon thy face dooth oft appeare 5
Like to my
mothers fat and Kitchin gaine.
Ah leaue my
toe and kisse my lippes my loue,
My lippes
and thine, for I haue giuen it thee:
Within thy
cap tis thou shalt weare my gloue,
At foote
ball sport thou shalt my champion be. 10
Doron.
Carmela deare, euen as the golden ball
That Venus
got, such are thy goodly eyes,
When
cherries iuice is tumbled therewithall,
Thy breath
is like the steeme of apple pies. 15
Thy lippes
resemble two Cowcumbers faire,
Thy teeth
like to the tuskes of fattest swine,
[K 43 Thy
speach is like the thunder in the aire:
Would God
thy toes, thy lips and all were mine.
Textual Notes to Page 118
8 and] are 1599-1616
8 it] them 1599-1616
16 two] to 1599
Carmela.
Doron what thing dooth mooue this wishing
griefe.
Doron.
Tis-Loue Carmela
ah tis cruell Loue.
That like a
slaue, and caitiffe villaine thiefe, 5
Hath cut my
throate of ioy for thy behoue.
Carmela.
Where was he
borne?
Doron.
In faith I
know not where.10
But I haue
heard much talking of his dart.
Ay me poore
man, with manie a trampling teare,
I feele him
wound the forehearse of my heart,
What doo I
loue? O no, I doo but talke.
What shall I
die for loue? C no, not so. 15
What am. I
dead? O no my tongue doth walke,
Come kisse Carmela,
and confound my woe.
Textual Notes to Page 119
4 Tis] This
1610 1616
5 caitiffe]
caitiue 1599-1616
6 for thy]
for my 1605 1610 1616
11 heard] 1599-1616,
had 1589
12
trampling] trickling 1610 1616
13
forehearse] forchearse 1599-1616
Carmela,
Euen with
this kisse, as once ray father did.
I seale the
sweete indentures of delight:
Before I
breake my vowe the Gods forbid,
No not by
day, nor yet by darkesome night. 5
[K 4V]
Doron
Euen with
this garland made of Holly-hocks
I crosse thy
browes from euerie shepheards kisse.
Heigh hoe
how glad am I to touch thy lockes,
My frolicke
heart euen now a free man is, 10
Carmela.
I thanke you
Doron, and will thinke on you,
I loue you Doron.
and will winke on you.
I seale your
charter pattent with my thummes,
Come kisse
and part for feare my mother comes. 15
Thus ended
this merrie Eclogue betwixte Doron and Carmela;
which Gentlemen if it be stuff with pretie Similes and
farre fetcht Metaphores; thinke the poore Countrey Louers
knewe no further comparisons, than came within compasse of
their Countrey Logicke. Well, twas a good worlde when such
20
simplicitie
was vsed, sayes the olde women of our time, when
Textual Notes to Page 120
10 charter]
chapter 1599-1616
a ring of a
rush woulde tye as much Loue together as a Gimmon of
golde: "but Gentlemen since wee haue talkte of Loue so
long, you shall giue me leaue to shewe my opinion of that
foolish fancie thus.
Sonetto. 5
What thing
is Loue? It is a power diuine
That raines
in vs: or else a wreakefull law
That doomes
our mindes to beautie to encline:
It is a
starre whose influence dooth draw
Our hearts to Loue dissembling of his might, 10
Till he be master of our hearts and sight.
[L 1] Loue
is a discord and a strange diuorce
Betwixt our
sense and reason, by whose power
As madde
with reason we admit that force,
Which wit or
labour neuer may deuoure,
15
It is a will that brooketh no consent:
It would refuse, yet neuer may repent.
Loue’s a
desire, which for to waite a time,
Dooth loose
an age of yeeres, and so doth passe
As dooth the
shadow seuerd from his prime, 20
Seeming as
though it were, yet neuer was.
Leauing behinde nought but repentant thoughts
Of daies ill spent, for that which profits noughts.
Its now a
peace, and then a sodaine warre,
A hope
consumde before it is conceiude, 25
Textual Notes to Page 121
7 in vs] vs
1610 1616
10 Loue
dissembling] loude issembling 1610 1616
23 profits]
profit 1599-1616
At hand it
feares, and menaceth a farre,
And he that
gaines is most of all deceiude:
It is a secret hidden and not knowne,
Which one may better feele than write vpon.
Thus Gentlemen haue you heard my verdite in this Sonetto,
5
now will I
returne to Doron and Carmela, who not
seeing her mother come, fell againe to a few homely
kisses, and thus it was,
After they had thus amorously ended their Eclogues,
they plighted faith and troth; and Carmela verie
brisklye 10
wiping her
mouth with a white apron sealed it with a kisse, which Doron
taking merueilous kindly, after a little playing loath to
depart, they both went about their businesse. Leauing them
therefore to their businesse, again to Democles;
who seeing no intreaties would serue to perswade Samela
to 15
loue,
neither the hope of the Arcadian Crowne, nor the
title of a Queene, lastly assayed with frownes and
threates, but all in vaine: for Samela first
restrained by nature in that he was her Father, and
secondly by loue in that Melicertus lay
imprisoned onely for her sake, stoode still so [L 1V]
20
stiffe to
her tackling, that Democle chaunging loue into
hate, resolued to reuenge that with death, which no meanes
els might satisfie: so that to colour his frauds withall,
he gaue Samela free license to visite Melicertus:
which she had not long done, but that by the instigation
of the old 25
Textual Notes to Page 122
12 taking]
taketh 1610 1616
14
therefore] before 1599 1605
19 secondly]
scondly 1605
24 license]
liberty 1605 1610 1616
King, the
gailor confederate to his treacherie, accuseth her of
adulterie: wherevpon without further witnesse they both
were condemned to dye. These two louers knowing themselues
guiltlesse in this surmised faction, were ioyfull to ende
their loues with their liues, and so to conclude all in a
5
fatall and
finall content of mindes and passions. But Democles
set free Pleusidippus, as afraide the King of Thessaly
would reuenge the wrong of his Knight, intertaining
him with sumptuous banquets, as befitted so braue and
worthie a Gentleman. The day came prefixed wherein these
parties should 10
die; Samela
was so desirous to end her life with her friend, that she
would not reueale either vnto Democles or Melicertus
what she was; and Melicertus rather chose to
die with his Samela, than once to name himself Maximius.
Both thus resolued, were brought to the place of
execution; and Pleusidippus 15
sitting on a
scaffolde with Democles, seeing Samela come
forth like the blush of the morning, felt an vncouth
passion in his mind, and nature began to enter combate
with his thoughtes; not loue but reuerence, not fancie but
feare began to assaile him, that he turnd to the King, and
sayd: 20
Is it not
pitie Democles. such diuine beautie should be
wrapt in cinders: No quoth Democles, where the
anger of a King must be satisfied. At this answere Pleusidippus
wrapt his face in his cloake and wept, and all the
assistants grieued to tsee so faire a creature subiect 25
to the
violent rage of fortune. Well Democles cammaunded
the deathsman to doo his deuoyre; who kneeling downe and
crauing pardon, readie to
Textual Notes to Page 123
5 liues]
liuei 1605
6 passions]
fashions 1599-1616
7 the] least
ye1605 l610 l616
8 with] with
such 1605 1610 1616
10 came
prefixed] prefixed came 1610 1616
12 she] wee
1616
17 blush of]
blush in 1599, bush in 1605 1610 16165
giue Melicertus
the fatall stroake, there stept out an olde woman attired
like a Prophetesse, who cried out; Villaine hold thy hand,
thou wrongest the daughter of a King. Democles hearing
the outcrie, and seeing that at [L 2] that word the people
begun to mutinie and murmur, demanded the olde woman 5
what she
meant? Now quoth she, Democles is the Delphian
oracle performed; Neptune hath yeelded vp the
worlds wonder, and that is young Pleusidippus
nephew to thee, and sonne to faire Sephestia, who
heere standeth vnder the name of Samela, cast vpon the
Promontorie of Arcadie with her yong sonne, 10
where shee
as a shepheardesse hath liude in labours tempred with
loues, her son playing on the shore, was conueyed by
certaine Pirates into Thessaly, where (when as he
was supposed euerie waye to be dead) doing deedes of
chiualrie, he fulfilled the prophecies your highnesse
giuing the Lyon, were guid 15
vnto the
lambs in dissembling your selfe a shepheard: planets
resting vpon the hills, was the picture of Venus
vpon their crests; & the seas that had neither ebbe
nor tide, was the combate twixte the father and the sonne,
that gaue the waues of the seas in their shields, not able
to vanquish one another, 20
but parting
with equall victorie. For know Democles this Melicertus
is Maximius, twice betrothed to Sephestia,
and Father to yong Pleusidippus; nowe therefore
the Oracle fulfilled, is the happie time wherein Arcadie
shal rest in peace. At this, the people gaue a great
shout, and the olde woman 25
vanisht. Democles
as a man rauisht with an extasie of sodaine ioye, sate
still, and stared on the face of Sephestia:
Textual Notes to Page 124
5 the] of
the 1599-1616
6 quoth she,
Democles] quoth Democles 1616
15 were] was
1616
Pleusidippus in all dutie leapt from his seate,
and went and couered his mother with his roabe, crauing
pardon for the fondnesse of his incestuous affection:
& kneeling at his fathers feete submisse in that he
had drawen his sword, & sought his life that first in
this world gaue him life. Maximius 5
first looked
on his wife, and seeing by the lineaments of her face that
it was Sephestia, fell about her necke, and both
of them weping in the bosome of their sonne shed teares
for ioye to see him so braue a Gentleman. Democles
all this while sitting in a trance, at last calling his
senses 10
together,
seeing his daughter reuiued, whom so cruelly for the loue
of Maximius he had banisht out his confines, Maximius
in safetie, and the childe [L 2V] a matchles
paragon of approued chiualrie, he leapt from his seate,
and imbraced them all with teares, crauing pardon of Maximius
and Sephestia: 15
and to shew
that the outward obiect of his watrie eies, had a
sympathie with the inward passion of his hart, he impald
the head of his yong neuew Pleusidippus with the
crowne and diadem of Arcadie: and for that his
brother Lamedon had in all distresse not lefte his
daughter Sephestia, he 20
toke the
matter so kindly, that he reconciled himselfe vnto him,
and made him Duke in Arcady. The successe of this
fore-rehearsed Catastrophe growing so comicall, they all
concluded after the Festiuall solemnizing of the
Coronation (which was made famous with the excellent
deedes of manie worthie Caualiers) to passe into Thessaly,
to contract the mariage twixt Pleusidippus, &
the daughter of the Thessalian King.
Textual Notes to Page 125
5 this] the
1610 1616
8 their] her
1610 1616
9 Gentleman]
Genleman 1605
18 impald]
impalled 1605 1610 1616
19 and for]
for 1610 1616
27 twixt]
hetwixt 1599-1616
Which newes
spred thorough Arcadie as a wonder, that at last
it came to Menaphons eares; who hearing the high
parentage of his supposed Samela, seeing his
passions were too aspiring, and that with the Syrian
wolues he barkt against the Moone, he lefte such lettice
as were too fine for his lips, and 5
courted his
old loue Pesana, to whom shortly after he was
married. And lest there should be left any thing vnperfect
in this pastorall accident, Doron smudgde himselfe
vp, and iumpde a marriage with his old friend Carmela.
FINIS.
PART II
THE INTRODUCTION
SIXTEENTH-
AND
SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY EDITIONS OF MENAPHON
Bibliographical
Descriptions
1589
STC1 12272
[No ornamental
border]
Title; MENAPHON / Camillas alarum to /
slumbering Euphues, in his / melancholie Cell at Si-
/ lexedra. / Wherein are deciphered the variable
effects / of Fortune, the wonders of Loue, the tri-
/ umphes of inconstant Time. / Displaying in
sundrie conceipted passions (figu- / red in a continuate
Historie) the Trophees that / Vertue
carrieth triumphant, maugre / the wrath of Enuie, or the
reso- / lution of Fortune. / A worke worthie the youngest
eares / for pleasure, orthe grauest
censures / for principles. / Robertus Greene
in Artibus magister. / Omne tulit punctum. / [Device]
/ LONDON / Printed by T. O.for
Sampson Clarke, / and are to be sold behinde the
Roy- / all Exchange.1589.
1 "STC _____" refers to A. W. Pollard
and G. R. Redgrave, A Short-Title Catalogue
of Books Printed in England, Scotland &
Ireland, 1475-1640 (London, 1926). [No colophon]
Collation: 4°: *2,
**4,A-K4, L2.
Contents: *1: title [verso blank]] *2: the
epistle to Lady Hale;: *2V: the epistle to the
readers; **1-A:3: the Preface by Thomas Nashe [A3v: blank]; A4: the poem by "Henrie
Vpchear"; A4V: the poem by Thomas Brabine;
B1-L2V: the text.
Signatures: The first three rectos of each
gathering are signed, except for the title page [*l] and
A3, which are unsigned.
Running
Titles: To the
Gentlemen / Students. **1-A3 [period omitted on **1 and
**3; additional period inserted after Gentlemen on
A2V]; The reports of the / Shepheards. B1-L2
[The reports of the L2V],
Copy Used: A xerox made from the Folger Library
copy; also a xerox.made from a University Microfilms copy
of the one in the Huntington Library, and a xerox of the
British Museum copy. The Folger Library copy is the only
complete extant copy of the first edition; the British
Museum copy lacks the leaf A3, while the Huntington copy
lacks the entire Preface. All three extant copies of the
first edition have been collated for press variants.
Notes: Thirty-six lines per page, except
fewer where poetry or headings occur. Woodcut initial
capitals for the epistles, the Preface, and the beginning
of the text. Large- type capitals for the beginnings of
the two laudatory poems. Catchwords throughout, except
none on the title page [*1], blank pages [*1v
and A3V], the leaf containing the laudatory
poems [A4], and the final page of each section [A3 and L2V].
No significant anomalies occur in the catchwords. Leaf
ornament heading the "Vpchear" poem and the "Brabine"
poem. Only other ornament is that on title page. Text of
dedication to Lady Hales in roman; of Greene's epistle to
the readers, italic; of Nashe’s Preface, roman; of the
laudatory poems, italic; of the text, black letter, with
special type to set off proper names (roman), as well as
poetry and quotations (italic).
1599
STG 12273
[No
ornamental border]
Title: MENAPHON: / Camillaes Alarum to
slumbring/ Euphues in his melancholy Cell / at Silexedra.
/ 'Wherein are desciphered, the variable /
effects of Fortune, the wonders of Loue, / the triumphs of
inconstant Time. / Displaying insundry
conceited passions (figured in a continuate
/ Hystorie) the Trophees that Vertue carrieth
triumphant, / maugre the wrath of Enuie,
or the resolution of Fortune. / A worke worthie
the yongest eares for pleasure, or the / grauest censures
for principles. / Robertus Greene, in artibus
magister. / Omne tulit punctum. / [Device] /
LONDON / Printed by Valentine Simmes for Nicholas / Ling.
1599.
[No
colophon]
Collation: 4°: A-L4
Contents: A1: title page [verso blank]; A2-B4:
the Preface by Nashe; B4V: the laudatory poem
by "Henrie Vpcher"; C1- L4V: the text.
Signatures? The first three rectos of each
gathering are signed, with the exception of the title page,
which is unsigned.
Running titles:
To the Gentlemen / Students. A2-B4, Greenes Arcadia C1-L4v
[except G3V defective; period after Arcadia
inI
and L gatherings].
Copyused:
A xerox of the unique copy of this edition which was in
the library of Sion College, London, and is now in the
British Museum, (information supplied by K. Pantzer).
Notes:
The large wood-cut on the title page supplants some of the
text from the title page of the first edition. Thirty
seven lines per page except where large-face titles or
poetry occur. A factotum woodcut for the initial of the
Preface; a woodcut initial for the first word of the text.
Large initial but no ornament for the poem by "Henrie
Vpcher." Catchwords throughout, except on the leaf
containing the title page [A1; verso: blank], the leaf
containing the final page of the preface [B4; verso: the
poem by "Henrie Vpcher"], and the final page of the text
[L4V]. The epistle to Lady Hales, the epistle
to the readers, and the poem by "Thomas Brabine" are
omitted from this and all subsequent early editions. Minor
anomalies among the catchwords are of interest because
they are repeated in later editions: weary/wearie
(C3V/C4-, repeated in 1605 and 1610);
and/& (D3-D3v,
repeated in 1605). Other anomalies are
insignificant. No ornaments. Use of type follows
conventions of 1589.
Contents:
B1-B4: part of the Preface by Nashe; B4V: the
laudatory poem by "Henry Vpcher"; C1-[E4 and F1]-L4V:
the text.
Signatures:
The first three rectos of each gathering are signed,
within the extant fragment.
Running titles:
B1: Students.; B1V-B4: To the
Gentlemen / Students. [period after Gentlemen:
B1V]; C1-[E4 and F1]- L4V: Greenes
Arcadia [swash final a in Arcadia
used intermittently.
Copy used:
A xerox of the copy at Trinity College Library Cambridge
(shelfmark 9A2/3). The copy of 1605 at the Wroclaw
University Library, Poland (also imperfect), was not
consulted in the preparation of this edition.
Notes:
Thirty-seven lines per page, except fewer where poetry
occurs. Woodcut initial capital for the first word of the
test; running titles in large italic. Large-type initial
for the poem by "Henry Vpcher." Catchwords throughout,
except none on the leaf containing the last page of the
Preface [B4; versos the poem by "Henry Vpcher"], nor onthe
final page of text [L4V]. No ornaments. Use of
type follows conventions of 1589 and 1599.
1"STC2"
refers to the revised edition of the Short-Title
Catalogue, ed. W. Jackson and K. Pantzer (in progress).
1610
STC 12274
[No ornamental
border]
Titles GREENES / ARCADIA. / OR / MENAPHONs
CAMIL- / laes Alarum to slumber Eu- / phues in his
Melancholy / Cell at Silexedra. Wherein are desciphered,
the variable effects / of Fortune, the wonders of Loue,
the tri- / umphs of inconstant Time. A worke worthy the
yongest eares for pleasure, / or the grauest censures for
principles. / By ROBERTUS GREENR, in Arti-
/ bus Magister. / Omne tulit punctum. / TDeviceJ
/ LONDON / Printed for lohn Smethwicke. and are to
be sold at his Shop / in Saint Dunstanes
Churchyard vnder the Diall, / in Fleetestreete. 1610.
Collations 4°; A-L4]
Contentss A1s the title [verso blank]; A2-B4:
the Preface by Nashe; B4v: the poem by "Henry
Vpcher"; Cl-L4V: the text.
Signaturess The first three rectos of each
gathering are signed, except for A1 (the title-page) and
D3, which are unsigned.
Running Titless
To the Gentlemen Students. A2-B4; Greenes Arcadia. Cl-L4v
[except DI and F2: "Grenes Arcadia."].
Copy used: A xerox made from the copy in the
Folger Library.
Notes: Thirty-seven lines per page, except
fewer on the first page of the preface and of the text,
and where poetry occurs. Woodcut initial capitals for the
first word of the Preface and of the text. Headpieces for
the first page of both Preface and text. Large capital for
the first word of the "Vpcher" poem. Otherwise no
ornaments. Catchwords throughout, except on the leaf
containing the title page [A1; verso: blank], the leaf
containing the last page of the Preface [B4; verso: the
poem by "Henry Vpcher"] and the final page of text [L4V].
Use of type follows conventions of the other early
editions.
1616
STC 12275
[No ornamental
border]
Title: GREENES / ARCADIA, / OR / MENAPHONt
CA- / MILLAES Alarum to slumber EV- / PHVES in his
Melancholy Cell at / SILEXEDRA. / Wherein are
descyphered, the variable effects of /
FORTVNE, the wonders of LOVE, the / triumphs of
inconstant TIME. / A worke, worthy the yongest eares for
pleasure, / OR / The grauest censures for principles.
/ by ROBERTVS GREENE, in Artibus Magister. / Omne
tulit punctum. / [Rule] / [Device] / [Rule]
/ LONDON / Printed by W. Stansby for I. Smethwicke,
and are to be sold / at his Shop in S. Dunstanes
Church-yard vnder the / Dyall, inFleet-street.
1616.
Collation: 4°: A-L4
Contents: A1: the title [verso blank]; A2-B4:
the Preface by Nashe; B4V: the poem by "Henry
Vpcher"; C1-L4V: the text.
Signatures: The first three rectos of each
gathering are signed, except for the title page [Al],
which is unsigned.
Running
titles: To the
Gentlemen Students. A2V-B4; Greenes Arcadia. C1V-L4V.
Copy used. The copy in the Beinecke Library of
Yale University, and also a xerox made from that copy.
Notes: Thirty-seven lines per page, except
fewer where poetry or headings occur. Smethwicke's device,
the head- piece and woodcut initial on the first page of
the Preface, and the woodcut initial on the first page of
the text are the same as in 1610. A head-piece is
introduced on the page bearing "Henry Vpcher’s" poem, and
also a large capital initial for the first word of the
poem. Catchwords throughout, except on the leaf
containing the title page [A1; verso; blank], the leaf
containing the last page of the Preface [B4; versos the
poem by "Henry Vpcher"], and the last page of the text [L4V].
The catchwords indicate a page- for-page reprint of 1610,
preserving the anomalous catchwords hee/he [D4/D4V],
and Sweete/Sweet [L1/L1v] from 1610.
/
1589 and the other early
editions.
Examination of the various early editions of Menaphon
indicates that neither Thomas Nashe nor Robert Greene ever
revised any portion of the work after the printing of 1589.
Greene's death in 1592 rules out any involvement by him in
the preparation of the second (1599) and subsequent
editions. Although Nashe survived until 1601, comparison
of 1599
with 1589 suggests that Nashe neither revised the
Preface, nor oversaw the second edition through the
press. The edition of 1599 initiates more errors in the
setting of both Preface and text than does any later
edition, introducing more errors into the Preface than do
the following three editions combined. Had Nashe been
involved in the second edition he would surely have
corrected the obvious Latin errors in 1589 (7/13
and 12/20-21)1; he could have defended his
exotic words (i.e. 9/12 and 11/1) from erosion, and he
could have kept the text from at one point producing a
reading precisely opposite to that intended (15/1).
The genealogy of the early editions is clearly
shown bythe
patterns of page-division, and textual variation: each
edition was set from its immediate predecessor, after 1599
evidently without reference to the first edition.
_________________________________________
1Notations refer to page and line
numbers of the present edition.
A.. Page division.
While the first edition ends on L2V,
thus apparently ending with half a gathering, the first
signature of the work (* 2) is also half a
gathering, and this circumstantial evidence (as well as
examination of watermarks and chainlines in the
Huntington copy of 1589) make it likely that the
first edition is actually made up of twelve full
gatherings, the first and last two pages being conjugate.
The text, beginning on B1, was perhaps set up before the
preliminary matter, for which the signature A was
reserved (a common practice).1 Since the
Preface actually took up seven leaves, the preliminary
material expanded to two and one-half sheets, the
conventional symbols * and ** being used to sign the
gatherings prior to A.2
The second and
subsequent editions are economically arranged to come out
evenly to a full sheet, and are more compact than 1589: one entire gathering is eliminated in the format
of 1599. Greene’s epistles to Lady Hales and to
the readers are omitted, "Brabine’s" laudatory poem is
dropped and one additional line of type is set in each
page of text. Since 1599 initiates this more
compact version, it differs entirely in its page and line
divisions from its predessor. One mystery in 1599
is the setting of the "Vpcher" poem [B4v]. The poem
is set without any title, and is crowded to the top of the
page. Perhaps the setting represents an unsuccessful
attempt to squeeze both laudatory poems into the same
page. Later editions normalize the setting by moving the
poem down towards the center of the page. In 1616
a head-piece is supplied, although the title (available
only in 1589) is not restored.
_________________________________________________
1r. B. McKerrow, An Introduction to
Bibliography for Literary Students (1927;
rpt. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967), p. 189.
2Ibid
The absence of the A-gathering in the Trinity copy
of 1605 makes it difficult to compare the setting
of the preface in the third edition with that in 1599.
The two editions are brought to agree at the end of BI and
B2, although they are off slightly at the bottom of the
intervening page. At the bottom of B1v1605
lags by some two- thirds of a line, having set the Phaer
quotation in four lines instead of two (as in 1589
and 1599). From B2V to the end of the
Preface the second and third editions no longer agree in
page-division, although both are brought to end the
Preface on B4. Interpretation of this mixture of agreement
and disparity between 1599 and 1605
requires two different explanations, one for the disparity
on Blv, and another for that developing from B2V
to the end of the Preface.
The disparity on Blv is clearly caused
by the setting of the Phaer quotation in four lines.
Having lost two lines to the setting of the poetry, the
compositor set more densely than his model to begin to
make up the difference: he omitted the paragraph
indentation at the beginning of the text following the
poem, he used more compressed spellings (e.g. "comon"),
and was able to make up one and one-third lines by the end
of the page (in a mere three lines of text).
The ease with which the compositor of
1605 could set more densely than 1599 is
demonstrated in the final leaves of the Preface. On B2 he
not only made up the two-thirds of a line he was lagging
from the previous page, but introduced a new paragraph
division which involved nearly a complete line of blanks,
yet still came to agree with 1599 at the end of
the page. Having come to agree on this page, the
compositor no longer bothered to coincide with 1599
to the end of the Preface: with the end so near he
apparently knew that even without pacing himself by his
model he would be sure to come out on the correct page,
B4. A page difference would violate the economical format
established by 1599, where the work was brought to
fill up eleven full sheets.
One reason why 1605 may have set the Phaer
quotation infour lines could be that the compositor
lacked a fount of small italics such as were used in
setting the quotation in both the earlier editions. In
full-size italics the lines from Phaer could not be fitted
on single lines of text.
Another resource apparently lacking from the cases
of the compositor of 1605 is leads or reglets1
for spacing between lines of type. The use of blanks
instead of leads is marked in 1605 by the fact
that spacing between lines is always the same depth as a
full line of type. The want of leads causes the compositor
of 1605 to come to vary from his model, in setting
of the text of Menaphon. by between five and
eleven lines. The variation begins at K1v and
is occasioned by the eclogues of Menaphon and Melicertus
(set in 1699 with leads, equivalent to about half
the depth of aline of text, separating the stanzas). The
compositor of 1605 had the choice of setting
blanks between the stanzas, thereby getting considerably
behind his model, or of omitting such spacing and getting
ahead of his model. Since the final page of 1599
is rather crowded, having thirty-five lines of text, the
compositor of 1605 could see there was no room to
absorb the additional lines of type that would be
occasioned were he to use blanks to separate the stanzas
of the eclogues. He would have to differ from his model,
set more densely, and make up the difference so as still
to come out on L4V, a full sheet. The simpler
choice actually adopted by the compositor of 1605
was to omit spacing between stanzas, and continue to set
from 1599 line-by-line, although no longer page-by-page,
knowing that the disparity of lines was not enough to keep
him from coming out comfortably on L4v. Thus,
from Klv on, 1605 is virtually a
line-for-line reprint of its predecessor (varying at times
by the introduction of new paragraph-divisions in l605,
but always quickly coming to agreement again), but not a
page- for-page reprint.
_______________________________
1McKerrow, p. 12.2Ibid.
Comparison of 1610 with the extant portion
of the Trinity copy of 1605 shows that in the
Preface 1610 is aline-for-line
reprint of its predecessor through B2V,
differing from its model by three lines in its
page-divisions. From B3 to the end of the Preface the
relationship between the two texts is slightly looser,
1610 often varying from 1605 by a few characters
or a word at line ends. The disparity does not accumulate,
however, and the final lines of each page coincide
precisely with the line endings of 1605). The
three-line disparity which is carried through the entire
Preface may well arise from the head-piece on A2 supplied
in 1610 (not occurring in 1589 or 1599),
presumably for the first time. The head-piece occupies
approximately three lines of text, and so would account
for the difference inpage-division between 1610
and 1605.
The setting of the text of Menaphon in 1610
is with very minor variants a line-for-line and
page-for-page reprint of 1605. (Minor variation
often occurs when the termination of a paragraph is
proximate, and the compositor can be sure of starting even
with his model upon the beginning of the new paragraph.
Line-endings of paragraphs which terminate in the top
third of a page are particularly prone to these minor
variations.) On the final page, where the goal of coming
out to an even sheet is assured, the compositor of 1610
allows a disparity to accumulate between, his text and 1605.
setting more densely by approximately one character per
line.
The editions of 1610 and 1616 are the most closely
related of the early editions, both having been printed
for the same bookseller, Smethwicke, probably by the same
printer, Stansby. The entire edition of 1616 is a
line-for-line and page-for-page reprint of 1610, except
for minor variants on B3 (line 1), K1 (lines 19-20), and
L1v (the first two paragraphs). The use of the
same head-piece and woodcut initial on the first page of
the Preface, and the same woodcut initial on the first
page of text, as in 1610 supports the view that
the same printer was responsible for both editions. On the
final page of text the compositor felt free to diverge
from his model, and set more densely by nearly one
character per line.
Textual
Variants.
A statistical analysis of the variants which are
errors or erosions of the best possible text (rather than
indifferent substitutions such as "vnto" for "to" 19/24 ,
or "although" for "though" 14/12), reveals clearly the
direct descent of each edition from its immediate
predecessor. Each edition takes over some of these errors
and erosions from its predecessor, and initiates a
proportion of new ones. By "errors" I mean variants which
a careful consideration of the context would tend to
indicate were incorrect (such as "slumber" for
"slumbering" on the title page), while "erosions" are
variants which weaken the best possible text, but make
sense in their context once they are inserted (e.g.
"assumed" for "affirmed," 13/17).
The first edition appears to have been carefully
printed, and is by far the best of the early editions.
Only three clear errors occur in the setting of the
Preface, and twenty-seven in the text. The next best
edition is the second, 1599. with eighteen errors
in the Preface and seventy-one in the text. While 1599
is the second best edition in terms of total number of
errors, statistically it is the worst in terms of new
errors introduced. The edition of 1605 does not initiate
as many errors as does 1599, but since it takes
over more than half the errors arising in 1599.
its cumulative total of errors is greater. Each edition
similarly accumulates more errors.
The pattern of variants shows that each edition was
set from its immediate predecessor, and the accumulation
of errors tends to show that 1589 was not
consulted in the setting of the editions after 1599.
Proof for this inference issupplied
in certain instances where later editions "correct" errors
by reconstructing a sensible reading, which is
nevertheless at variance with the reading of 1589.
There are ten such reconstructions in the course of these
early editions, and each is an indication that while an
error was recognized as wrong, the first edition
was not consulted for the correct reading (see 18/22,
35/12, 47/20,76/16, 76/25, 82/3, 89/3, 105/6,
108/22, and 123/17). The tabulation of errors and their
sources runs as
follows:
EDITIONPREFACE TEXT
No. % drawn from:No. % drawn from:
15891599160516101589159916051610
15893---27---
1599 180100%--713%100%--
160521052%48%1011%56%44%-
161021052%29%19%120044%17%39%
161621052%29%14%102048%15%25%13%
1616 5%
Of errors
initiated by:all later editions adopt:
159961% (preface)71% (text)
160560%34%
1610 75%53%
Erosions can
be shown similarly:
EditionPrefaceText
% drwan from:% drawn from:
No.1599160516101616No.1599160516101616
15997100%---34100%---
16051164%36%--5959%41%--
16101547%27%27%-7844%29%27%-
16161547%27%27%086 40%27%24%9%
Erosions
tend to accumulate irreversibly, since they are not
recognizable as errors.
Nashe's Preface
To Menaphon
Several literary puzzles have long been associated
with Nashe’s Preface to Menaphon, one of which is
how Thomas Nashe came to write the work at all. Although
Storojenko presumed a life-long intimacy between Nashe and
Greene, stemming from their college days at St. John’s,
Cambridge,1 actually Greene left Cambridge
shortly after Nashe arrived: their chance for acquaintance
was brief, while the lapse until their encounter in London
was a full five years. McKerrow argues instead that their
relationship would have developed in London, and that the
inclusion of the Preface in Menaphon indicates
that the younger writer had made a name for himself as a
wit in the city, thereby attracting Greene's notice and
prompting him to solicit the Preface. The lack of evidence
for this conjecture has been pointed out, and indeed, very
little documentation illuminating the relationship between
Nashe and Greene exists.
_______________________________________________
1A. B. Grosart, ed. Robert Greene:
Life and Complete Works in Prose and Verse.(London:
privately printed, 1881-1886), l. 25.
2Edwin Haviland Miller, "The
Relationship of Robert Greene and Thomas Nashe
(1558-1592)," Philological Quarterly, xxxiii
(October, 1954), p. 353 n. 2.
3Thomas Nashe, The Works of Thomas
Nashe, ed. R. B. McKerrow and F. P. Wilson (Oxford:
Basil Blackwell, 1958), v. 15.
4G. R. Hibbard, Thomas Nashe: A Critical
Introduction (Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
1962), p. 29.
From the Anatomie of Absurd!tie, written
before Nashe came to London, one can infer that whatever
the acquaintance with Robert Greene may have been at St.
John’s, it did not amount to intimacy. One of Nashe’s
attacks on Greene in the Anatomie is a gibe at the
motto omne tulit punctum.1 The currency
of this hit at Greene, and Greene's sensitivity to it, are
indicated in his preface to Perimedes:
Ikeep my old course, to palter vp some
thing in Prose, vsing mine old poesie still, Omne
tulit punctum, although lately two Gentlemen Poets,
made two mad men of Rome beat it out of their
paper bucklers: & had it in derision.2
Nashe’s derision
of the "poesie" thus indicates neither special knowledge
nor certainly any friendly intimacy.
The St. John's connection should not
be discounted completely, however, particularly since
"Henrie Vpchear," who also contributed prefatory material
to Menaphon, was a contemporary of Nashe at St. John’s3:
the college is the one clear tie that hinds all three
together. The London connection is of greater interest,
perhaps, since in relation to it there is more evidence,
though contradictory and difficult to assess. In Strange
Newes, for example, Nashe indicates Greene's
important position in literary London, and yet strikes the
equivocal note characteristic of his statements about
Greene. He replies to Richard Harvey's criticism:
_________________________
1Nashe, Works. I. 10: "Are they
not ashamed in their prefixed posies, to adorne a
pretence of profit mixt with pleasure, when as in their
bookes there is scarce to be found one precept pertaining
to vertue, but whole quires fraught with amorous
discourses . . . ."
2Grosart, vii. 7.
3John Venn and J. A. Venn, comp. Alumni
Cantabrigienses, Part I, (Cambridge:
Cambridge. University Press, 1927), iv. 290.
Not mee alone did hee reuile and dare to the
combat, but glickt at Pap-hatchet once
more, and mistermed all our other Poets and writers about
London, piperly make-plaies and make-bates.
Hence Greene, beeing chiefe agent for the
companie (for hee writ more than foure other, how well I
will not says but Sat cito, si sat bene)
tooke occasion to canuaze him a little . . .1
It is not
difficult to imagine that If Greene had this position of
prominence among professional writers in London the
newcomer Nashe would attempt to strike up an
acquaintance, and might understandably cite their mutual
background at St. John's as an opening.
Whatever may be the source of their relationship,
Miller's review of the evidence shows that no simple
characterization is adequate to describe its quality: the
two writers had some personal closeness and literary
collaboration, but also some disagreement and distance,
both personal and literary.1- On Nashe’s part,
from the writing of the Preface through the "defenses"
after Greene's death, there is always a note of ambiguity
in his attitude towards Greene: a certain quality of
damning with faint praise and of using Greene as an
occasion to advance himself, yet at the same time an
appreciation of Greene’s personality and of his sprezzatura
as a writer.2
__________________________________________
1Nashe, Works, i. 271.
The Preface itself seems hardly the lavish praise
of Greene that Miller claims.3 After a nod to
Greene and Menaphon at the beginning of the essay,
Nashe never reverts to his sponsor, even when he reviews
the current literature of London, including pastoral works
(18/27-20/9). What Nashe does do, however, in attacking
playwrights and actors, may have been at the behest of
Greene, or at least approved by him, since it continues
the direction taken in his own preface to Perimedes.
Not only may Greene have wished to make use of this
younger writer to renew his attack on players and
dramatists, he may also have wished to signal to the
reading public that Menaphon was a work quite
different from his previous productions. Nashe’s address
"To the Gentlemen Students of Both Vniuersities" claims
the attention of a learned and sophisticated audience, by
whom the parody and self-consciousness of Menaphon
would be appreciated. It is consistent with this view of
the Preface that Greene would have given the younger
writer a free hand to create a virtuouso performance.
__________________________________________
1Miller, pp. 353-6? passim.
2Hibbard, p. 45, points out the
relationship between sprezzatura and the
"extemporall vaine."
3Miller, p. 354.
Nashe’s Preface
is rather out of proportion to any substantive
communication that Greene might have wanted to make—his
own preface to Perimedes is a matter of two or
three pages—but as a performance to draw attention
Nashe’s contribution works for Menaphon, and
recognition of that fact may have motivated Greene to give
Nashe such ample space to present himself.1
One other factor may account for the unusual length
of the Preface, and that is Greene’s generosity. In
Nashe’s various representations of Greene, generosity
appears as a consistent
if rather careless trait. It is notable, however, "that
Nashe never acknowledged Greene’s sponsorship as a debt.
He later denied that he owed Greene anything.1
__________________________________________
1Examination of the copy of 1589
at the Huntington Library revealed a watermark (as well as
chain marks) apparently continuous through the spine of
the book, linking the first and last pages of Menaphon.
If the first and last pages of Menaphon are
conjugate (tightness of the binding makes absolute
certainty on this question impossible) then the work was
printed quite efficiently, using a whole number of
gatherings. Unfortunately, the evidence does not provide
an answer to the question of how this efficiency
arose--whether by careful foresight (implying all the
material was at hand before the impression began), or by a
combination of improvisation and luck. Although the
evidence of the conjugacy of the first and last pages of Menaphon
thus does not lead to any certain conclusion, the
signatures of the work provide a solid basis for the view
that the prefatory material was expected to take at
least one full gathering, since the text begins with
the signature B.
2Nashe, Works, i. 287.
Apparently Nashe
was embarrassed by his association with Greene. His
unequivocal praise of Greene’s "extemporall vaine" (6/24-)
in the Preface is never repeated. In Strange Newes
he denigrates Greene's romance style, equating it with
Euphuism, while in Pierce Peniless he indignantly
dissociates himself from Greene’s Groatsworth,
written in the later more journalistic style. Calling the
Groatsworth "a scald triuial lying pamphlet," Nashe vows:
God neuer haue
care of my soule, but vtterly renounce me, if the least
word or sillable in it proceeded from my pen, or if I were
in any way priuie to the writing or printing of it.3
Nashe later even turns some of the phrases of the
Preface itself against Greene. In it, for example, he
disparaged "that sublime dicendi genus, which
walkes abroad for wast paper in each seruing mans pocket"
(8/15-17), and in Strange Newes he uses a similar
expression with reference to Greene:
Of force I must
graunt that Greene came ofter in print than men of
iudgement allowed off, but neuerthelesse he was a daintie
slaue to content the taile of a Tearme, and stuffe Seruing
mens pockets.1
_________________________________________
iIbid. iii. 132.
2Ibid. i. 319s iii- 132.
3Ibid. i. 154
In all his
"defenses" Nashe presents himself as neither a protege nor
an associate of the elder writer, taking care to distance
himself "both socially and artistically from Greene.2
In a similar way Nashe later denies stylistic
dependence on any earlier writer, apparently wishing to
suppress the memory of the obviously derivative Anatom!e.
In Strange Newes he proclaims:
This I will
proudly boast . . . that the vaine which I haue (be it a median
vaine, or a madde man) is of my owne begetting, and cals
no man father in England but my selfe, neyther Euphues,
nor Tarlton, nor Greene.3
Nashe’s
"firstling," The Anatomie of Absurditie stands as
an embarrassing contradiction to this bold claim of
complete originality of style: the work is heavily and
obviously Euphuistic.
Critics have tended to treat the Anatomie
and the Preface together as juvenile works. Summersgill
found little difference between Nashe’s first two works
and views the anti-Martinist An Almond for a Parrat
as the turning point in Nashe's style:
_________________________________________________
1Ibid. i. 329.
2Ibid. i. 303, 319-19, 330.
3Ibid. i. 319.
In both The
Anatomie of Absurditie (1588) and the Preface to
Menaphon (1589) Nashe was voicing the opinions of
the aristocratic traditionalists who governed Cambridge
University. He therefore attempted to write like a
venerable philosopher, and in so doing, provoked the
censure of Richard Harvey. The manner of expression is as
derivative as the matter. Nashe himself admitted later, "Euphues
I readd when I was a little ape in Cambridge, and then I
thought it was Ipse ille,” and he tried in his
first two works to cast his thoughts in the euphuistic
mould. He did not always succeed: interspersed with
euphuistic periods are sentences which foreshadow his
later manner.1
Even though
Hibbard sees a greater difference between the Anatomie
and the Preface, he concludes of its style only that it
contains "patches’’ of lively and colloquial writing, and
"does not really amount to much.2 A closer look
at the Anatomie and the Preface, however, shows
Nashe’s gradual development towards his distinctive mature
style. Thedevelopment
of
Nashe's employment of Euphuism can be judged
against the standard form represented in Lyly's work:
1Travis L. Summersgill, "The Influence
of the Marprelate Controversy upon the Style of Thomas
Nashe," Studies in Philology, xlviii (April,
1951), p. 145.
2Hibbard, p. 28.
If you will be
cherished when you be olde, be curteous while you be
young, if you looke for comfort in your hoary haires, be
not coye when you haue your golden lockes, if you would be
embraced in the wayning of your brauery, be not squeymish
in the waxing of your beautie, if you desyre to be kept
lyke the Roses when they haue loste theyr coulour, smell
sweete as the Rose doth in the bud, if you would be tasted
for olde wyne, be in the mouth a pleasant Grape, so shall
you be cherished for your curtesie, comforted for your
honestie, embraced for your amitie, so shall you be
preserued with the sweete Rose, and droncke with the
pleasant wyne.1
With Euphues
the reader’s satisfaction is in seeing a formulaic
construction filled in new ways within each succeeding
clause or segment. The completeness with which the
parallelism and balance are carried out gives the sentence
a static
fullness and monumentality.
iR. W. Bond, ed. The Complete
Works of John Lyly (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1902), i 203.
In Nashe’s
earliest work, An Anatomie of Absurditie, the
Euphuistic influence is strong throughout, and in some
sections so predominant as to suggest a date of
composition earlier than the rest. For example, the
anti-feminist section, which has the air of a set-piece,
begins with an extended Euphuistic matching of
antithetical examples, patterned by alliterations:
as there was a
loyall Lucretia, so there was a light a loue Lais,
... as there was a modest Medullina, so there was a
mischieuous Medea. . . . as there was a stedfast Timoclea,
so there was a trayterous Tarpeya . . . 1
In other parts
of the Anatomie, while the Euphuistic structure is still
pronounced, Nashe has introduced some asymmetry and
variety:
But what should
I spend my yncke, waste my paper, stub my penne, in
painting forth theyr vgly imperfections, and peruerse
peeuishnesse, when as howe many hayres they haue on their
heads, so many snares they will find for a neede to snarle
men in; how many voices all of them haue, so many vices
each
one of them hath? how many tongues, so
many tales? how many eyes, so many allurements.1
Parallelism,
alliteration, word play, and carefully mannered antitheses
give the sentence a strongly Euphuistic cast. But in this
passage a colloquial tone introduces informality, and an
increase in the tempo of antithesis towards the end of the
sentence, as more of the comparisons are implied rather
than stated, introduces movement and variety.
In the Anatomie there are also passages in
which an asymmetric and peculiarly Nashean structure has
taken over the sentence, and Euphuistic motifs appear only
as subordinate elements:
Zeuxes beeing about to drawe the counterfet
ofluno,
assembled all the Agrigentine Maydes, whom after
he pausing had viewed, he chose out fiue of ye fayrest,
that in their beautie, he might imitate what was most
excellent: euen so it fareth with mee, who beeing about to
anatomize Absurditie, am vrged to take a view of sundry
mens vanitie, a suruey of their follie, a briefe of their
barbarisme, to runne through Authors of the absurder sort,
assembled in the Stacioners shop, sucking and selecting
out of these vpstart antiquaries, somewhat of their
vnsauery duncerie, meaning to note it with a Nigrum
theta, that each one at the first sight may eschew
it as infectious, to shewe it to the worlde that all men
may shunne it?
1Ibid. i. 16.
-The exemplum is briefly sketched and
the comparison is drawn in an independently structured
entity, somewhat parallel to the exemplum, and yet varied
and extended. For example, Nashe changes the active verb
"assembled" in the first element to the passive "am vrged
to take" in the second. Then Nashe expands upon the given
pattern, inserting a triplet ("a view ... a suruey ... a
briefe . . ."), which, although in itself Euphuistic,
makes the sentence as a whole asymmetrical. A careful look
at the triplet shows the sound patterns, both assonance
and alliteration, seem to weave the three phrases together
rather than articulate them as separate elements, in the
more traditional Euphuistic manner. The uses of v in
"view" and "vanitie" coming at the opening and closing of
the first phrase give it articulation, but the sound is
carried immediately into the next phrase with the word
"suruey." The first two letters of"suruey"
also tie the phrase back to its predecessor by echoing
"sundry." The vowel sound -y or -ie runs
prominantly through the entire triplet, tying the whole
together; and the consonant f (". . . their follie, a
briefe . . .") links the second with the third phrase.
Thus the pattern of sound ties the triplet together as a
whole, rather than articulating it as three distinct
elements? yet the most prominent alliterative effect,
"briefe of their barbarisme." is used at the conclusion to
give a cadence to the triplet.
1Ibid. i. 9.
After this expansion on "am vrged to take ..."
Nashe returns to the grammer "am vrged . . ."to govern
his extension "to runne through Authors . . . .” At this
point Nashe breaks the Euphuistic pattern, mixing
parallel and non-parallel elements. For example,
"meaning to note it . . ." and "to shewe it . . ."do
stand in parallel relation to each other, yet the
intervening relative clause ("that each one . . .")
obscures the parallelism by separating the two
infinitive clauses; furthermore, the parallelism is even
more strongly obscured by the association created
between the relative clause and the second infinitive
clause by the alliteration that drives through both of
them:
Nashe's mature style, incipient in the Anatomie,
is much more evident in the Preface, where Euphuism is
handled in surprising ways and a dynamic approach to
sentence structure and figuration dominate the style of
the whole. In the
Euphuism of the Preface Nashe expands certain elements,
varies parallel structure, and creates a subtle
interrelationship of parts. He sometimes expands the
structure of a traditional Euphuistic member, while
compressing patterns of alliteration or using them to blur
the boundaries of individual segments. Moving towards his
later style Nashe evokes a dynamic sense of energy as one
expression generates extensions and qualifications while
order is tenuously maintained by grammatical connections
and sound patterns which tie contiguous parts together.
The opening two sentences of the Preface illustrate
Nashe*s new and freer use of Euphuistic patterns:
Curteous and
wise, whose iudgements (not entangled with enuie) enlarge
the deserts of the Learned by your liberall censures;
vouchsafe to welcome your scholler-like Shepheard with
such Vniuersitie .. entertainement, as either the nature
of your bountie, or the custome of your common ciuilitie
may affoord. To you he appeales that knew him ab
extrema pueritia, whose placet he accounts
the plaudite of his painesj thinking his daie
labour was not altogether lauisht sine linea, if
there be anie thing of all in it, that doth olere
atticum in your estimate. (5/3-12)
At the outset
Nashe uses an interplay of the sounds j and n:"iudgements
(not entangled with enuie) enlarge
. . . ." In structuring the sentence Nashe rejects the
pattern of balanced antithesis we would expect in Euphuism
(where "not . . .." would be balanced by an equal "but . .
.’’). While there is some logical antithesis between
"entangled with enuie" and "liherall censures,” Nashe does
not formalize it into the structure of the sentence.
Instead,
Nashe
immediately completes the grammar of his first clause
("iudgements . . . enlarge"); with the opening of the next
clause Nashe completes the grammar of the sentence as a
whole, supplying the main verb, "vouchsafe." Nashe then adds
extended modification through the rest of his loose
sentence, a strategy typical of his style in the Prefaces
although these sentences are often very long, they are not
periodic since the grammar of the whole is not
architectonically arranged.
In the parallel alternatives at the
close of his first sentence Nashe refrains from the use of
alliteration in "the nature of your bountie," while using
it to close the sentence with "the custome of your common
ciuilitie." Nashe frequently thus plays off symmetry and
asymmetry in the Preface. In his second sentence, for
example, he balances "placet" against "plaudite,"
but expands the alliterative doublet with the phrase ". .
.of his paines." The superimposed patterns do not exactly
coincide: the two Latin words exactly balance, but the
alliterative pattern draws the reader on, and keeps the
sentence from becoming static. The second half of the
sentence balances two Latin tags, thus providing a foil to
the first half of the sentence; but to avoid monotony the
Latin expressions in the second half are not related by
alliteration, and each is incorporated into the sentence
in a different grammatical
function: sine linea as a prepositional phrase,
and olere atticum as part of a verb phrase.
Euphuism is still visible behind such
sentences, and indeed the pleasure of reading them is
partially in the interplay of the expected pattern and the
surprising variation. While Nashe could not be credited
with complete originality in this style, the new way he
makes use of old material is a tribute to his creativity,
and perhaps obviates the question of originality.
While the style of the Preface is thus
in certain respects significantly related to Euphuism,
woven through the essay are the representative qualities
of Nashe's later style: the loose or linked sentence
structure,1 and the suggestiveness of his later
"madde man" vein. The third sentence of the Preface
exemplifies some aspects of this uniquely Nashean styles:
I am not
ignorant how eloquent our gowned age is growen of late; so
that euerie moechanicall mate abhorres the english he was
borne too, and plucks with a solemne periphrasis, his vt
vales from the inkhorne: which I impute not so much
to the perfection of arts, as to the seruile imitation of
vainglorious tragoedians, who contend not so seriouslie to
excell in action, as to embowell the clowdes in a speach
of comparison: thinking them- selues more than initiated
in poets immortalitie, if they but once get Boreas
by the beard, and the heauenlie bull by the deaw-lap.
(5/12-21)
______________________________________________
^"Morris W.
Croll, Style, Rhetoric and Rhythm, ed. J.
Max Patrick, et al. (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, I966), pp. 210-24 passim.
Here Nashe
abandons Euphuistic balance entirely, although some
Euphuistic motifs are still evident. The very loose
"linked" sentence is grammatically complete at the outset,
but continues to add elements with connectives which imply
coordination or subordination; each segment provides the
basis from which the next procedes, but the relationship
between non-contiguous elements is not governed by the
structure of the sentence as a whole. Instead, the
sentence is a linear entity (as in oral expression),1
not a logical structure. The clauses attain great
independence despite the subordination or coordination
implied by the linking words, "so that . . . ," "which . .
. ," "which . . . ," "who . . . , " "thinking . . . ."
Except by proportion, this sentence does not actually
violate logic or grammar, but it lacks an architectonic
pattern. Holding this "linked" sentence in mind as
representative whill help the reader thread his way
through the consciously flamboyant Preface where such
looseness is characteristic even when Euphuistic elements
are also brought into play. Nashe often uses parallelism
and alliteration to span the contiguous parts of a linked
sentence, but never does he permit these ordering elements
to control a sentence as a whole, to give it the static
form typical of Euphuism.
_____________________________________________
^Walter J. Ong,
S. J., "Oral Residue in Tudor Prose Style," PMLA
lxxx (June, 1965), p. 1^9! "Oral composition or
grammatical structure is typically nonperiodic,
proceeding in the "adding" style."
The linked sentence implies an unceasing forward
movement, as in speech, and Nashe’s introduction of
figurative language into this pattern is often
impressionistic in the Preface rather than formal and
explicit as in the Anatomie. The flow of the
sentence leaves no time for the fully developed simile,
and so Nashe merely sketches a comparison or leaves it in
the realm of implication. In both the Anatomie and
the Preface, for example, Nashe makes use of a panther
simile, but the differences between the two passages are
revealing of the development in his style. The reference
in the earlier work is a completely balanced simile, with
its application symmetrically arranged:
But as the
Panther smelleth sweetelie but onlie to brute beastes,
which she draweth vnto her to theyr destruction, not to
men in like manner, so these men seeme learned to none but
to Idiots, whom with a coloured shew of zeale, they allure
vnto them to their illusion, and not to the learned in
like sort.1
The terms of the
similitude are carefully kept distinct from those of the
application: "the Panther smelleth sweetelie but onelie to
brute beastes, . . . not to men." This careful separation
is unlike Nashe's use in the Preface, where the
application is only implied and the vehicle is blurred
into the tenor. Sneaking of readers whose "vndescerning
iudgement, makes drosse as valuable as gold," Nashe
expostulates:
Wherein I can
but resemble them to the Panther, who is so greedie of
mens excrements; that if they be hangd vp in a vessell
higher than his reach, he sooner killeth himselfe with
ouer-stretching of his windlesse bodie, than he wil cease
from his intended enterprise (9/5-9).
Nashe takes no
time to apply his simile, but immediately strikes off on a
different tack. The application is obvious, but no more
so than is that of the panther simile from the Anatomie.
Furthermore, here in the Preface Nashe makes no effort to
keep the terms of the simile distinct from those of its
application. Here the sex of the panther is male (instead
of female as in the Anatomie where he had kept the two terms
distinct); as the pronouns, "he . . . his . . . he . . .
his," get farther from their referent (the panther) they
seem more and more to refer directly to the tenor (the
foolish reader). Nashe increases this implication by using
the abstract expression "intended enterprise" to describe
the panther's physical action, again blurring the
distinction between the terms of the simile and thos of
its application.
Nashe's rapid slide through this simile and use of
the linked sentence are representative of the structure
and figuration of the Preface. Nashe uses implication to
communicate his meaning, avoiding the static quality of
more extended conceits and comparisons; this approach is a
corollary of his distinctive sentence structure. A further
corollary is the use of suggestion rather than statement
of a simile, a technique which can be illustrated by
comparison of parallel passages from the Anatomie and
the Preface. In the Anatomie the movement of
narration stops while a particular class of writers is
described:
Such and the
very same are they that obtrude themselues vnto vs, as the
Authors of eloquence and fountains of our finer phrases,
when as they set before vs nought but a confused masse of
wordes without matter, a Chaos of sentences without any
profitable sence, resembling drummes, which beeing emptie
within, sound big without.1
Here the
illustration is formally introduced as a simile
(’’resembling drummes"), the meaning of which is drawn out
in a balanced pair of clauses.
In the Preface Nashe incorporates figurative
language into the basic structure of his ongoing
narrative, merely suggesting the simile underlying the
passage as a whole:
Indeed it may be
the ingrafted ouerflow of some kilcow conceipt, that
ouercloieth their imagination with a more than drunken
resolution, beeing not extemporal in the inuention of anie
other meanes tovent their manhood, commits the disgestion of
their cholerick incumbrances, to the spacious volubilitie
of a drumming decasillabon (5/26-6/6).
Here Nashe
avoids the formal pattern of a simile and instead implies
a digestive metaphor by his use of modification. The
cluster of colored words--"ouerflow . . . ouercloieth . .
. more than drunken . . . vent . . .disgestion . . .
cholerick"--do not constitute a conceit; although the
words all suggest the physical disorder associated with a
surfeit, they appear to occur independently and are not
subordinate to a single self-consistent image. Nashe does
not make his comparison explicit, and at the conclusion of
the sentence abandons it entirely by ridiculing his
targets with the mimetic expression "drumming
decasillabon."
1Ibid.
i. 10.
In the passage Nashe's idiosyncratic sentence
structure is also apparent. The absolute phrase,
"beeing not extemporal . . . manhood," erupting in the
midst of the sentence, has only a tenuous connection
with the grammar of the whole. Logically, the phrase
must be understood to modify "they," deduced from "their
imagination"; Nashe does not in fact include the
appropriate substantive, however, to stand as an
antecedent, and this fact contributes to the sense of
chaotic overflow which the sentence not only describes
but imitates. Quite in contrast is the previously quoted
statement from the Anatomie which discussed "a
Chaos of sentences" in a rigidly formal and balanced
sentence.
Thus both in sentence structure and in
the use of figurative language Nashe relies on
implication. This change in technique between the Anatomie
and the Preface leads not only to greater economy, but to
greater energy and liveliness. Carrying the use of
implication a step further, Nashe in the Preface creates
imagined situations, often by the evocation of a mere
phrase. While this dramatization through the use of an
implied imaginary situation is similar to the posturing of
Martin Marprelate,1 the distinctiveness of
Nashe's usage is in the brevity with which he implies and
then abandons a situation, and is often in the very
absurdity of the situation itself. In the third sentence
of the Preface, for example, Nashe accused players of"thinking
themselues more than initiated in poets immortalitie, if
they but once get Boreas by the beard, and the
heauenlie bull by the deaw-lap." The references evoke a
situation in which the players would indeed appear
ridiculous. Nashe's power of ridicule is in being able to
imagine and present vividly such grotesqueries. The device
is something new in Nashe’s style. In the Anatomie,
for example, Nashe had exclaimed against the "inuectiues"
of ignorant Puritanss:
those that neuer
tasted of any thing saue the excrements of Artes, whose
thredde-bare knowledge beeing bought at second hand, is
spotted, blemished, and defaced.2
In the Preface,
Nashe complains of the reading public's appetite for
"dogged detracting," which is such that:
the most
poysonous Pasquil is gathered vp with greediness
before it fall to the ground, and is bought at the deerest
though they smell of the friplers lauender halfe a yeare
after (9/15-18).
The two passages
express similar ideas, but in the first the metaphor is
purely descriptive, while in the second Nashe conceives
his meaning in terms of metaphorical action. In contrast
with the controlled and limited meaning of the description
in the Anatomie, a richer meaning with a greater
range of implication is created by the independent and
suggestive metaphorical action presented in Preface. The
phrase "gathered vp with greediness before it fall to the
ground," for example, refers denotatively to the action of
picking up satirical writings falling off, or being pulled
off, the "Pasquil" statue. But the action presented
is suggestive of gathering over-ripe fruit, or indeed, if
the context of "dogged detracting" be taken into account,
of eagerly gathering up what is described in the Anatomie
as "the excrements of Artes." The implication of the
metaphoric action of the Preface is clear even if the
specific referent is not.
In both passages the description of the staleness
of Puritan ranting is put in terms of old clothing. In the
Preface the meaning of the metaphor is established
indirectly, by portrayal of action rather than by
statement. Instead of characterizing the subject by naming
its qualities, Nashe implies his evaluation--"they smell
of the friplers lauender"--and in one quick stroke evokes
a whole history and context of meaning. The abrupt
realization of the metaphor sweeps over grammatical
consistency: "they" should apparently refer to "the most
poysonous Pasquil" with which it obviously does not agree
in number. The use of the plural pronoun assumes that the
comparison between such writing and old
clothes is a fait accompli, even asit
is just being suggested. "Friplers lauender" implies the
evaluations "spotted, blemished, and defaced" that Nashe
had stated in the Anatomie, for it portrays the
effort of the old-clothes dealer to disguise the stale
smell of his goods by means of the attractive aroma of the
lavender. Nashe thus communicates his view that such
Puritan writing is tawdry, old, stale, and that its
attractions are meretricious.
Many such examples of conjuring a scene or a
situation by means of a few words or phrases can be found
in the Preface. Some, such as the reference to the "kanne
of Silenus" (17/16), or the expression "in a
frostie morning" (10/l7), defy analysis and yet quite
dramatically communicate a mood or an attitude. Such use
of implication makes Nashe’s style in the Preface
demanding and yet rewarding, tantalizing and yet
strikingly vivid.
Thus, marked development in Nashe's style is clear
from the Anatomie to the Preface. The form and
spirit of hislater
colloquialism are quite pronounced in the second work.
Nashe was already responding to the influence of Martin
Marprelate, and the style of the Preface and of the
anti-Martinist tract An Almond for a Parrat
are closely related. Nashe's Martinizing in the Preface
was quite apparent to his contemporary, Richard Harvey:
it becummeth me
not to play that part in Diuinitie, that one Thomas
Nash hath lately done in humanitie, who taketh vppon
him in ciuill learning, as Martin doth in
religion, peremptorily censuring his betters at pleasure,
Poets, Orators, Polihistors, Lawyers, and whome not? and
making as much and as little of euery man as himselfe
listeth. . , . Iwis this Thomas Nash . . . sheweth
himselfe none of the meetest men, to censure Sir Thomas
Moore, Sir Iohn Cheeke, Doctor Watson,
Doctor Haddon, Maister Ascham, Doctor Oar,
my brother Doctor Haruey and such like; the iolly
man will needes be playing the douty Martin in his
kinde, and limit euery mans commendation according to his
fancy.
Harvey's
expression "play the douty Martin in his kinde" appears to
refer to both the manner and the matter of the Preface.
The specific objection which Harvey makes to the content,
however, is to Nashe’s presumption in commenting on his
betters, not to the substance of Nashe's views on any of
the men mentioned, all of whom Nashe praises (although his
praise of Gabriel Harvey is admittedly equivocal). It is
not so much Nashe's opinions in the Preface which are
unacceptable to Harvey, but his approach as the
controversial upstart.
1Ibid. v. 179-80.
The Preface as a whole embodies few controversial
positions. In many respects it is openly conservative.
For example, much of the material on St. John’s College
and the early humanists frankly echoes Ascham’s Scholemaster
(see the Commentary for specific examples of
indebtedness). Nashe’s essential reliance on Ascham is
revealed by the list of learned men whom he picks out
for praise:
With
the single exception of Thomas Watson (1513-1584) all of
these men were dead before Nashe came up to Cambridge in
1581 or 1582. Some had come to be merely a part of the
tradition of Nashe's College, and, I believe, it can be
demonstrated Nashe knew several of them only as names:
names listed by Roger Ascham as worthy of remembrance
for their work in bringing the "true learning" to St.
John’s College.1
While this
commentator goes on to say that "Nashe selected them as
models of learning because they were interested in the
‘New Learning,’" he admits that "the inclusion of Sir John
Mason in the list of models of learning is an anomaly, to
be explained only by the fact that Nashe connected him
with The Scholemaster, and hence with the men
about Ascham, all of whom were scholars.
____________________
^Aerol Arnold, Thomas Nashe *
s Criticism of the State of Learning in England
(Chicago: privately printed, 1937b p. 56; Hibbard, p. 31,
points out that Nashe is "drawing up a very ’safe’ list of
recognized -scholars and humanists."
It seems likely that Nashe's list relies heavily on
Ascham, and indeed has no independent basis. Nashe's
inclusion of Pilkington and Lever, for example, ignores
the post-Marian positions of these men and projects the
image of them presented in Ascham's work. Their Puritan
leanings after their Marian exiles would have been
prejudicial to their inclusion in a list compiled by Nashe
himself.
While Nashe thus openly allies himself with the
authority of Ascham for his comments about St. John’s and
early English humanists, his comments on the current
literary scene reflect the recent work by William Webbe, A
Discourse of English Poetrie (1586). Webbe’s work
is especially relevent to Nashe’s because of its quality
as a survey of current literature, not restricted to works
of personal friends (as with Ascham and Abraham Fraunce),
nor restrictedto comments in general terms or with
reference only to dead authors.Another
significant tie between Webbe’s work and Nashe's is that
Webbe frankly comes to write as an outsider, basing his
comments on his own reading, as Nashe appears to do. Webbe
and Nashe differ in the way they handle being in this
positions Webbe avoids being dogmatic and presents his own
views modestly. He says, for example, of Phaer's
translation of Virgil:
While I lyue in my conceyt I
shall account,Master D. Phaer without
doubt the best: ...Not withstanding, I speak it but
as myne own fancy, not preiudiciall to those that list to
think otherwyse.1
Nashe's praise
of Phaer and ridicule of Stanyhurst strike quite a
different tone. In contrast with Nashe, Webbe not only
refrains from any negative criticism, but seems concerned
not to overlook anyone in his praise. In specific
material as well as in approach Nashe differs from Webbe
in this respect. Webbe, after giving special praise to
Phaer, Arthur Golding, Barnaby Googe, and Abraham
Flemming, hastens over "the laudable Authors of Seneca
in English , . . . and diuers other." After going on
to praise George Whetstone and Anthony Munday, Webbe adds:
_________________________________________________
1G. Gregory
Smith, ed. Elizabethan Critical Essays (1904; rpt.
London: Oxford University Press, 1971), i. 243.
2Ibid. i. 244.
Many of these
names and initials "come not nowe to . . , remembraunce,"
and indeed Webbe’s praise begins to seem indescriminate
when it is spread so wide and so vaguely.
While Nashe differs from Webbe by being less
inclusive in his praise and by specifically blaming
Stanyhurst and the English Seneca, Nashe agrees with Webbe
in.his assessment of Spenser. In a way similar to Nashe,
Webbe reserves his greatest praise for Spenser:
This place haue
I purposely reserued for one who, if not only, yet in my
iudgement principally, deserueth the tytle of the
rightest English Poet that euer 1 read.2
He means the
author of The Shepheardes Calender, whom he
suspects to be Spenser.
Thus to a great extent it is not the content of the
Preface which is controversial, but the manner. This makes
the work similar to an anti-Martinist tract, in which the
content is the accepted creed of the Anglican Church,
while the style is scurrilous and witty. Even though Nashe
criticizes Martin in the Preface, he seems to excuse
Martini zing when it is appropriate to its subject:
I will not denie
but in scholler-like matters of controuersie, a quicker
stile may passe as commendable; and that a quippe to an
asse is as good as a goad to an oxe. (9/2*3-27)
Nashe’s Martinizing in the Preface consists in his
colloquial allusions (as to those who live by "what doo
you lacke," 9/11), his word-forming to create satirical
effects ("quadrant crepundios," 9/12), his mistaking of
words ("whole Hamlets, I should say handfulls,"
10/18), quoting for ridicule (the Stanyhurst passage,
15/13-16), and invective (as against the players,
5/17-26). These qualities were to develop as essential
elements of Nashe’s later style, demonstrable in his
flyting of the Harveys. Their appearance in the Preface
shows not only that the individuality of Nashe's style is
already apparent in this, his second work, but also may
help to illuminate the question raised at the beginning of
this essay, of how Nashe came to write the Preface at all.
Hibbard has suggested with some likelihood that Nashe’s
performance in the Preface may well have been intended "to
bring himself to the notice of Bancroft and others who
were organizing the [anti-Martinist] campaign
by
giving them a taste of his quality.1 If the
work was so intended it must have had its desired effect,
since Nashe’s next effort was to be An Almond for
a Parrat, the final and stylistically most
successful attack on Martin Marprelate.2
1Hibbard, p. 27.
2Donald J. McGinn, John
P'enry and the Marprelate Contro- versy (New
Brunswick, N. J.: Rutgers University Press, 1966), p. 179:
"the author of An Almond for a Parr at was
the first of the anti-Martinist writers successfully to
imitate Martin’s invective. He actually out-Martins
Martin."
Menaphon:
Its Context And Accomplishment
Menaphon (1589), Robert Greene’s final
romance, enriched with lyrics of more than incidental
importance, is thoroughly comic in tone. This quality is
achieved partly through a laughing presentation of various
types of rustics, but also through lightly veiled
allusions to other Elizabethan literature and playful
treatment of literary conventions. By its handling of
literary sources, influences, and conventions, this
pastoral work with Greek and chivalric romance features
attains a mixture of the familiar and the strange quite
different from that of the romance tale, as
described by Walter Davis In Idea and Act in
Elizabethan Prose Fiction.1
Instead of striving to evoke the feeling of
"wonder" which Davis associates with the romance tale,2
Greene playfully reveals the familiar within the strange
and deflates the elevated into the practical. He projects
middle class domestic comedy into an expansive exotic
setting. The disparity between the tone of the action and
the implications of the setting is one indication of
Greene's comic intent. As the work allows the reader to
become aware of such disparities, as it draws attention
to its own fictive qualities, and sports openly with its
backgrouhd of influences, Menaphon gains an edge
of self-consciousness which gives particular zest to its
comedy.
__________________________________________
1Among
the
qualities which Davis notes as distinctive of the romance
tale Is that of dealing with "generic concerns . . . in a
direct, almost abstract way" (p. 5) In contrast, he later
calls Menaphon "more realistic" (p. 60). Davis’s
view of the tale edges toward allegory in his introductory
chapter (see e.g. p. 7). While Menaphon is far
from allegory, to call it "realistic" ignores its playful
self-consciousness about its artifice (Walter Davis, Idea
and Act in Elizabethan Fiction, Princeton: Princeton
University ' Press, 1969).
2Davis
speaks
of the tale in terms of the work of Isak Dinesen, in which
he finds a "dialogue between the strange and the
familiar": "Obviously, a mythic sense of an
unrationalized but acceptable connection between human
life and the realms beyond it fosters and impels such
fiction. And the emotion of wonder--an emotion which
possesses us like the tragic emotions instead of yielding
to our control like the delight of recognition called
forth by the novel--is a fitting response" (p. 11). The
"delight of recognition" is, however, much more relevant
to the experience of Menaphon than is the emotion
of wonder as Davis describes it.
A survey of the various elements which constitute Menaphon
gives an indication of the breadth of influence to be
found. The plot places it in the tradition of both Greek
and chivalric romance, as Wolff and Pruvost make clear in
their discussions of Menaphon. Its pastoral
quality, while having little direct relationship with the
ultimate sources of Theocritus and Virgil, Is derivative
of such models as Ovid's Metamorphoses, Sidney's Arcadia,
and Spenser's Shepheardes Calender. The particular
qualities of the lyrics in Menaphon seem to attest
to the influence of
Spenser's Calender both in rustic diction
and in versification, even when Greene is imitating the
subject matter of Sidney’s poetry in the Arcadia.
Versification is perhaps the one area where Greene notably
does not follow Sidney. Instead, the lyrics of Menaphon
reflect the general movement toward shorter lines,
metrical variation, and stanzaic experimentation
noticeable in contemporary pastoral poetry (represented in
the later collection England's Helicon, 1600),
behind which stood the influence ofSpenser’s
innovative
eclogues.
_____________________________________________
1Wolff tabulates the
elements in common between the plot of Menaphon
and of both the Aethiopica and Sidney's Arcadia.
(Samuel Lee Wolff, Greek Romances in Elizabethan Prose
Fiction, New York: Columbia University
Press, 1912, pp. 443- 45) Rene Pruvost discusses the
relationship between Menaphon and the
Greek romances and the Arcadia in his Robert
Greene et ses Romans (Pariss Societe
d’Edition "Les Belles Lettres," 1938), pp. 346-49.
The fashion in Elizabethan prose in 1589 was
turning away from Euphuism as "stale" (as Melicertus
labels its terms in his eclogue, 107/18). "Henrie
Vpchear," in his laudatory poem prefixed to Menaphon,
pointedly places Greene in advance of the style of Lyly:
Of
all the flowers a Lillie once I lou’d,
Whose labouring beautie brancht it selfe abroade;
But
now old age his glorie hath remoud,
And Greener obiectes are my eyes aboade.
(22/11-l4)
______________________________________
1Notations refer to page and line
numbers in the present edition.
Lyly‘s influence
is nevertheless important in Menaphon, even though
it is now treated self-consciously and even comically (as
in the courting of Samela and Melicertus).
More important than Lyly, however, is
Sidney’s Arcadia, the work of paramount importance
to Menaphon: to its plot, to its pattern of prose
interspersed with lyrics, and to its pastoralism. The
pastoral of Menaphon, enriched by its debts to
Ovid, Spenser, and Sidney, is all the more striking an
achievement in comparison with Greene’s immediately
preceding romances (Pandosto. 1588; Perimedes,
1588; Ciceronis Amor, 1589),each
of which had incorporated some pastoral qualities. In Menaphon
the importance of pastoral, and at the same time the
proportion of lyrics to prose, exceeds Greene’s usage in
any other romance.
It was the plot
of Menaphon, however, which particularly
interested Professor Wolff in his discussion of the work
in Greek Romances in Elizabethan Prose Fiction."
While no single source is to be found, Wolff held that the
most important influence was that of the Greek romances
available to Greene: Heliodorus’Aethiopica, Longus’
Daphnis and Chloe, and Achilles Tatius’ Clitophon
and Leucippe. Wolff viewed the influence of Sidney’s Arcadia
as secondary, finding a third minor source ofinfluence
in William Warner's tale of Argentile and Curan in Albions
England.1
_____________________________________________
1Wolff's passing discussion of the
influence of Achilles Tatius upon the rhetoric of Greene
(pp. 376-77) fails to convince because the effects are
indistinguishable from Euphuism, readily available to
Greene, while Clitophon and Leucippe was not
translated into English until 1597 (Wolff, p. 9).
2In a chronological table Wolff
outlines which Greek romances existed as
possible.influences on Elizabethan fiction (pp. 7-9). In
the remainder of his book he restricts his discussion to
"the three chief specimens of the genre: ’The AEthiopica,'
or
'Theagenes and Chariclea,' by Heliodorus;
•Clitophon and Leucippe* by Achilles Tatius, and 'Daphnis
and Chloe,’ attributed to Longus; the only extant Greek
Romances which are found to have exercised any influence
upon Elizabethan prose fiction" (p, 10).
Because of his particular approach, centered on
Greek romance, Wolff did not take into account chivalric
romance plot motifs in Menaphon, and that fact,
coupled with a mistaken assumption that Sidney's New
Arcadia (published 1590) had been available to
Greene, led Wolff to underestimate Sidney's influence.
Attention to the New Arcadia leads Wolff away from
a careful analysis of the influence of the Old Arcadia,
and his interest in Greek romance keeps him from
appreciating the complex combination of pastoral,
chivalric romance, as well as Greek romance, which is to
be found in the Arcadia and which influences
Greene in Menaphon.
Professor
Pruvost largely corrects the mistaken evaluation of Wolff,
pointing out that the New Arcadia would not have
been available to Greene, while the Old Arcadia
had long been circulating in manuscript.2 The
wide circulation (and popularity) of the Old Arcadia
by the end of the 1580s is indicated by the publication in
1588 of Abraham Fraunce's Arcadian Rhetoric, in
which Fraunce’s frequent quotation of short excerpts from
the Arcadia appears to assume in his readers a
familiarity with the work.
______________________________________
2Wolff, pp. 440,
442-43, 445.
3Pruvost notes that
the manuscript of the early version was widely known, and
that until the printing in 1590 of the revised fragment
it is likely that only one copy of the revision existed,
and that was in the possession of Sidney's widow (pp.
296-97). Pruvost corrects Wolff on this matter (pp.
347-48).
ToPruvost the
characteristic way Greek Romance material is selected and
developed by both Sidney and Greene appears more
significant than direct Hellenistic influences
L’Histoire Ethiopique, ou d’un
manière plus générale le roman grec, ont pu fournir le
cadre, qui est celui du roman d’aventure. Mais les
éléments que Greene y a fait entrer, et qui donnent à son
roman ses traits individuels, sont précisement ceux que
Sidney de son côté avait coulés dans le moule du
roman d’aventure. Ce n’est pas sans raison que, dans
1'édition de 1610, Menaphon revolt le titre de Greene’s
Arcadia.
Indeed, in the editio
princeps the first page of the text of Menaphon
(sig. B ) bears the heading, "Arcadia: The Reports ofthe
Shepherds," alluding not only to the title of Sidney’s work,but
to its fictive reliance on Arcadian annals.2
2Sir Philip
Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia: Being
the Original Version, ed. Albert Feuillerat
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1926 ), p. 47.
One of the most striking similarities between Menaphon
and the Old Arcadia is the use of the oracle,
a feature borrowed from Greek romance and used by Greene
previously in Pandosto.' The oracle in Pandosto
is quite different from that in either Menaphon or
the Arcadia, however; not only is is it in prose,
but it is straightforward in its meanings:
Suspicion is no proof: jealousy
is an unequal judge: Bellaria is chaste: Egistus
blameless: Franion a true subject: Pandosto
treacherous: his babe an innocent; and the king shall live
without an heir, if that which is lost be not found.1
In contrast, the
oracles in Menaphon and the Arcadia are
formulated as poetry and cast in mysterious and
paradoxical terms.
The pronouncements in the Arcadia and Menaphon
differ from those to be found in the Greek romances, for
they are placed as frames to the action of the romances as
wholes. While in the Aethipica there are several
oracular utterances -- indreams
and
pythian pronouncements, incidental to various episodes in
the romance-~in Menaphon and the Old Arcadia there
is but one oracle, set at the very beginning of the
romance, containing references to several episodes, and
framing the romance as a whole.1
1Alexander
B.
Grosart, The Life and Complete Works in Prose and
Verse of Robert Greene (London and Aylesbury:
privately printed, 1881-1886), iv. 258.
The paradoxical language of the oracles in both Menaph'on
and the Arcadia in some senses makes them
similar to riddles.2 Ageneral
definition of a riddle as "a statement intentionally
worded in a dark or puzzling manner, and propounded so
that it may be guessed" is provided by the OED. A
riddle ordinarily refers to something which is mysterious
not in itself, but only in the way it is described. A
riddle can refer to a well-known object, or a simple and
prosaic action or event. Naturally, the more
impossible-sounding and paradoxical the riddle seems to
be, the more witty it appears when the "solution" is
provided. In both the Arcadia and Menaphon
such paradoxes and apparent impossibilities are the most
striking features of the oracles.
Inthe Arcadia the oracle
predicts that Pamela will be "stolne, and yet not lost"}
that Philoclea "with Natures bliss" shall embrace a love
"which Nature hateth"; that Basilius shall commit adultery
with his wife; and that a foreign state shall sit in
Basilius’s throne. While the final pronouncement appears
to be simply a threat of conquest, the other
predictions are all highly paradoxical as well asthreatening.
_________________________________
1Thomas Underdowne, An
AEthiopian Historie: Fyrst Written inGreeke
by
Heliodorus, and Translated into English
(London, 1606), pp. 12v, 26, 26v,
33, 38, 46v, 56v, 71v,
114v, 131.
2According to Wolff,
while the oracle in Pandosto "is couched in plain
straightforward language" and "is eminently structural,"
fulfilling itself "in devious ways," that in Menaphon
is"merely
a verbal riddle, and serves only to keep the plot
entangled and retarded" (p. 423).
In Menaphon the oracle involves several
apparent impossibilities, which, while less specifically
threatening, appear to refer to frighteningly unnatural
events: "Dead men shall warre, and vnborne babes shall
frowne"; the preconditions for "a happie time" in
Greene’s Arcadia are that lambs be guided by lions,
planets rest on the hills, and the ocean be without tides:
all manifest impossibilities.
In the Arcadia of Sidney, the
dire-sounding predictions turn out to be harmless in
effect: the stealing of Pamela and the "unnatural" love of
Philoclea result in marriages which in fact Euarchus was
setting about to arrange anyway. Committing "adultery"
with his wife turns out for Basilius to be a morally
narrow escape from an intended actual adultery, and a
cause of reaffirmation between himself and his wife. The
supposed threat to Basilius’ throne turns out tobe
beneficial and temporary.
In Menaphon, the apparent
impossibilities of the oracle refer in fact to rather
prosaic possibilities. In each case the prediction turns
out to be either a mere metaphor or averbal
trick. The epithets "dead" and "vnborne," for example, are
deliberately misleading; they really mean
"thought to be
dead, " and "at the time of this oracle yet unborn." The
reference to lions leading lambs is simply a metaphor—its
paradox exists only in the terms into which it is put; in
fact it is natural for royalty (the lion) to rule all men,
including rustics (the lambs). The discussion of the
planets and the sea appears impossible only because it
pretends to discuss phenomena, but actually refers to
heraldic images. Interestingly, the actual complications
of the plot— mistaken identities and the threat of
incest--nowhere appear in the complication of the oracle.
It is clear that in Menaphon
the paradoxes of the oracle are merely verbal
constructions, and the apparent complications they refer
to are immediately dispelled once the terms of the oracle
are properly understood. In this respect the oracle is
indeed similar to a riddle. In the Arcadia,
however, although the events are not as dire as the
prediction makes them sound they do participate in the
same degree of complexity and paradox as the wording of
the oracle. The complication is not merely verbal, as it
would be In a riddle, and as it is in Menaphon.
The relationship between the oracle and the action
of theplot
In the two romances is problematical. In the Arcadia itmight
appear that in one sense the oracle "causes" the
complicated action of the entire romance: without the
oracle Basilius would not have undertaken his improper
retirement intothe country. More correctly, however, It is
Basilius' weakness of character, represented by his idle
consultation of the oracle, which "causes" him to retire
to the pastoral lodges and "brings about the resultant
plot-complication. In Menaphon the relation
between the oracle and the action of the plot is even less
one of cause and effect than in the Arcadia.
Samela does delay her marriage until the oracle can
be fulfilled,
but the oracle in no way "causes" the pastoral refuge
taken by Sephestia, of which the immediate cause is the
shipwreck, while the final cause remains a mystery.
In the Arcadia the reader (and Basilius)
can continue to reflect on the ways the terms of the
oracle apply to the action, wondering whether the ending
will be fortunate or tragic. At the end of Book II, with
an incomplete understanding of the action, Basilius fits
what he does know to the oracle, and believes it to be
fulfilled. In Menaphon, however, it is not
possible for either the reader or any of the characters to
make any connection between the terms of the oracle and
the action of the story, until the "solution" is provided
by the same supernatural agency which propounded the
riddle. Samela's delay of her marriage until makes this
quality of the oracle clear:
she vowed
mariage to him solemnly in presence of all the
shepheards, but not to be solemnized till the Prophecie
was fulfilled, mentioned in the beginning of this
Historie, Although this penance exceeded the limits of his
patience; yet hoping that the Oracle was not vttered in
vaine, and might as well (albeit he knew not which way)
bee accomplished in him as in any other, [Melicertus] was
contented to make a vertue of necessity . . . (96/2-27).
The handling of the oracle in Menaphon
tends to eliminate all moral valences from the operation
of the power behind the pronouncement, which indeed is
none other than Fortune. While in Pandosto the
oracle had been an unequivocal pronouncement of the truth,
and in the Arcadia it is a kind of equivocation
(as in Macbeth) which tempts the king to think
that he can understand or even circumvent the Fates, inMenaphon
the riddle-like prophecy serves only to make clear that
one cannot try to understand the "quiddities" of the
higher powers: "the interpreters of Apollos
secretes, were not the conceipts of humane reason, but the
successe [i.e.,
outcome] of long expected events" (27/24-28/1). In
terms of its handling of the oracle, the plot of Menaphon
seems to place an extreme stress on both the
importance of Fortune in human affairs and the
unimportance of human will or choices.
Significantly, in Menaphon there is no
question, as in Pandosto, of the father being
morbidly remorseful for his incestuous infatuation, or for
having indirectly caused the death of his wife—facts which
are so heavy on Pandosto’s conscience that he commits
suicide at the conclusion of the romance. In Menaphon
the oracle, and its way of working out,
seem to have no moral implications whatsoever.
A further look at Menaphon reveals that the
handling of the oracle is of a piece with the handling of
the entire plot. In a variety of ways Greene makes it
clear that the "plot" is not to he taken
seriously, that it is indeed a lighthearted spoof of the
various conventions with which it is closely allied --
Greek romance and pastoral -- and is even perhaps a
laughing glance "backwards at the earlier work, Pandosto.1
Davis comments on this aspect of Menaphon,
although appearing to take it rather too seriously:
Solittle do the mind’s intents influence
reality that human action frequently becomes absurd . . .
[Pleusidippus] and Democles are deemed innocent of evilby
the narrator in a way denied to the incestuous Pandosto.
Moral states are irrelevant.2
Although Davis views Menaphon
as Greene’s "masterpiece," the seriousness of his approach
leads him to misconstrue the tone ofMenaphon
and brings him to the conclusion that the work is an
"anti-romance."3
________________________________________________
1Note for example the doubling of the
incest threat, now no longer treated seriously (see e.g.
97/1-99/1).
2Davis, pp. 177-78.
3Ibid. p. 178.
The plot of Menaphon is a travesty of Greek
romance, and in this effect it is quite different from the
Arcadia, but if the comic tone is fully weighed the
work will not appear as an anti-romance. Taking the plot
of Menaphon seriously immediately leads to severe
misunderstanding of the work. Wolff and Schlauch, who both
make this mistake, conclude that Menaphon is far
inferior to Pandosto. In Schlauch's view, "There
is more than a little prurient sensationalism in Greene’s
exploitation of classical themes."1 Wolff, who
sees Pandosto as the best of Greene's romances, is
harsh in his view of the later work:
The influence
[of Greek romance] degenerates at once in "Menaphon"
(1589), which, though structurally based upon Heliodorus,
is a tissue of absurdities--apparently one of those
pamphlets that Greene "yarkt up in a night and a day"; a
"pot-boiler" in imitation of the "Arcadia" and of his own
successful "Pandosto," many of whose motifs it repeats in
thin disguise.2
The absurdity of the plot of Menaphon could
perhaps be defended on the basis of the ample precedent
for this quality provided in the original Hellenistic
models. As Wolff concedes, the Greek romances traded upon
"the paradoxical, the bizarre, the inconsistent, and the
self-contradictory."1 The stereotypical
convolution of Greek romance plots could be invoked to
justify the most intricate "spider's web" 2;
and the "ambiguity and confusion in erotic relationships,"
which Schlauch notes as an inheritance from Greek romance,
could be cited to counter any charge of prurience lodged
against Menaphon.
Margaret Schlauch, Antecedents
of the English Novel, lAOO- l600:
from Chaucer to Deloney (Warszawa: PWN-Polish
Scientific Publishers, 1963), p. 191.
Yet Menaphon goes beyond its
sources in absurdity, and it does so in a consistent and
significant manner. It is important to perceive the
element of exaggeration that characterizes Greene's use of
traditional or derivative material. For example, in
Greene’s use of the pastoral convention in his plot, he
goes far beyond his models. Wolff compares Greene’s
practice with Sidney's as if it were on the same scale:
like Sidney, he
used his pastoral as a solvent for the complexities and a
remedy for the troubles which afflict his personages in
city or court4.
1Wolff, p. 5
2Schlauch,
p. 191; see Schlauch*s summary of a typical plot, p. 174.
3Ibid. p. 177.
4Wolff, p. 367.
This statement
does not appear to do justice to Sidney’s use of pastoral,
which indeed seems to make everything more complicated,
rather than acting as a "solvent" or "remedy.".
The statement
does have a bearing on Greene’s use of pastoral inMenaphon,
however, where Greene so exaggerates this effect that the
Arcadian landscape becomes a solvent for generations as
well as for complexities. While Wolff criticizes the
slenderly motivated delay of Samela’s marriage to
Melicertus, hedoes not comment on the equally long and
completely unmotivated delays in the marriages of Doron
with Carmela and Menaphon with Pesana. The passage of time
is completely suspended in pastoral Arcadia; indeed, it
would appear that only by leaving this never-never land
could the child Pleusidippus be expected to grow up.
Greene points up this aspect of the Arcadian
landscape byopenly playing off fictive time against the
reader’s time, and allowing the reader’s time to dominate.
He thereby appears to cancel years of fictive time. When
Pleusidippus has been lost and Menaphon and Samela are
having the discussion which leads to her quitting his
household, Menaphon suddenly alludes to her behavior at
their "last" pastoral gathering as if it were a very
recent event:
Nay I thought no
lesse said Menaphon, when your straggling eye at
our last meeting would be gadding throughout euerie corner
of our companie, that you would proue such a kinde
kistrell (86/8-11)
Of course in a
romance of this size the account of the gathering is not
many pages distant (61/2-21), but it had supposedly
occurred five years earlier, and this sudden disruption of
the sense of narrative time is startling and comic. It
laughingly draws attention to the difference between
fictive time and "clock time," and to the way the romance
is "feigned."1
Other derivative plot motifs show a similar degree
of exaggeration in Menaphon. Wolff notes Greene's
apparent intentto "outdo" Sidney in the complex
love-intrigue;2
Schlauch also
compares Menaphon to the Arcadia in this
respect, pointing out that "the threat of possible
incestuous unions is doubled." Another exaggeration is
involved in that no explanation is ever given for the
"motive force" inMenaphon:
The exposure in
"Pandosto" has its counterpart in "Menaphon,"--
structural
to be sure, but quite unmotivated -- in the King’s
exposure of his daughter, with her husband, her infant
son, and her uncle, in anopen
boat. This act is the "motive force"; yetwenever
learn the King’s reason for it.1
This is an
exaggeration and a travesty of the conventional Greek
romance plot opening in medias res. In the
Hellenistic models the preceding parts of the story are
filled in piece by piece until, in the last scene, the
whole puzzle is complete and apparent to the characters.
All the events which precede the beginning "in medias
res" in Menaphon, however, are entirely
omitted by Greene and left to the readers’ conjecture. We
do not find out why the character of Democles took such a
turn for the worse, why the four outcasts were exposed,
how it happened that Maximus came to be so far separated
from the other three survivors in the shipwreck just off
shore; no indication is given of Maximus’ actual identity
outside his persona as Melicertus -- the accounts given
within the pastoral setting are made up either by
Melicertus or Samela to obscure their real backgrounds.
Greene seems to imply that the complicated explanation of
events in Greek romances is no more believable or
necessary than anything which the reader might make up
himself.
The entire expository section of Menaphon
turns out to be absurdly unrelated to the developing
action of the romance. The pestilence, cause of Democles’
consultation of the oracle, is never heard of again. The
oracle is "pseudo- structural,"3 acting only as
a temporal, not a structural, frame. The responsible
kingly Democles of the opening bears no relation to the
"Heliogabalus" who appears later in the romance (96/5).
Thus Greene generously sets forth an entirely specious
exposition, while he omits any explanation of the true
"motive force" in Menaphon.
These structural absurdities led Wolff to observe
of Greene's use of Greek romance material:
The outcome of
his labors is very different from the well-nigh faultless
joinery exhibited in the "Aethiopica." He often leaves his
personages uncharacterized or inconsistently
characterized, their actions unmotivated or foolishly
motivated, his plot wanting in essential links.1
Wolff’s view is
that Greene "defeats expectation, not deliberately, but
from forgetfulness or sheer incompetence."2 Yet
a careful reading of Greene’s work seems to show that he isnot
seeking "faultless joinery" but on the contrary istrying
to make the reader aware of the use of mortise and tenon,
to jog him into an awareness of the object as a piece ofcraftsmanship
rather than as an elegant furnishing in which finesse
conceals an aspect of art.
Greene uses defeat of expectation effectively, both
humorously and to point towards the serious issue of the
romance, the relationship between appearance and reality.
Within the terms of the surface of his fiction Greene
explores this relationship and the ways individuals have ofascertaining
and rationalizing their "reality." Lamedon is subtly
characterised, for example, when he reassures Sephestia
with the fractured adage, "Hope is the daughter oftime,"
where the traditional version is, "Truth is the daughter
of time."
__________________________
1Wolff,
p.
429.
2Ibid.
By developing the plot of Menaphon
playfully Greene engages the reader's attention on the
conventions of fiction. The plot brings attention to
itself as absurd and unreal. Davis notices this effect but
overlooks its comic quality:
Menaphon is a highly sophisticated rendering
of arather
unsophisticated view of life much like the modern "absurd"
. . . [This involves] complete cleavage between intention
and result, character and action, apparent fact and real
fact, values and reality. Action is spastic and
meaningless . . . Every action is drenched in irony . , .
One style of life clashes with another and destroys its
validity, but its own validity is destroyed in turn.2
In effect, the controlling feature of the romance is not
plot, but pastoral. The delight of the pastoral world of Menaphonisdramatized
both by playful conversations and by the generous
interspersement of lyrics. While the thin pastoral of Pandosto
had not been enriched by any lyrics, in the use ofpoetry
the important kinship of Menaphon and the Arcadia
again makes itself apparent. The pastoral tradition
was originally a poetic tradition; Sannazaro added prose
links between the eclogues, while in the Arcadia a
double structure isachieved
by the use of a narrative with incidental lyrics, and
eclogue sections with incidental narrative. In Menaphon
the prose has become clearly dominant, and the poems
are in approximately the same proportion as those
incidental to the narrative sections of the Arcadia.
Lamedon's version is
at 37/21; the expression, appears as "Veritatem Temporis
filiam esse" in Aulus Gellius (The Attic Nights of
Aulus Gellius, tr, John Carew Rolfe, New York: G. P.
Putnam, 1927, I. 2. 9.)
2Davis, pp. 177-78
The eclogue tradition is based on the fiction of
the refined rustic poet and the generous leisure of the
Golden Age, which allows him to compose poetry while
tending his sheep. Thus it seems suitable that Sidney uses
the eclogues as periods of repose within the narrative
frame, and as sections in which to give scope to the
presentation of Golden Age pastoral. Structurally Greene
creates a smaller-scale version of Sidney’s work,
providing two eclogue pauses in the action
of his romance, instead of the four large, masque-like,
pastoral entertainments of Sidney's work. The two pauses
in Menaphon frame the cataclysm of the mock Trojan
War which marks the end of the pastoral sojourn: the
eclogue contest of Menaphon and Melicertus, which
dramatizes the strategy of delay sought by Democles, and
the mock eclogue of Doron and Carmela, which provides a
generous pastoral reprise after the supposed devastation
wrought by the "war":
the ambush leapt
out, slaughtered manie of the shepheards, put the rest to
flight, tooke the two champions prisoners, and sacking the
Castle, carried them and the faire Samela to his
Court . . putting Melicertus and Pleusidippus
into adeepe
and darke dungeon (115/26-116/5).
Despite this
catastrophe in the main plot, nothing has changed for
Doron and Carmela, and their eclogue reasserts the
pastoral values of rustic stability against the entropy ofthe
chivalric main plot:
leauing these
passionate Louers in this Catastrophe ,
againe to Doron the homely blunt Shephearde; who
hauing been long enamoured of Carmela. much good
wooing past betwixt them (116/6-9).
Asimilar movement is accomplished by
Sidney in the turn from the end of the third "Act" to the
idyll of the third eclogue section, which celebrates the
marriage of Lalus and Kala. In the Arcadia, at the
end of the third book, all the noble characters have
become involved in subterfuges and secrecy to attain their
loves, Sidney concludes the book with the blazon by
Philisides, which stands as an apparent celebration of
illicit love: the world of Arcadia seems to be completely
taken over by passion But then Sidney takes leave of
"these pore Lovers, whose Loyalty had but small respite of
their fyery Agonyes," and turns to the celebration of
married love and the reaffirmation of moral values in the
context of the pastoral eclogues:
And nowe Lalus
pype dothe come to my hearing, which invites mee to his
Mariage that in this Season was celebrated betweene hym
& the handsome Kala, whom longe hee had
loved: which, I hope (Fayre Ladyes) youre eares bee not so
full of great matters, that you will disdayne to heare.1
Thus both in the proportion of poetry to prose in Menaphon,
and in the structural use Greene makes of eclogue pauses
in his narrative, Sidney’s influence appears significant.
The frequency of lyrics in Menaphon is completely
new to Greene’s romance writing, and indeed, Menaphon
is unique among Greene’s works in this respect.
Furthermore, the sensual and recreative quality of the
poetry is new to Greene. A glance backward at the poems
included in Greene’s earlier romances shows that most were
moral in tenor and austere in versification.1
Greene’s use of pastoral poetry begins with Perimedes
and is particularly to be noted in the four poems he
appends to that work as a coda. Greene’s own sense of a
departure from previous practice is indicated by the
apology which he makes about the poems in Perimedes:
And thus
Gentle-men at my freends request I haue put in print those
bad Sonnets, which otherwise I had resolved to make
obscure, like the pictures that Phidias drew in
his prentizehood, which he paynted in the night and
blotted in the
day.2
1In Mamillia one poem: a satire
in very rough unrhymed meter; in Tritameron II 3
poems: Silvestro's blazon in blank verse, Lacena’s riddle
in very loose stanza-form with only half the lines rhymed
until the couplets at the end, and the poem against
Fortune in an inconsistent version of the ababcc stanza
form, a moral poem on the effects of time in 14er
couplets; in Penelope's Web one moral
poem: on the submissive wife, in three stanzas of ababcc;
in Perimedes two poems within the narrative: a
pastoral against Cupid and a moral poem against "Black,
Discontent": both in pentameter blank verse concluded by a
couplet.
2Perimedess Grosart, vii. 93.
Quite in contrast with Greene's earlier poems, the
four appended to Perimedes are Ovidian in tone.
The young man's poem, "I am but yoong and may be wanton
yet," espouses an entirely sensual view of life. And the
old man's moral reply--shorter, and also more expository
in feeling since it has no refrain -- makes use of
mythological and natural images which keep the poem from
being abstract or austere. The third poem is the least
pastoral of the four; its obvious overriding rhetorical
framework makes the natural images more Euphuistic than
pastoral in effect. The poem is of interest, since it
provides a precedent for the self- conscious use of a
tension between "natural" and Euphuistic qualities in
images, which occurs in Menaphon (in Menaphon's
eclogue). The final song in Perimedes is a
pastourelle which is an important antecedent of the comic
eclogue of Doron and Carmela in Menaphon. In the
later work Greene exaggerates some of the comic features
to be found in this earlier poem; but here can be glimpsed
the spirit of pastoral which Greene was to develop in Menaphon.
The gentle mocking and yet appreciation of rusticity which
is to be.found in Menaphon is prefigured in the Perimedes
pastourelle:
ABonny lasse quaint
in her Country tire,
Was
louely Phillis, Coridon swore so:
Her
locks, her lookes, did set the swaine on fire,
He
left his Lambes, and he began to woe,
He lookt, he sitht, he courted with a kiss
No better could the
silly swad [bumpkin] than this
He
little knew to paint a tale of Loue,
Sheepheards
can fancie, but they cannot saye.1
Just as with Doron and Carmela, the traditional débat is cut short in favor of
pastoral simplicity, and the poem quickly comes to the
fruition of the courtship:
Phillis was wan,
she blusht and hung the head,
The swaine stept to, and cher’d
hir with a kisse,
With faith, with troth, they
stroke the matter dead.
So vsed they when men thought not
amisse:
This Loue begun and ended both in one,
Phillis was loued, and she lik’d Corydon.2
Erskine points
out that the interest of the poem is simply in the
"delight in pastoral poetry" and is "centred in the charm
and humor of the characters, for which the reader is
prepared by idyllic descriptions in the early stanzas."3
The poem illustrates Greene’s change from a rather
abstract andundecorated kind of poetry to one that
embraces a sensual view of life and is enriched by
mythology and natural imagery.
________________________________________________
1Perimedes, Grosart vii. 92.
2Ibid. vii. 93.
3John Erskine, The Elizabethan
Lyric (New York: Columbia University Press, 1903),
pp. 117-18.
The Perimedes songs are notably more
closely akin to the version of pastoral found in Menaphon
than is the “Shepherd's Ode" in the romance written
immediately before Menaphon, Ciceronis Amor.
The "Ode," dramatizing an elevated view of rusticity, is
the work of an idealized shepherd-poet figure, like
Philisides in the Arcadia, who recites his poem
for the delight of the courtly Terentia. The tone of the
poem is more sophisticated in its presentation of
“simplicity":
Such was Paris,
shepheards say
When with Oenone
he did play ...
The swaine did
wooe, shee was nice,
Following
fashion, nayed him twise.1
The
versification incidentally ties the poem to Philisides’
blazon at the end of Book III of the Arcadia,
which is also in tetrameter couplets, a nice compromise
between the "classicism" of couplets and the "rusticity"
of tetrameter.
Philisides’ blazon seems to exert a direct
influence on the eclogues of Menaphon and Melicertus in
Greene’s later work:in
each blazon the sensuality becomes, indeed, explicitly
sexual. Philisides’ blazon at the end of Book IIIof
the Arcadia dramatizes a specifically sexual
situation:
___________________________________________
Ciceronis
Amor. Grosart, vii.
I83.
[Pyrocles]
lifting the sweete burden of Philoclea in his
Armes, hee layde her on her bedd ageane, having so free
scope of his servisable sighte, that there came into his
mynde, a Songe the Shepeheard Philisides had in
his hearing sunge of the beauties of his unkynde Mistris
wch in Pyrocles Judgmt was fully accomplished in Philoclea.1
The song, a very
extended blazon (134 lines), is remarkable for its
sensuousness. The poetry coyly turns aside at one point,
in honor of propriety, but without diminishing the impact
of the implied appreciation of the speaker's eyes:
Greene clearly seems to imitate this
"blazon--although in a different metrical arrangement --
in his two blazon-eclogues (of Menaphon and Melicertus),
which also carry sensuality into the realm of explicit
sexuality. Menaphon’s version is most similar to
Philisides’ in its coy turning aside, although the reason
provided is not propriety, but poetic incapacity:
Hir bodie
beauties best esteemed bowre,
Delicious,
comely, daintie, without staines
The thought
v/hereof (not touch) hath wrought my paine.
Whose faire, all
faire and beauties doth deuoure.
Hir maiden
mount, the dwelling house of pleasure;
Not like, for
why no like surpasseth wonder:
Oblest is he may bring such beauties
vnder,
Or search by
sute the secrets of that treasure.
(105/17-106/2)
Incontrast, Melicertus makes the gesture
of turning aside just after he has created a
fully-realized presentation of "that "bower" (109/10) in
his eclogue:
__________________________________________
1Sidney, pp. 22A-25.
The Graces
earst, when Alcidelian springs
Were waxen drie,
perhaps did finde hir fountaine
Within the vale
of blisse, where Cupides wings
Doo shield the
Nectar fleeting from the mountaine.
No more fond
man: things infinite
I see Brooke no
dimension . . . (109/11-16).
Greene’s other "eclogue" in Menaphon also
appears tohave
a specific indebtedness to Sidney: the mock blazons ofCarmela
and
Doron find a clear antecedent in that of Mopsa in Book I
of the Arcadia. Notably, Greene makes over the
effect to suit the spirit of the pastoral of Menaphon.
In the Arcadia the terms of the mockery are
"mythic" while in Menaphon the terms are rustic. A
different tone is also communicated by the fact that in
the Arcadia the poem is made up by an apparently
sophisticated poet in disparagement of Mopsa,
while in Menaphon the eclogue is a creation of the
twofigures
who are mocking each other, travestying the conventions of
the blazon: the laughter is not nearly as much directed
against them as it is against Mopsa in the Arcadia.
While most of the lyrics in Menaphon are
love poems of one sort or another, the lullaby of
Sephestia stands out as entirely different. Erskine
particularly notes the dark tonality of this song, which
places it in contrast to the tradition of lullabies,
associated with the Christ-child. The tonality of the
lullaby is apparently an innovation by Greene in this
genre of poetry:
On this
dark-toned background, which from this time is often used
to heighten the effect of such slumber-songs, the lullaby
departs definitely from its old association with the
Christ-child, and loses the purity which that association
had given it in the Middle English lyric.1
The overall change in subject matter of Greene's
lyrics in Menaphon goes hand in hand with a
greater attention to lyric qualities in versification. The
poems in Perimedes are transitional in Greene's
lyric development, from the versification of the poems in
the early romances to those in Menaphon. In works
written before Perimedes Greene had included some
lyrics in the popular Elizabethan stanza-form ababcc, but
he had sometimes used it loosely or inconsistently, not
always supplying the required rhymes.[2]Many of Greene's earlier poems had been cast in
blank verse and couplets.3 He achieves a new
lyric effect in his versification of the poem "I am but
yoong and may he wanton yet" by using the last line of
each stanza as a refrain--a device he had not employed
before in his verse.
2See
above,
n. to p. 212: Tritameron II, Anatomie of Fortune.
3See
above,
n. to p. 212: Mamillia, Anatomie of Fortune.
Although the model of a prose romance incorporating
ahigh
proportion of poetry had been provided by Sidney, and
Sidney seems also to provide the basis for the subject
matter of some
of Greene’s lyrics in Menaphon, Sidney's
versification in the Arcadia is quite different
from Greene's in Menaphon. The single most common
lyric form in the Arcadia is the sonnet: not
surprising in the work of the author of Astrophil and
Stella. Greene makes no use of the sonnet form,
although he does not hesitate to call his various lyrics
"sonnets." Also notably lacking in Menaphon is the
couplet (all the lyrics are stanzaic) and any form of
academic quantitative meter, which is such an important
aspect of Sidney's four eclogue sections.1 The
absence of the sonnet form, with its courtly associations,
and also of the couplet or quantitative meter, with their
"classical" associations, perhaps can be taken as
characteristic of Greene's version of pastoral. The
variety of poetic effects in Menaphon ranges from
pentameter quatrains, as in the eclogues, to quite
complex stanzaic arrangements including lines of different
lengths, and some
irregularities or syncopations in meter.
1Sixteen of the 47 poems in the
narrative of the Arcadia are sonnets; of the 26
poems in the eclogue sections, 8 are in specifically
classical meters, 2 in sestines, and 1 in a "crown."
The versification in Menaphon
mirrors the general qualities of the English lyric, the
development of which is represented by the contrast
between Tottel's Miscellany (1557) and England's
Helicon (1600). Erskine points out that in the Paradise
of Dainty Devices (1576) both "new and old styles of
verse appear, frequently in the same stanza." The old
style employs alexandrines and pentameter in iambic feet,
while the new uses tetrameter, combinations of long and
short lines, anapestic rhythm and refrains.1
This direction is furthered in the Gorgeous Gallery of
Gallant Inventions (1587), where there is a clear
movement toward more variation in rhythm, including
anapestic and dactylic lines.2 In general the
"new" style of versification in the English lyric involved
the use of shorter lines, of various combinations of line
lengths within a single stanza, of refrains, and of some
non-iambic feet. Thus we can see that Greene's metrical
effects in Menaphon fit into the pattern of
development of the English lyric at the time he was
writing.
While the Arcadia appears to have had
little influence on
the actual versification of Menaphon.
another important pastoral model, Spenser's Shepheardes
Calender (1579), seems more nearly akin to Greene's
efforts in Menaphon. The prestige of the Calender
as a model of pastoral poetry is partly indicated by
Nashe's approving mention of its author inhis
Preface (19/8-10). Some of the most interesting lyric
effects attained by Greene in Menaphon appear to
find their inspiration in Spenser's work.
______________________________________________
1Erskine, pp. 278-79.
2Ibid. p, 200.
3Ibid. p. 275.
Erskine points out that while April of the Shepheardes
Calender is essentially iambic, "in the shorter
lines extra syllables are introduced, so as to give the
effect of an anapestic movement. "'1 In another
of the poems in the Calender, the August roundelay
of Perigot and Willye, Spenser further varies his metrical
effect, both introducing extra unstressed syllables and
dropping them as well. Spenser's April and August Eclogues
are, of all the eclogues in the; Calender,
of most interest in evaluating Greene's lyrics in Menaphon.
In Spenser's April eclogue the frame is cast in
pentameter quatrains, the form Greene chooses for the
three "eclogues" in Menaphon. The blazon of Eliza
within the frame is worked in alternate four-stress and
two-stress lines, the shorter lines appearing to have an
anapestic quality:
Ye shepheards
daughters, that dwell on the greene,
hy you
there apace:
Let none come
there, but that Virgins bene,
to adorne her grace.
And when you
come, whereas shee is in place,
See, that your
rudenesse doe not you disgrace:
Binde your fillets faste,
And gird in your waste,
For more
finesse, with a tawdrie lace.
1Erskine, p. 287.
Bring hether the
Pineke and purple Cullambine,
With Gelliflowres:
Bring
Coronations, and Sops in wine,
worne of Paramoures.
Strowe me the
ground with Daffadowndillies,
And Cowslips,
and Kingcups, and loued Lillies:
The pretie Pawnee,
And the Cheuisaunce,
Shall match with
the fayre flowre Delice.1
Spenser goes
even farther with irregularity in metrical feet in the
August roundelay of Willye and Perigot. The variations
introduced in Willye’s responses keep the poem constantly
lively and create an impromptu quality.
Perigot: It fell
vpon a holly eue
Willye:hey ho hollidaye
When Holly fathers wont to shrieue
now gynneth this roundelay.
Sitting vpon a hill so hye
hey ho the high hyll
_________________________________________
1Ernest
de
Selincourt, ed., Spenser* s Minor Poems (1910;
rpt. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966), pp. 40-41: April, 11.
124-44.
The while my flocke did feede thereby
the while the shepheard selfe
did spill:
I saw the bouncing Bellibone,
hey ho Bonibell
Tripping ouer the dale alone,
she can trippe it very well.1
Greene seems to imitate the verve achieved in this
eclogue when in Doron's "Iigge" he makes a similar use of
irregularity in his treatment of unstressed syllables.
Greene's pronounced use of enjambment adds to the
continuing sense of surprise:
The lilting
forward movement achieved here seems to have a striking
kinship with Spenser's effect in the August roundelay,
while the use of alternate four-stress and two-stress
lines is similar to the blazon in the April eclogue. The
device of breaking tetrameter into lines and half-lines,
as in the April eclogue, Greene also used in the complex,
though highly regular, stanza-form of his lyric "Some Say
Loue":
Some say Loue
Foolish Loue
Doth rule and gouerne all the Gods,
I say Loue,
Inconstant Loue
Sets mens senses farre at ods.
Some sweare Loue
Smooth'd face
Loue
Is sweetest sweete that men can haue:
I say Loue,
Sower Loue
Makes vertue yeeld as beauties slaue.
Abitter sweete, a follie worst of all
That forceth
wisedome to be follies thrall.
(32/25-33/13)
In a simplified
view, the stanza is cast into tetrameter (with the form
ababacac), concluded by a pentameter couplet. In
considering the short lines as half-lines, it must be
pointed out that each is "missing" one unstressed
syllable, creating the caesura which effectively separates
the lines in their sound, and not just in the way they are
printed on the page (the lines would scan /-//-/).
While Greene's use of half-lines may imitate
Spenser's April blazon, the complex stanza he created was
a virtuoso invention of his own. The use of the word
"Loue" at the end of each of the short lines gives the
poem an insistent quality appropriate to Menaphon’s
argumentative purpose. Lodge imitated the stanza in one of
Montanus' "sonnets" in Rosalynde (1590), without
taking into account that the form lent itself more to a
polemic than an idyllic subject matter. Even though Lodge
does not use the same word at the end of each of his short
lines, his stanza seems to evoke a sense of inept
repetitiveness rather than pastoral ease:
1Erskine draws attention to Greene's
influence on Lodge, and to the satire of Lodge in Tarleton's
Newes, but neither Bullen nor Erskine
remarks on the connection of the latter work to Greene (A.
H. Bullen, Lyrics from the Dramatists of the Elizabethan
Age, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1896, p.
268). See Rosalynde, ed. Greg, pp. 49-50.
The anonymous Tarlton1s News out of
Purgatory (1590) appears to attribute this
stanza-form to Greene's influence in its laughing parody
of Lodge’s "sonnet." The anonymous writer, who may be
Nashe, 1 urges his readers.to pay special
attention to the work of a (fictive) poet which he is
about to quote, "because his stile is not common, nor haue
I heard our English Poets write in that vaine." While the
parody is clearly a take-off on Lodge’s poem, it
significantly makes use of a couplet at the end of each
stanza, which (though in tetrameter rather than
pentameter) imitates Greene’s version of the stanza-form:
Lodge had omitted the couplet. The significant change of
the color "White" to "Greene’’ in the parody of the first
stanza of Lodge’s poem proclaims the imputed source of the
elaborate form:
Downe I sat,
I sat downe,
Where Flora had
bestowed her graces:
Greene it was
It was greene,
Far passing other
places:
For art and nature
did combine
With sights to witch
the gazers eyne.2
_______________________________________________ 1Bullen,
p. 285.
2Ibid.
While Greene’s usage had had the appearance of
simplicity and rusticity, in effect the versification of
"Some Say Loue" is a dramatization of the argumentative
stance of Menaphon, and is not simply rustic. When used
naively by Lodge, the stanza-form falls flat, and makes an
easy mark for parody. The lyrics of Menaphon
participate in the complexity of tone of the
pastoral of the work, from the native balladlike
lullaby.to the mythic eclogue of Melicertus, the mock
eclogue of Doron and Carmela, or the narrator’s rather
Petrarchan condemnation of love. The lyrics and the
pastoral of Menaphon demonstrate a broad spectrum
of sources and influences.
Toreach an
understanding of Menaphon’s pastoral it appears to
be an unnecessary excursion to trace the use of pastoral
back to its ultimate sources in Theocritus and Virgil,
when the remarkable hybrid form in the Arcadia --
acombination
of
a particular pattern of pastoralism with Greek romance and
chivalric motifs -- stands as a much closer and more
striking influence, linking the two works, as Pruvost
points out, in "leur saveur particuliere."1 The
influence of Theocritus and Virgil, or of Sannazaro and
Montemayor, would only be of interest as aspects of the
pastoral of the Arcadia, filter of these
influences into Menaphon. Of the Graeco-Roman
sources, only one appears to exert a direct and
independent influence on Menaphon, and that is
Ovid's Metamorphoses. On several occasions Greene
makes direct use of Ovid’s work,1 and his
opening description ofthe
Arcadian promontory is strongly Ovidian in tone.
The remarkable achievement of Greene in his use of
pastoral in Menaphon can be more readily appreciated by
comparing it both with Sidney's Arcadia and with
Greene's own earlier "pastoral" work, Pandosto
(1588). While both Sidney's work and Menaphon are
set in an Arcadian landscape which evokes mythological and
classical associations, the "Sicilia" ofPandosto
has quite a different quality. In Pandosto the
pastoral place is a realistic farming community, close to
the court and city, and acknowledging itself as a
subordinate and inferior part of a larger class-structure.
The pastoral episode receives little development
within Greene's earlier "pastoral" romance. Indeed, the
gathering which Shakespeare dramatizes as the expansive
and recreative "sheep-shearing," the celebration of
pastoral in The Winter's Tale, Greene gives only
perfunctory mention in Pandosto.2 Although
Fawnia tells Dorastus that she will love him "when
Dorastus becomes a shepherd, there is never the least
indication that he will really enter into the pastoral
life: he goes back and forth from court secretly, and once
he has won Fawnia
the two lovers immediately leave the pastoral setting.
The thinness of pastoral In Pandosto is
partly demonstrated by the fact that Dorastus' pastoral
disguise fools no ones he is recognized not only by
Fawnia, but by the other pastoral figures as well. The
pastoral world does not take on the quality of a special
realm, nor does it have independent values.
__________________________________________
1At 9l/ll Greene appears to be using
Golding's translation, while at 105/11 the Latin version
seems relevant. See the Commentary.
2Grosart, iv. 274.
3Ibid. p. 284
While the "doctrine"
of pastoral—"what richer state than content, or what
sweeter life than quiet?"—is expounded by Fawnia, the
speech serves not to convince Dorastus of the value of
pastoral life, but to point up the wit of Fawnia and her
aptitude for a higher form of life:
This wittie answer of
Fawnia so inflamed Dorastus' fancy, as he
commended himself for making so good a choice, thinking if
her birth were answerable to her wit and beauty, that she
were a fit mate for the most famous prince in the world.4
Once the courtship of Dorastus and Fawnia has been
successfully concluded, there is no safety in any "settled
low content" within the pastoral setting, and no
possibility that Dorastus can be integrated into that
setting:
Having thus plighted
their troth each to other, seeing they could not have the
full fruition of their love in Sicilia, for that Egistus'
consent would never be granted to so mean a match,Dorastus
determined, as soon as time and opportunity would give
them leave, to provide a great mass of money and many rich
and costly jewels for the easier carriage, and then to
transport themselves and their treasure into Italy,
where they should lead a contented life, until such time
as either he could he reconciled to his father, or else by
succession come to the kingdom.1
The "contented life"
described Is dependent on having "a great mass of money
and many rich and costly jewels"; it is quite distinct
from the pastoral ideal of content. In Pandosto,
except for Fawnia’s "witty answer" to Dorastus concerning
the value of the simple life, there is little presentation
of the ideal of pastoral values.
A comparison between two parallel passages, one
from Pandosto and the other from Menaphon.
helps to clarify the contrast between the pastoral worlds
of the two romances. The description of pastoral Sicilia
in Pandosto is sparse and bare, suggestive of
poverty and a threatening natural world:
_______________________________________
1Grosart, iv. 290-91.
It fortuned a poor
mercenary shepherd that dwelled inSicilia,
who got his living by other men’s flocks, missed one of
his sheep, and thinking it had strayed into the covert
that was hard by, sought very diligently to find that
which he could not see, fearing either that the wolves or
eagles had undone him (for he was so poor as a sheep was
half his substance), wandered down toward the sea cliffs
to see if perchance the sheep was browsing on the sea ivy,
whereon they greatly do feed; but not finding her there,
as he was ready to return to his flock he heard a child
cry, but knowing there was no house near, he thought he
had mistaken the sound and that it was the bleating of his
sheep. Wherefore, looking more narrowly, as he cast his
eye to the sea he spied a little boat, from whence, as he
attentively listened, he might hear the cry to come.1
In the parallel but strikingly different portrayal
of the Arcadian promontory as surveyed by Menaphon, the
expansive description creates a mythologized landscape,
notable for its images of ease and harmony:
Menaphon
the Kings Shepheard, a man of high account among the
Swaines of Arcadie, loued of the Nymphes, as the
paragon of all their country youngsters, walking solitarie
downe to the shore, to see if any of his ewes and lambes
were straggled downe to the strond to brouse on sea iuie,
whereof they take speciall delight to feede; he found his
flockes grazing vpon the Promontorie Mountaines hardlie;
whereon resting himselfe on a hill that ouer-peered the
great Mediterranean). noting how Phoebus
fetched his Laualtos on the purple Plaines of Neptunus,
as if he had meant to haue courted Thetis in the
royaltie of his roabes: the Dolphines (the sweete
conceipters of Musicke) fetcht their carreers on the
calmed waues, as if Arion had touched the stringes
of his siluer sounding instruments the Mermaides thrusting
their heades from the bosome of Amphitrite, sate
on the mounting bankes of Neptune, drying their
waterie tresses in the Sunne beames. AEolus
forbare to throwe abroad his gustes on the slumbering
browes of the Sea-God, as giuing Triton leaue to
pleasure his Queene with desired melodie, and Proteus
libertie to followe his flockes without disquiet.
(28/23-29/16)
____________________
1Grosart, iv. 264-65.
The dangers of wolves
and eagles, and the threat of poverty have no place in
this mythologized pastoral landscape. The passage seems
instead to represent the Golden Age. Pandosto, incontrast,
is
clearly set in the Iron Age: despite Fawnia's "witty"
presentation of the pastoral doctrine, claiming it tobe
"our greatest wealth not to covet," the "poor mercenary
shepherd," Porrus, is "ravished with joy and daunted with
• fear" by the purse of gold that he finds with the child:
"Necessity" urges him to retain the gold, until "at last
the covetousness of the coin overcame him; for what will
not the greedy desire of gold cause a man to do?"1
The narrative voice clearly does not expect a special
ethic to prevail in this pastoral setting.
InMenaphon, where the
pastoral world is one of recreation and ease, the
antipastoral qualities of necessity, immoderation, and
ambition are treated comically. Thus while Menaphon
schemes to ensnare Samela by aiding her and relieving her
want (a violation of the ideal of pastoral hospitality
which Samela points out self-righteously when she quits
his household, 86/5-6)--while the character "Moron" dies
of a surfeit, the child Pleusidippus is seen to tyranize
over his fellows, and the chivalric plot seems to destroy
the pastoral world entirely in the mock-Trojan War—these
events do notaffect the essential qualities of the Arcadia
of Menaphon. Indeed, after the cataclysm of the
chivalric war the pastoral setting is preserved without a
scar as Doron andCarmela take up their courting in a comic
eclogue.
InMenaphon the comic tone preserves the Golden
quality of the pastoral world. Even though there
is a playful discrepancy between several of the
characters (and their motives) andthe
Golden Age, potentially dark events are all either
reversible (the banishment of Sephestia, the "death" of
Maximus, the loss of Pleusidippus--in fact a benefit,
since it causes him to receive an appropriate education),
or else are without substantiality (the havoc of the
pastoral war, thedeath of Democles' queen), Shakespeare’s
handling of Pandosto in The Winter’s Tale
expands on the pastoral and introduces this quality of
reversibility in the treatment of "tragic” events. But it
is important to remember that it was Shakespeare who
accomplished this for Pandosto, while he would
have found these qualities ready to hand had he decided to
dramatize Menaphon.
While the worlds presented by Pandosto and
by Menaphon seem essentially different in their
tonality, the worlds of Menaphon and Sidney’s Arcadia
are both comic, although they differ in the degree of
importance they give to chivalric motifs. In Sidney’s
work, as in Menaphon, all the potentially tragic
events are circumvented and the romance ends happily (the
presence of wild beasts is a welcome occasion for the
display of valor, the "adultery" of Basilius and Gynecia isspecious,
the "death" of Basilius is reversible, and so on).Quite
noticeably
in both works the pastoral episode has expanded to fill
nearly the entire romance, and while in some sensesthe
rustic world is subordinate to a greater world beyond, it
takes on a more distinct quality as an alternative to that
other world. It cannot provide an ultimate escape from the
great world, but rather a place of "sojourn":
Perhaps the most
important single innovation exemplified by the Arcadia
was the concept of the sojourn, the experience of
the pastoral world as a part of a larger set of
circumstances, both spatial and temporal, often as a
segment of a journey. Two radical changes in the character
of the pastoral were thereby accomplished: the characters
dealt with could be visitors to Arcadia as well as
inhabitants, pseudo-shepherds as well as shepherds; and
the pastoral experience became sequential, giving rise to
more opportunities for plot.1
The interplay of
elements from the great world with the pastoral setting
produces the pattern of "tensions and contrasts—between
court and country, active and contemplative, fortune and
nature, complex and simple--which are the basis ofthe
pastoral design."'2 The pastoral world becomes
a stage for a variety of characters: different kinds of
"rustics" interact within what turns out to be a rather
protean world, the particular qualities of which in Menaphon
and in the Arcadia, led Pruvost to see an
unmistakable link between the two works:
1David
Young,
The Heart' s Forest (New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1972), pp. 18-19.
Nobles personnages déguisés en
bergers, complications sentimentales extraordinaires, et
d'un goût fort
douteux, á la faveur
des déguisements,
mélange de 1'élément
pastoral et de l’élément
chevaleresque et guerrier, transformation de la foule des
pâtres en une
horde combattante, présence côté des faux
bergers pleins de distinction, de rustres authentiques et
sans grâce
lorsqu’ils ne sont pas francement grotesques, récit tout
parsemé de pièces de vers
d’une poésie savante
et raffinée, toutes
ces choses confèrent áMenaphon
comme á 1'Arcadia
leur saveur particulière.1
Inthis
complex pastoral world, besides the "faux bergers plein de
distinction" and the "rustres authentiques et sans grace"
there is the possibility of introducing idealized shepherd
figures, such as the shepherd-poets Philisides in the Arcadia,
or Colin Clout in The Shephearde Calender. Such
figures are "explained" in the pastoral convention by the
idea that the Arcadia presented is that of the Golden Age,
when even rustics were refined. Three different types thus
characterize the pastoral world: elevated figures, either
in disguise or simply visiting Arcadia, idealized rustics,
and rough (often comic) rustics. All three strains appear in the
pastoral of both the Arcadia and Menaphon.
But there are important differences in the ways they are
used.
_________________________
1Pruvost, p. 349.
In the Arcadia Sidney
employs the "Eglogue" sections between the acts of his
marative to create a double structure in the presentation of
the pastoral world. In effect, the eclogue interludes
provide a pastoral "sojourn" within the pastoral of
the romance as a whole. In effect, the eclogue interludes
provide a pastoral "sojourn" within the pastoral of
the romance as a whole. It is in the eclogues that Sidney
give scope to Golden Age passtoralism, presenting highly
idealized rustic figures (such as Lalus, Kala, and
Philisides).1 Meanwhile, the narrative of the
Arcadia has little of Golden Age pastoralism about it, and
the rustics tend very much toward the grotesque. Dametas is
not only a clown: he is harshly crude and incapable of moral
values. While Basilius views Dametas as a representative of
rustic simplicity -- a man "in whose blunt truthe hee had
great Confidence"4 -- Philanax sees him inn a
different light:
_________________________________
1Sidney clearly associates himself
wiht classicism by his use of academic quantitative meter
experiments in the versification of the eclogues.
2Sidney, p. 3.
yt
comes of very yll grounde, that ignorance shoulde bee ye
mother of faythfullnes. O, no, hee can not bee good, that
knowes not whye he ys good, but standes so farr good, as his
fortune
may keepe him unassayed, hut, coming to yt his rude
simplicity ys eyther easily chaunged, or easily deceyved.1
The narrative voice presents Dametas in accordance
with Philanax’s view. Confronted with the figure of the
Amazon Cleophila, Dametas experiences hyperbolic fear and
rushes off to express to his wife his helpless braggadoccio;
Dametas that from
his Chyldehood had ever feared ye blade of a sworde, rann
backward with his handes above his heade at least xxti
paces, gaping and staring with the very Countenaunce of
those Clownish Churles, that, by Latonas prayer
were turned into Frogges . . . hee went for more help tohis
Lodg: where knocking a good while, at lengthe hee cryed to
his wyfe Miso, that in a whores name shee shoulde
come out to him ...2
The narrative of the Arcadia as a whole
seems to question the morality of the pastoral "sojourn."
Sidney’s presentation ofpastoral
shows
it to be a world not acceptable as an alternative to the
striving world of chivalry. The pastoral sojourn is
clearly an inappropriate retreat for the important
characters of the Arcadia; Basilius irresponsibly
and falsely affects pastoralism, his daughters are forced
to take part in it, and Pyrocles and Musidorus are guided
by their passions to adopt disguises.1
In the Arcadia, unless the eye
of the beholder has been blinded by love, the pastoral
place does not have the irresistible quality of a locus
amoenus. Pyrocles, stricken by viewing the portrait
of Philoclea, becomes infatuated with the place, and
Musidorus, ignorant of the cause, argues against the
effect:
Imervayle at the excessive prayses yow
give to this Dezart, in truthe yt ys not unpleasant, but
yet, yf yow woulde returne unto Macedon, yow
shoulde see eyther, many heavens, or fynde this, no more
then earthely: And, even Tempe, in my Thessalia,
where yow and I to my greate happynes were brought up
together ys nothinge inferior unto yt.1
The strength of the chivalric element in the Arcadia
counterveils the power of the pastoral doctrines
"Contemplacyon ys but a gloryous tytle to Idlenes,"2
Musidorus urges Pyrocles. The chivalric elements in the
plot are so strong that they appear to be unaffected by
the supposed pastoral setting. It is significant that
Pyrocles does not adopt a pastoral disguise in order to
gain an entree into the king’s pastoral lodges: rather, he
chooses to obscure his sex while retaining his identity as
a chivalric figure. Indeed, without the separate "Eglogue"
sections interspersed between the acts of the narrative,
the Arcadia would hardly have the quality of a pastoral
romance.
Incontrast,
pastoral values are integral to the narrative of Menaphon.
While the Golden Age aspect of pastoralism is treated
playfully Ijy Greene, it is not isolated intospecial
sections as it is by Sidney; furthermore, the comic
treatment of rustics is not disparaging, as in the Arcadia.
Greene’s narrative as a whole accepts the morality of the
values implied by pastoral, and it tends, onthe
contrary, to mock chivalry (as In the "Trojan War" with
its hyperbolic inequality of numbers on the two sides).
The pastoral world presented in Menaphon Is
thoroughly attractive, from the first presentation of it
in Menaphon's survey on the promontory to the
comic-eclogue of Doron and Carmela. The life of quiet and
content is given an authentic value in Greene's
treatment—for example, in Samela’s monologue on her
pastoral life (76/I-6)—even while it is made an occasion of comic
exaggeration (as in the treatment of time, which
seems a hyperbole on the idea of pastoral otium).
Essentially, comedy and appreciation are not at
odds inMenaphon.
The romance presents pastoral values as genuine, even ifthey
are "unreal" or hypothetical. A central example ofthis
effect is in the handling of the love between Melicertus
and Samela. While in the pastoral setting, Maximus and
Sephestia accept, as fictive versions of their former
loves, the adequate but perhaps unreal images of those
loves afforded by "Melicertus" and "Samela." Greene
achieves a nice distinction in his presentation of the
thoughts of the two lovers, a subtle play on two views of
literary criticism, and an exploration of the issue of
appearance versus reality. Maximus ("Melicertus") treats
the figure of Samela as a Platonic Idea of his
former love:
Ah Melicertus,
what an obiect fortune this day brought to thy eyes,
presenting a strange Idaea tothy
sight . . . her eye paints her out Sephestia hervoyce
sounds
her out Sephestia, she seemeth none but Sephestia:
but seeing she is dead, & there liueth not such
another Sephestia, sue to herand
loue her, for that it is either a selfe same or another Sephestia.
(66/11-19)
Sephestia's attitude is slightly different: in her
reverie she seems willing to accept the image itself
as an adequate reality, without going beyond appearance to
some essence, as would be implied in the
neo-Platonic Idea. After weighing the similarity
of Melicertus to Maximus, "Samela" exclaims:
consider Samela
is it not thy Maximus? Fond foole away with these
suppositions; could the dreaming ofAndromache
call Hector from his graue? . . , Tush stoop not
to such vanities: hee is dead, and therefore grieue not
thy memorie with the imagination of his new reuiue, ... to
salue Samela than this suppose; if they court thee
with hyacinth, interteine them with roses; if he sent thee
a lamb, present him an eawe; if he wooe, be wooed; and
for no other reason, but hee is like Maximius
(67/2-12).
While
Melicertus' speech seeks an essential identity--"it is
either a selfe same or another Sephestia"—Samela’s
approach is to discover equivalencies--"if they court thee
with hyacinth, interteine them with roses . . . if he
wooe, be wooed; and for no other reason, but hee is like Maximius."
The fictive hypothetical quality represented by the
reveries of the two lovers is characteristic of Menaphon
as a whole, and allows an appreciation of the attractions
of pastoral (just as in the mutual attraction of Samela
and Melicertus) even when they are treated comically or
are shown to be in some senses unreal. For
example, in the earlier description of the Arcadian
promontory, the romance shows a facetious
self-consciousness about fictive "literary" qualities, and
raises the issue of their "reality" or validity. At the
conclusion of the initial description of the promontory,
with its Ovidian sea-scape, Menaphon had turned his
attention to the land:
Menaphon looking ouer the champion of Arcadle
to see if the Continent were as full of smiles, as the
seas were of fauours, sawe the shrubbes as in a dreame
with delightfull harmonie, and the birdes that chaunted on
their braunches not disturbed with the least breath of a
fauourable Zephirus. Seeing thus the accord of the
Land and Sea, casting a fresh gaze on the water Nimphs, he
began to consider how Venus was feigned by the
Poets to spring of the froath of the Seas . . .
(29/17-25).
While Menaphon
exists within this setting, he violates its limits by
being aware of mythology as a literary fiction. Menaphon
participates in this mythologized landscape, gazing on the
water-nymphs, and yet at the same time views that world as
a literary creation, as images "feigned by the Poets" to
represent such abstractions as "the inconstancie of Loue"
(29/26).
In alater passage, where Menaphon rather
self-im- portantly holds forth upon the humility of his
cottage, Greene allows scope to the values presented by
the image, even while he laughingly deflates them by a
shift in point ofview at the conclusion of the passage. In
introducing his cottage Menaphon begins by announcing what
objects are not to be found within it (the
Elizabethan status symbols of wall-hangings
and a side-board of plate); he then characterizes it by emblems
of the simple life ("you shall find heere cheese and milke
for dainties, and wooll for cloathing"), by allegory
("in euerie corner of the house Content sitting smiling"),
and finally by myth ("ye shall haue such welcome
and fare as Philemon and Baucis gaue to Jupiter,"
43/15-23). The narrative presentation of Sephestia’s
response signals a sudden reversion to the literal level:
"Sephestia thankt him heartelie, and going into the house
found what he promist" (43/23-24). Greene is gently
mocking the abstraction of Menaphon’s description, which symbolized
a way of life rather than referred to physical
objects. In effect, "what he promist" could hardly be
"found" upon Sephestia’s entry.1
Such uses of shifting or ambiguous perspective
break open the "faultless joinery" of conventional
fiction, and are laughingly playful with the pastoral
convention. The effects range from subtle paradoxes within
the surface of the fiction (as in Menaphon’s reflection on
the mythologized landscape) to farcical incongruities (as
in Doron’s "woosted stockings of Saturne," 101/8).
The overall effect is one of self-conscious delight,
genuine, but not. quite "real." For Sephestia and Maximus
the appearance turns out to be reality': each is in fact
the other’s former spouse. But during their pastoral
sojourn they had been satisfied with the delight of the
appearance. In this way Greene uses pastoral to dramatize
the value of fiction itself.
1Davis
points
out (p. I76) a similar deflation in the scene where
Pleusidippus meets Agenor and Eriphila, but appears to
mistake the tone of the conversation between the two
royal figures, actually one of refined banter, not as
Davis describes it: "The scene he [Pleusidippus]
interrupts might have found a place in the most refined
medieval courtly romance: the atmosphere is one of
rarefied, almost decadent sentiment, as Agenor and his
wife moralize on the marigold for almost two pages of
exquisite dialogue" (pp. 175-76).
The fictive complexity of pastoral which Greene
exploits is atraditional potentiality of the genre:
Pastoral'values
the simple,.but is itself apt to be complex. It praises
the rustic, but it does so for a sophisticated audience.
"Take less, have more," is Its paradoxical advice. It
affects to prefer
nature to art, but is itself highly artificial and turns
out to have art as one of its major subjects.1
Self-consciousness in the use of style had been a
characteristic of pastoral since Theocritus used a
special 'rustic dialect in his eclogues. Spenser Imitated
Theocritus in the Shepheardes Calender by
affecting an archaic diction, and using some irregular
metrical arrangements to communicate a rustic feeling. Yet
the fact is that these rustic effects are all studied
artistic devices and are not "really" rustic at all.Sidney
calls attention to the self-consciousness of a "crude"
effect in the Arcadia: the blazon of Mopsa, which
is cast in poulters' measure, begins with the wonderful
rhetorical question, "What lengthe of verse can serve,
brave Mopsas good to showe."1
Sidney's use of such comic touches, which invite
the reader to recognize the fiction as playful, are
limited and contained within a commanding framework which
is as serious and humorless as Euarchus:
InSidney's view, poesy invents for
ethics a concrete history of its own, and, conversely,
encourages men to see through the concrete to certain
principles of conduct which lie behind andinform
history and fable.4
Greene, in
contrast, seems to invite the reader of Menaphon tosee
through the concrete in his fiction simply in order to
appreciate its transparency, as one of fiction's important
characteristics, like Prospero inviting the audience to
become conscious of "the baseless fabric of this vision."3
Seeing through the fiction is like being invited
back-stage, tosee the performance from a different angle.
The experience of
the play is no longer carefully framed by the
proscenium, and the vantage point makes us more
self-conscious about our appreciation. This is the effect
that Brecht, for example, strives to achieve in the
staging of his plays, and it seems to be one that Greene
playfully infuses into Menaphon. The fiction has
an appearance of concreteness but also of transparency,
depending on how the light strikes its surface, and the
reader is invited to enjoy it both ways. This attitude
toward fiction is an aspect of the serious issue of Menaphon,
the relationship between appearance and reality.
2D. M. Beach,
"Sir Philip Sidney and the Theory of Allegory," Texas
Studies in Literature and Language, xiii (1971), p.
366.
3Tempest IV. i. 151.
Greene's handling of the pastoral convention has
qualities both of concrete realization and of
transparency. The ease and delight of pastoral is strongly
realised in the lyrics and in such passages as Menaphon's
view from the promontory. Yet this full and impressive
description concludes with a recognition of its own
insubstantiality, and the lyrics when they are not
comically rustic have little specifically to do with
Arcadia. The Elizabethan English life behind the fictive
surface is often allowed to show through, both in the
lyrics and in the narrative, blurring the distinction
between "vehicle" and "tenor." Thus instead of "putting
the complex into the simple,"1 Greene puts both
the complex and the simple into the surface of the
fiction, and has them play off against each other.
1William
Empson, Some Versions of Pastoral (1950j
rpt. New Yorki New Directions Paperback, 1968), p. 23.
Despite many ideal qualities in the pastoral of Menaphon,
the dissolution of class-distinctions is never undertaken
in Greene's Arcadian world, where Sephestia spurns
Menaphon’s advances by pointblank reference to their
difference in class, despite the fact that her disguise
involves pretending to be of "mean" birth. Actually,
Menaphon’s advances raise an issue insoluble in
Elizabethan pastoral, and thus ordinarily not raised:
courtly figures involve themselves romantically only with
country figures who turn out to be of high birth
themselves (as Dorastus and Fawnia), thus allowing
idealistic statements about "nature over nurture" but
evading the issue in any respect which would have social
implications. What if the appearance of gentility in
Fawnia were not later authenticated by the revelation of
her high birth? In Menaphon Greene allows the
limitations of hypothetical idealism to show through the
surface of his pastoral. Not only does Samela scorn
Menaphon because of his low birth, but Melicertus later
claims the privilege to take over leadership of the other
shepherds on the ground that he is a ’’gentleman." And It
must not be forgotten that Sephestia5s child,
in this "pastoral" world, is sent off to a nurse "in the
countrey" (75/4-5). Greene plays with the pastoral surface
in a way that makes it reveal itself as a fiction: he
shows that pastoral does not really value "the simple" or
believe in "nature over nurture." Greene uses the pastoral
world less for comfortable idealistic speculations and
more for self-conscious delight. Shakespeare adopts a
similar attitude in As You Like It: the delight is
in the work as a literary fiction, enlivened with parody
and self-consciousness.
The use of pastoral is one area in which Greene
maintains the self-consciousness of his work. Certain
allusions and stylistic devices similarly play openly upon
the artificial, literary quality of the romance. Often
"classic" allusions, for example, are only speciously
classic. Since such allusions were t common currency of
contemporary fiction, often the immediate reference of an
apparently classic allusion is actually Elizabethan.
An extended use of such double-references occurs in
the courtship between Samela and Melicertus (68/4-74/23).
In the inflated style of Melicertus* address to Samela,
Greene openly parodies the characteristics of the
conventional Euphuistic lover. The operation of the parody
is made obvious in Samela;s mocking reply. Samela finds
Melicertus "so superfine, as if Ephaebus had
learnd him to refine his mother tongue" (69/7-8). Her
reference, with several which follow, is a double
entendre, referring directly to works by the
Euphuist Lyly, although maintaining the pretence of being
classical allusions. Her mention of Ephaebus refers to
Lyly's Euphues and his Ephoebus,1 a
work on education Lyly "translated" from Plutarch.
Clearly, Greene is playing with the way the allusion
appears to be a reference to Plutarch, but is actually to
Lyly, Similarly, v/hen Melicertus compares Samela to
"Lucilla in Athens" (69/IO), he is referring to the
character in Lyly’s Euphues but is distorting the
reference slightly (Lucilla lived in Maples) in order to
maintain the pretense of an antique context. In the same
passage, where Melicertus thinks that Samela "smoothed her
talke to be thought like Sapho Phaos Paramour"
(69/12), the reference is speciously to Greek legend, but
really to Lyly’s play, Sapho and Phao (1584).
1R. W. Bond, The
Complete Works of John Lyly (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1902), i. 260-88. As Bond explains (i. 352), Euphues
and his Ephoebus is "a version of Plutarch’s De
Educatione Puerorum, part paraphrase, part
translation, abbreviated in places, slightly expanded in
others, and containing some considerable additions by Lyly
himself, amounting to about eleven pages, or two-fifths of
the whole."
In this courting passage Samela anachronistically
refers to Tamburlaine, slyly quoting from Marlowe’s Tamburlaine
II the description of Zenocrate as "the worlds
faire eye."1
Melicertus responds in kind on the next page, not only
fracturing the supposedly Mediterranean context byhis
reference to "Canterbury" but returning to a teasing
allusion to Marlowe:2
Whosoeuer Samela
descanted of that loue, tolde you a Canterbury tale; some
propheticall full mouth that as he were a Coblers eldest
sonne, would by the laste tell where anothers shooe wrings
(72/21-24).
2G.
F. Fleay, A Biographical Chronical of the English
Drama, 1559-1642~71891; rpt. New York: B. Franklin,
1962), i. 258-59.
Clearly Greene
expects his readers to understand and enjoy the humor of
these specific Elizabethan references (in the last passage
he includes references to two common proverbs, a "Canterbury
tale" and the "cobbler's last," along with the topical
allusion to Marlowe).
At other times in the narrative the
duality of the allusion is more atmospheric and less
specific, but still isquite
recognizable.
Many passages derive from Lyly's works, and Greene
would have expected his readers to recognize the Euphuism,
whether or not the specific material was felt as aborrowing.
Lamedon's speech of comfort, which Samela interrupts "As
hee was readie to goe forwarde with his perswasiue
argument" (38/18-19), is markedly Euphuistic and perhaps
helps to characterize Lamedon as old.
Atmospheric use of double allusions is notable in
Melicertus' narrative of the courtship of his original
mistress:
when I alledge
faith, she crost me with AEneas, when Loyaltie,
she tolde me of lason; when I swoare constancie,
shee questioned me of Demophoon . . . (56/12-14).
While the
allusions are superficially classical, the pattern of their
presentation is clearly Euphuistic: stock types arranged
in balanced members. In fact, a similar passage occurs in
Lyly's Euphues, where Lucilla is replying toEuphues'
courting:
Who more
trayterous to Phillis then Demophoon? yet
he a trauailer. Who more periured to Dido then Aeneas?
and he a stranger: both these Queenes, both they
Caytiffes. Who more false to Ariadne then Theseus?
yet he a sayler, Who more fickle to Medea then
lason? yet he a starter: both these daughters to great
Princes, both they vnfaythfull of promisses.1
At times "classical" references can be explained
most easily by reference to Lyly. Samela’s reference to
Venus -- "Venus standeth on the Tortoys, as shewing that
Loue creepeth on by degrees" (52/15-16) -- differs from
traditional uses of the image. A contemporary emblem book
figures "Vxoria virtutes" standing on a tortoise: "The
Tortoyse warnes, at home to spend her dales." Plutarch
mentions a statue by Phidias representing Venus upon a
tortoise "to admonish women to home-keeping and
quietness." Although Bond relates the
Phidias statue
to the use of the image made by Lyly, clearly Lyly
reinterprets the meaning of the emblem in his use. Lyly’s
usage, like Greene's, figures Venus in her capacity asLove:
________________________________________________
1Bond, i. 222. 6-11.
2Geoffrey
Whitney,
Whitney's "Choice of Bmblemes," a Facsimile
Reprint, ed. Harry Greene (London: Lovell Reeve
& Co., 1866) p. 93.
3Bond, n. to ii. 98. 21.
Lyly refers to
Venus "with a Torteyse vnder hir foote, as slowe to
harmes" in matters of love.1 Greene follows
Lyly and has little to do with the more traditional
meaning ofthe
image of Venus standing upon a tortoise.
Another instance of an unusual usage being
explained byreference to Lyly is Greene’s
allusion to the Vestal"Amulia" (65/9). No trace of any
"Amulia" has been found in
classical
sources, the incident to which Greene refers being
generally associated with "Tuccia." Applegate conjectures,
in "The Classical Learning of Robert Greene," that Greene
may
have had some
"intermediate source, other than Zwinger" in which the
name Amulia may have occurred.2
Barring the discovery of such a source, it seems
likely that Greene derived the name from a passage in
Lyly, in which the Vestals "Aemilia," and "Tuccia" are
referred to in lose
proximity:
1Bond, ii. 98. 21.
3James Applegate, "The Classical Learning of
Robert Greene," Bibliothque d'Humanisme et
Renaissance, xxviii (1966), p. 365.
Wher is Aemilia,
that through hir chastitie wrought wonders, in maintayning
continuall fire at
the Alter of Vesta . . . wher is Tuccia
one ofthe
same order, that brought to passe no lesse
meruailes, by
carrying water in a siue, not shedding one drop from Tiber
to the Temple of Vesta?1
Possibly, Greene’s usage results from a conflation
of the names of the two virgins, and he may have intended
that fact to be perceived by his readers, since
Melicertus' statement, "for amongst all the rest of the
virgins we read of none but her that wrought such a
miracle" (65/8-I0), jocularly challenges comparison with
the Lyly passage, where the two virgins are equally
miraculous. Beyond this possible reference to Lyly, is the
certain invocation of the proverb, "Cribroaquam haurire,"2
a common expression for something impossible,3
which humorously undercuts any compliment to women in the
reference to the "miracle" of Amulia. Again Greene is
enriching his romance by the use of multiple allusion,
drawing the reader into viewing the surface of his fiction
from several angles at once.
A perspective on the self-consciousness
of Menaphon can be gained by considering its
possible influence on Shakespeare's As You Like It.
Shakespeare endows the world of his drama
with an often jesting self-awareness which shows a marked
affinity with Menaphon and is quite different from
the tone of Lodge’s Rosalynde. When Jaques
comments, forexample, "Nay then, God b'wi'you, an you talk
in blank verse" (IV.
i. 29-30), Shakespeare plays at making
the artifice of hismedium
obvious in a way that is similar to Greene's handling of
the courting of Samela and Melicertus.
Shakespeare's addition of the characters Touchstone
and Jaques, who take positions of parody and commentary
within the play, is one of the clearest indications of the
difference in tone between Rosalynde and As
You Like It. Other differences, concerning the
treatment of romantic love, are also immediately apparent.
In the courting between Rosader and Ganymede in Rosalynde,
for example, the only question raised is the conventional
one of the sincerity of the lover; the value of romantic
love Itself is not doubted:
but if you be
true and trusty, eye-pained and heart-sick, then accursed
be Rosalynde if she prove cruel.1
The courtship of
Orlando and Ganymede in As You Like It, however,
is constantly challenging romantic love and comparing the
fictions of its conventions with the truth of what is felt
indeed by the two lovers:
1Thomas
Lodge, Rosalynde, ed. W, W. Greg (London: Oxford
University Press, 1931), p. 81.
Ros.: Hen have
died from time to time, and worms
have eaten them, but not for love.
Orl.: I would
not have my right Rosalind of this
mind, for I protest her frown might kill me.
Ros.: By this
hand, it will not kill a fly.
Lodge is so far from questioning the conventions of
romantic love that he depicts Phoebe actually pining away
from love-sickness for Ganymede.% While the love of Phoebe
and Hontanus in Rosalynde was simply a comic
instance of "the tables turned," with Phoebe and Silvius
in As You Like It Shakespeare has added the
dimension of parody of courtly love conventions.
Shakespeare’s parody is from a different angle than that
represented by Doron and Carmela in Menaphon, but
Its object is the same. The spirit of Carmela and Doron
Shakespeare captures in the downright Audrey, another of
the characters of As You Like It not to be found
in Rosalynde.
While Rosalynde appears to
take both romantic love and the ideal of pastoral
seriously, Shakespeare introduces inhis
treatment of both themes parody and burlesque that
parallel the tone of Henaphon. Neither Henaphon
nor As You Like It is a satire, since neither is
hostile or destructive in its treatment of the conventions
it mocks.
____________________________________
1As You Like It, IV. i. 102-03.
2Lodge, p. 134.
For Shakespeare
the conventions are, as in Rosalynde, those ofpastoral
and
romantic love, while for Greene in Menaphon the
significant conventions had been those of pastoral and .
Greek and chivalric romance. In the hands of both
Shakespeare andGreene,
however, it becomes clear that comedy and appreciation are
not at odds. Young has pointed out that the source of
Shakespeare's humor in As You Like It is the use of"comic
juxtaposition and clash of style against style."1
This kind of humor it has been my endeavor to explore in
my reading of Menaphon. To claim a possible
influence of Menaphon on the tone of As You
Like It I will briefly review the ways in which some
of the important motifs of Greene’s work appear in
Shakespeare’s version of Rosalynde.
The world of Menaphon was a complex one,
containing more than one version of pastoral within its
frame. A mythologized Golden Age is surveyed by Menaphon
from the Arcadian promontory, while Doron and Carmela are
bumpkins from an Elizabethan country parish. Meanwhile
Samela and Melicertus verbally espouse pastoral values,
but refuse to give up their sense of their own superiority
of class. Their use of allusions to contemporary
literature implies amiddle-class
Elizabethan context--the context of Lyly’s, Marlowe’s,
and, of course, Greene’s readers.
______________________________________
1Young, p. 39.
Shakespeare’s treatment of pastoral is very
complex, like Greene’s and unlike Lodge's. Lodge’s
treatment had tended to blur distinctions between country
and city, natural and artificial.1 Both Greene
and Shakespeare allow these dichotomies to generate comedy
within their works. At the center of As You Like It,
for example, Touchstone challenges the conventional values
of pastoral, and self-consciously faces the dilemma of not
being able to "have it both ways":
Truly, shepherd,
in respect of itself, it'is a good life; but in respect
that it is a shepherd's life, it is naught. In respect
that it is solitary, Ilike it very well; but in
respect that it is private, it is a very vile life. Now in
respect it is in the fields, it pleaseth me well; but in
respect it is not in the court, it is tedious. As it is a
spare life, look you, it fits my humour well; but as there
is not more plenty in it, it goes much against my stomach.2
Just as In Menaphon,
class-consciousness remains fully in effect despite
protestations of idealism.
The abstraction associated with the idealism of
pastoral isgently
mocked in both Henaphon and As You Like It.
Characters who moralize the pastoral place in
Shakespeare's play are shown to be creating the effect
themselves. In Duke Senior's Euphuistic reflection on the
landscape, for example, the reality of the setting
disappears as it "becomes merely a vehicle of his
moralizing:
____________________________________________
1Davis,
pp.
84-85.
2As
You
Like It, III. ii. 13-21.
And thus our
life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in
trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in
stones, and good in everything.1
The sense in
which .this "place" is a verbal construction of the Duke,
in a way similar to the cottage of Menaphon, is hinted by
Amiens’ response:
. , . happy is
your Grace
That can
translate the stubbornness of fortune
Into so quiet
and so sweet a style.
While the Duke’s
position is treated seriously, Jaques, in many ways a
parody of the Duke, is openly mocked:
Just as Greene used allusions to contemporary
literature tocreate comedy in the courting between Samela
and Melicer-tus, so Shakespeare points up Phoebe's
affection by having her quote Marlowe’s line, "VJho ever
loved that loved not at first sight?"1
Self-consciousness about style, such an important
feature of Menaphon,2 is notable in As
You Like It although it had not been an element of Rosalynde.
Characters in Rosalynde do not comment on one
another's style the way they do in Menaphon and in
As You Like It. For example, when Saladyne courts
Aliena in terms which are "blunt and plain," Aliena's
response ignores the particular style of his speech; her
answer is simply a generalization about all courting, with
its concern centered on the question of sincerity, rather
than style:
Ah, Saladyne,
though I seem simple, yet I am more subtle than to swallow
the hook because it hath a painted bait: as men are wily
so women are wary . , . Do we not know, Saladyne,
men's tongues are like Mercury's pipe, that can
enchant Argus with an hundred eyes ... 3
2Davis,
p.
173: 'Variety of style is always kept foremost in the
reader s mind in Menaphon. chiefly because its
characters are always so much concerned with style,
constantly discover things through style, and so
frequently comment on each other's style."
3Lodge,
pp.
129-30.
Style in Rosalynde
as a whole is not used as a means of establishing
differences between characters,1 and is not
made a subject of discussion in its own right, separable
from meaning or effect, Thus Ganymede comments on
Rosader’s description of Rosalynde:
Believe me . . .
either the forester is an exquisite painter, or Rosalynde
far above wonder.2
1Davis,
pp.
84-85: "in Rosalynde the boundary between
natural, and artificial is blurred more radically and
explicitly than in any other Elizabethan romance--so much
so, in fact, that the blurring becomes thematic ....
The.inhabitants are divided into two groups:
natives of Arden, like Coridon, Montanus, and Phoebe; and
disguised members.of the court, such as Rosalynde, Alinda,
Rosader, and Gerismond. Within each group there are some
rather surprising degrees of artifice .... Furthermore,
there are several cases in which members of different
groups are indistinguishable stylistically."
2Lodge, p. 72. JAs
You
Like It, II. i. 18-20.
4Ibid. I. ii. 112.
Self-consciousness about style is maintained in As
You Like It, as in Menaphon, by characters’
awareness of and comments about each other’s style. Amiens
praises Duke Senior’s Euphuism, while that of Jaques is
mocked. Rosalind mocks the courtier’s account of
wrestling, "I could match this beginning with an old tale.
Touchstone later very tellingly ridicules Orlando's love
poetry, with his comment, "I'll rhyme you so eight years
together," and his sample parody in earnest of the pledge.1
Rosalind’s punning comment, "I had rather have a
fool make me merry than experience make me sad,"2
strikes a note in accord with the self-conscious delight
of Menaphon.
The pun involves
the word "sad" which in Elizabethan usage could refer to
the seriousness associated with wisdom as well as
to the sorrowfulness to which the word is tied
today.
Like Menaphon,
Shakespeare’s play raises the issue of the value of
fiction, as it is either an evasion of serious meaning or
a meaningful embellishment of life. Touchstone frequently
evokes this question in the play, and his own ambiguous
identity as a "wise fool" gives a protean liveliness to
his sayings, as they partake of wisdom and foolery. In the
midst of the play is his statement, "the truest poetry is
the most feigning,"3 At the conclusion of the
play Touchstone champions if as a way of avoiding
unpleasant realities: "Your If is the only peacemaker.
Much virtue in If.'” The word becomes the leitmotiv of the
final scene, until even Hymen takes it up with the
conditional, "If truth holds true contents." The question
of reality is thus left hypothetical by Hymen, while Duke
Senior closes the play with an assertion of trust:
These "true
delights" of the play as a whole offer themselves in the same
way as in Menaphon, calling attention to their
artifice, invoking comedy and parody, and at the same time
upholding value and appreciation.
_______________________________________________
iAs You Like
It, V. iv. 197-98.
Note
On The Text
This edition of Menaphon is based on a
xerox of the Folger Library copy of 1589, the only
extant perfect copy of the first edition. Xeroxes of the
Huntington Library copy (reproduced by University
Microfilms) and of the British Museum copy, the former
lacking the entire Preface and the latter lacking AA, have
been collated with the Folger copy and no significant
press variants were found. The text of 1589 has
been completely collated with the other early editions
available to me (1599, 1605 [Trinity], 1610, and 1616) and
the variants have been recorded in the textual notes,
placed on a separate page immediately following each page
of text. Where no textual notes are called for, this
separate page is simply omitted.
The spelling, capitalization, and
punctuation of the text are those of 1589, unless
an emendation is noted. Certain adjustments relating to
the conventions of printing have been made: long s is
transcribed as modern s, and abbreviations and
contractions have been silently expanded, with the
exception of &, and yt. The abbreviation +
is rendered as &, although both occur in 1589.
The sign '.' indicating a question has been
rendered as ?, although both occur in 1589.
Different type faces' are used by the early
editions to distinguish the Preface from the text, and to
set off poetry or quotations (italic), and proper names
(roman), from the text. This edition uses roman
for the Preface, text, and poetry, and uses italics for
proper names and quotations. Titles preserve the original
type faces, roman or italic; where black letter occurs, it
is treated as roman.
Initial woodcut capitals are not distinguished in
the present text, nor is oversize printing (as on the
title-page). Horizontal spacing of the original has on
rare occasions been modified without comment where words
appear to have been run together or inadvertently spaced
into two words. Words broken at line-ends without hyphens
are treated as one word, if they ordinarily so appear.
Omitted periods at the end of a sentence are supplied
silently when necessary.
The signature marks of 1589 have been
indicated in this edition by placing them in the text,
enclosed in square brackets, directly before the first
word of the page in the original for which they stand. The
running titles have not been reproduced in this edition,
but are noted in the bibliographical description of 1589.
Casual misprints have been recorded in the
apparatus, since they help to establish the genealogy and
relative merit of the various editions. Differences in
punctuation have been recorded where they substantially
affect the meaning of the text, even if no emendation has
been made.
The Commentary
Bibliography
The following bibliography includes the works cited
in the Introduction as well as the Commentary. Cross-
references and specific short-titles are provided where
the citation in the Commentary would not lead directly to
the bibliographic entry. A few wor^s, such as The New
Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature:
Volume I, are included in this list because even
though they are not specifically cited in the Introduction
or Commentary they served as particularly important
research tools in the preparation of this edition.
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Arnold, Aerol. Nashe's
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Boorde, Andrew. Merie
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Brooke, C. F. Tucker
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Bullen, A. H. Lyrics
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Chambers, Sir E. K. The
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Cicero, Marcus
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Cicero, Marcus
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Cicero, Marcus
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Clark, Donald Leman.
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Columbia University Press, 1922.
Crane, William G. Wit
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Croll, Morris W. Style,
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Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1966.
Curtis, Mark H. Oxford
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Davis, Walter. Idea
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Davis, Walter and
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Grosart. See
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Harvey, Sir Paul, ed.
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"OCEL."
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1962.
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Joseph. John Penry and the Marprelate Controversy.
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Marlowe, Christopher.
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1963.
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Wilson. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1958.
OCEL. See,
Harvey, Sir Paul.
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al.
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Library, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1962.
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Press, I96I. Cited as "Golding’s Ovid."
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Ovidius Naso,
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New York: G. P. Putnum’s Sons, 1924.
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Commentary Notes
1/1 MENAPHON.
The name of a minor Persian Lord (not a pastoral figure)
in Marlowe’s I Tamburlaine.
1/2-5 Camillas
alarum . . . Silexedra. Camilla appears as a
character in Euphues and his England; "Silixsedra"
is "some vncauth place" where Euphues "gaue himself to
solitarinesse" (Lyly, Works, ii. 228).
1/7-8 Triumphes
of . . . Time. Perhaps an allusion to
Petrarch’s Triomphi; more proximately a reference
to Greene’s own recent Pandosto, The Triumph
of Time (1588). l/9 sundrie. That is,
"assigned distributively" (OED†2), implying a
degree of dramatization in the presentation of the
"passions."
1/9 conceipted.
That is, "full of imagination" (Onions)5 the
sixteenth-century meaning of words related to "conceit"
derive from the action of the verb "conceive" and the
literary figure “conceit." Imagination, ingeniousness, and
wit are the qualities implied by "conceipted." Cf. 9/12,
18/20, etc.
1/9-10 figured. That is,
"portrayed or represented by speech or action" (OED
4). the word implies a degree of dramatization (cf.
"sundrie" 1/9).
1/10 continuate
Historie. That is, "extended narrative"? cf
"continuate suhiect of witte," 16/19 and n.
1/10-11 Trophees
. . . triumphant. In Roman antiquity the
"trophies" were memorials of a victory, and the "triumph"
was the processional return into Rome by the victorious
commander. Greene's usage creates a subdued metaphor of
Virtue personified as a victorious Roman commander.
1/17 in
Artibus magister. Greene's pride in his degrees was
perhaps twitted by Nashe in Strange Newes where he
uses comic epithets, calling Harvey "Gabrieli Howliglasse"
and Greene "vtriusque Academiae Robertus Greene" (Nashe, Works,
i. 298).
1/18 Omne
Tulit punctum. Part of the statement, "Omne tulit
punctum qui miscuit utile dulci," i.e., "He who mixes the
useful with the sweet wins the approval of all" (Horace:
Satires, etc., pp. 478-79, the phrase occurs
in the Ars Poetica). Pettie had used the motto in
his Palace of Pleasure (1576); Greene used it
first in Arbasto (1584), and again in
Penelope's
Web (1587)• With Perimedes
(1588) Greene openly established the phrase as his motto,
and acknowledged himself to be the
target of gibes alluding to it:
I keepe my old
course, to palter vp some thing in Prose, vsing mine old
poesie still, Omne tulit punctum, although latelye
two Gentlemen Poets, made two mad men of Rome beate it out
of their paper bucklers: & had it in derision, for
that I could not make my verses iet vpon the stage in
tragicall buskins (Grosart, vii. 7-8).
Nashe, in his Anatomie
aims a hit at Greene by way of this motto, making it
likely that Greene had not seen Nashe*s “firstling" when
he either commissioned or accepted the younger man’s
Prefaces:
Are they not
ashamed in their prefixed posies, to adorne a pretence of
profit mixed with pleasure, when as in their bookes there
is scarce to be found one precept pertaining to vertue,
but whole quires frought with amorous discourses (Nashe, Works,
i, 10),
2/2 Ladie
Hales. Alice, daughter of Sir Thomas Kemp, Knight
(Venn: "James Hales").
2/3 Sir
lames Hales. An undergraduate at Trinity College
(matric. 1560), and later a Fellow of Pembroke (c. 1565),
he was possibly the James Hales admitted in 1565 to Gray's
Inn. Knighted in 1573» he was treasurer of Drake’s
expedition to Portugal, and died at sea in 1589 (ibid,).
2/5 Alexander.
That is, Alexander the Great (d. 323 B.C.), In Plutarch's
account of the life of Alexander is an incident which may
loosely be considered the "source" of Greene’s anecdote (Plutarch8
s Lives, vii. 275-77).
2/6 Philip.
Philip the Arcananian brought Alexander a potion to cure a
fever which had perhaps been caused by a bath in an icy
river (ibid.).
2/7-8 driest
melancholy . . . moistest sanguin. According
to the doctrine of the humors, health required a proper
balance of heat and cold, moist and dry. The melancholy
humor (cold and dry) was associated with Saturn, the
sanguin humor (hot and moist) with Venus (see e.g.
Greene’s Planetomachia).
2/8 wise
Hortenzia. While Hortensia was celebrated for her
skill in oratory, her father Hortensius Hortalus, a
contemporary of Cicero, was even more renowned in that
field. It is after him that Cicero's treatise Hortensius
is named (Lewis and Short).
2/23 couering.
That is, "concealing or screening," but also "compensating
for" (OED 9b and 17).
4/1 To the
Gentlemen Readers. An address typical of
Greene’s works; only that in The Repentence (1592)
is specifically signed by Greene, but presumably all were
written by him.
4/3 Batillus.
That is, Bathyllus, an Inferior poet mentioned in the life
of Virgil ascribed to Donatus; Nashe refers In Strange
Newes to "the iarring Pipe of this Batillus"
(Nashe, Works, i. 291 and n.).
4/12 Camillas
alarum to Euphues. See above, n. to 1/2-5.
4/12 Euphues
censure to Philautus. An earlier work by Greene
(1587).
4/l3 requitall.
Greene seems to mean "a repayment or answer in kind," the
action of the verb "requite" (OED †3), although the
noun is not so defined by the OED. magis
humile . . . sublime. That is, "very humble
or somewhat elevated." The mediocris was the third
of the distinct levels of style prescribed by
rhetoricians for various oratorical purposes, in
accordance With classical texts and practices. See e.g.
Horace’s Ars Poetica (Horaces Satires,
etc., p. 229) and Ascham’s Scholemaster (The
Scholemaster, pp. 87 and 122).
4/15 dark
AEnigmaes or strange conceipts. Fleay claims that
this expression is Greene's "way of acknowledging that the
work is a personal satire" (Fleay, i. 257). Fleay’s most
convincing identification is of references to Marlowe:
he is described
as "prophetical" (Merlin), "full mouth" (cf. "every word
filling the mouth like the Fa burden of Bowbell," Perimedes).
teller
of a "Canterbury Tale" (Marlow LsicJwas
born
at Canterbury), "as he were a Cobler’s eldest son" (he was
so) (Fleay, i. 258- 59).
Fleay is unable,
however, to produce evidence of any systematic use of such
specific topical satire in Menaphon. Fleay’s
identifications of Doron as Kyd (ii. 32) and of Menaphon
as Marlowe (ii. 34) are very narrowly based: Doron’s
speech, "We had ... an Eaw" (iOl/4), is identified as a
parody of the lines ""Whiter then are the snowie Apenis,
Or icie haire that groes on Boreas chin" (quoted in Nashe,
Works, supplementary n. to iii. 311. 23) from The
Taming of a Shrew (1594, presumed by Fleay
to be the work of Kyd) in order to justify the
identification of the character as Kyd; the derivation of
the name "Menaphon" from I Tamburlaine is the
basis for the identification of that character with
Marlowe. Fleay adds that Melicertus was "most likely
Greene himself" (ii. 34). Passing references to Lyly,
which certainly occur in Menaphon (see 68/12-
69/12), are not incorporated into Fleay's scheme of
interpretation.
While passing gibes at contemporary writers may
well be intended by Greene, Menaphon is not
centered on such allusion. Furthermore, in this address to
the reader Greene is placing "dark AEnigmaes" in
opposition to "strange conceipts" as representative of two
different aspects of his work. Fleay overlooks this
implied contrast and perhaps is thus led past the most
natural reading of the passage. Greene seems to be
countering two different kinds of obscurity: parables
hiding serious truths (cf. Nashe’s view of "Philosophie .
. . which lies couched most closely vnder darke fables
profunditie," 16/22-24), and merely fantastic and witty
"strange conceipts."
5/15-16 Sphinx
. . . Roscius. The Sphynx would, of course, be
associated with the "darke AEnigmaes," while Quintus
Roscius Gallus (d. 62 B.C.), the most celebrated of Roman
comic actors, would be associated with the "strange
conceipts." (See below 20/12; cf. Erasmus' Adagia,
Opera Omnia, ii. 1114. F).
4/16-17 playing
the wagges. That is, teasing the reader with
mysteries either serious or fanciful.
4/17 metaphors.
Perhaps a clarification of what Greene had meant by his
hyperbolical expression "darke AEnigmaes" (4/15).
5/8 ab extrema
pueritia. That is, "from the end of boyhood."
5/9 placet.
That is, "it pleases,the formula for approval used in the
context of the university for awarding degrees, and
conducting other official business? this passage is the
first citation by the OED of the word used as a
noun.
5/9plaudite. That is, "applaud!" Roman actors
customarily made this appeal for applause at the end of a
play (OED). Nashe has used the alliteration of "placet
. . . plaudite" to tie together the university and
the theater, referring to their respective forms of
approval. Nashe implies that Greene is equally successful
in both arenas? the alliteration implies a harmony between
the two realms which, as even Nashe’s Preface demonstrates
in part, were often hostile to one another.
5/10sine linea. Part of the proverbial expression
"nulla dies sine linea," or "no days without a line (i.e.
accomplishing some work)." The expression, derived from
Pliny (35. 10, 36, §84) is included by Erasmus in the Adagia
(Opera Omnia, ii. 156 A: "Nullam hodie
lineam duxi").
5/11 olere
atticum. That is, "to be redolent of Attica." The
Attic style was considered the most distinguished in
Greek. Nashe is playing on the proverbial phrase "olet
lucernam (it smells of the lamp)" which characterized
forced or self-consciously learned writing.
5/12 gowned
age. Although some objections were made by more
extreme Puritans, scholars were required to wear gowns.
Nashe's reference to the gown, a merely external badge of
the status of a scholar, implies that superficial
affectation had become more important than the substance
of learning (cf. Lodge’s Wits Miserie. 1596:
"Hypocrisie in a long gowne like a scholler, " Works,
xvi. 11).
5/13 moechanicall
mate. That is, "vulgar ignorant fellow."
5/15 vt vales.
That is, "how are you?" Nashe is mocking the absurdity of
the display of learning in a simple greeting (cf. 10/17-18
where Nashe gibes at the English Senecan: "if you intreate
him faire in a frostie morning, he will affoord you whole
Hamlets . . ."). Nashe has been markedly peppering
with Latin phrases his own greeting here to the "Gentlemen
Students."
5/15 from
the inkhorne. Literally, "from the inkwell." The
ink-horn was associate! with forced pedantry (cf. n. to
8/18 and 9/21-22 and n.).
5/17 vainglorious
tragoedians. That is, "actors" and "playwrights."
Nashe implies the lack of integrity of the art of writing
for the stage by making it very difficult to separate his
discussion of actors and of playwrights. The immediate
context seems to refer to actors, who prefer to "embowell
the clowdes" rather than "excell in action" (5/18). The
reference to "poets immortal!tie" (5/20) seems more
appropriate to the playwright than to the actor, however.
When Nashe turns to "their idiote art-masters" he seems to
be introducing discussion of the playwrights, but his
phrase "mounted on the stage of arrogance" (5/24)
metaphorically treats them as actors; the adjective
"bumbast" can refer both to the actor’s costume and the
playwright’s style.
5/18 embowell
. . . comparison. Nashe seems to mean "to shatter
the heavens with a speech intended merely for display,
rather than for the advancement of the action of the
play." "Comparison" is a rhetorical figure of thought
(Crane, p. 59)» and a means of achieving copiousness (cf.
The Vnfortunate Traueler:
One amongest the
rest thinking to bee more conceited than his fellowes . .
. conuerted all his oration to [the Duke’s dog], and not a
haire of his tayle but he kembd out with comparisons
(Nashe, Works, ii. 251).
5/20 get by
the beard. An expression of disrespect (cf. Lear
III.
vii.
34-41).
5/21the heauenlie “bull. That is, "Taurus, " one of the signs
of the zodiac.
5/20-21if they once . . . deaw-lap. Nashe
is mocking writers who affect a false facility with
poetic mythological allusion. The particular terms of tile
gibe appear in Menaphon itself, where Greene has
the comic shepherd Doron describe Samela (101/^-6). Both
Nashe and Greene are evidently parodying the anonymous
pre-Shakespearean play, The Taming of a Shrew
(scene ii). See n. to 4/15. Smith, in his note to this
passage, points out that "Studioso in the Parnassus plays
delights to bring in Boreas" (Elizabethan Critical
Essays, n. to i. 308. 5-8).
5/25bumbast. That is,
"fustian"; the OED cites this passage as the first
usage of the word in this figurative sense. Extravagant
Elizabethan clothing was padded and stuffed. The sumptuary
laws attempting to control excesses in dress among the
middle and lower classes exempted actors; costumes, which
were often extremely expensive and elaborate. Thus the
actors’ fine dress might be no more than a showy flourish
upon their essential poverty.
5/26 a bragging
blanke verse. Blank verse was reserved for the most
elevated discourse on the Elizabethan stage, and so this
comment may be intended as a general hit against high-
flown oratory in drama. The "mighty line" was, however,
particularly associated with Marlowe, who in the Prologue
to I Tamburlaine had rejected "jigging veins of
rhyming mother wits," in favor of "high astounding terms"
(11. 1 and 5). Marlowe had been the object of some barbs
aimed by Greene in the Epistle to Perimedes
(Grosart vii. 7-8) where he answers some criticism of his
own failure to write in blank verse. While McKerrow argues
against the idea of a specific allusion to Marlowe here,
on the grounds of the cordiality of the relationship
between Nashe and Marlowe (Nashe, Works, n. to
iii. 311. 28), Nashe’s position as a relative newcomer in
London and his apparent literary dependence in the
Preface may have led him to adopt Greene’s view in the
absence of any fully formed opinion of his own.
5/25-26 ingrafted.
By the use of this word Nashe implies that not only is the
speaker overacting his part, but the speech is
artificially introduced ("engrafted") into the dialogue,
being intended merely for display. This passage predates
the first usage of the participle cited by the OED (1600).
6/1-6 ouercloieth
. . , decaslllabon. A submerged metaphor ofphysical
overindulgenee
and its results is implied by Nashe*s choice of wordsj
"ouercloieth," "more than drunken," "disgestion," along
with the double entendres of "ouerflow," "vent,"
and "cholerick incumbrances.”
6/2-3 not
extemporall. Nashe is stressing the idea that the
speeches of the actors, no matter how floridly delivered,
are merely parrotings of a contrived text (cf. Nashe8s
valuing of the "extemporall vaine, " 6/24).
6/4 cholerick.
Nashe is punning on two senses of the word, one related to
cholera (with its associated digestive disorders), and
the other to the "choleric" temperament of anger.
6/5 drumming.
McKerrow notes "a side allusion to the drums used to
announce theatrical performances" (Nashe, Works,
n. to iii. 312. 5). Cf. "drumming descant" (24/6).
6/9 take vp
a commoditie. A means of getting around the laws
against "usury" (i.e. any charging of interest) in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A gull in need of
funds would "buy" some merchandise "on credit," whereupon
the seller would immediatly buy back the goods at a lower
price. The gull would then receive the amount of the lower
price, but would owe the higher price. Thomas Lodge
describes the practice in Wits Miserie (1596):
If you care to
borrow money, hee will take no vsury, no mary will he not;
but if you require ten pound, you shall pay him forty
shillings for an old can, and the rest is yours in ready
mony (Works, xvi. 28).
Nashe's point is
that the quality of the merchandise used in such a
transaction was understood to he very low.
6/15 trencher.
The word carries pejorative associations, a ’’trencher
knight’’ being a parasite, and "holding a trencher"
meaning acting as a sycophant.
6/15 Arcadian.
Sidney’s Old Arcadia had been in circulation
since the early 1580s (see Davis and Lanham, p. 186), and
Abraham Fraunce’s Arcadian Rhetoric (which
included several passages from Sidney's work) was
published in 1588. Nashe is associating Greene's work with
established successes in English pastoral writing; a
direct allusion to Sannazaro's Arcadia (1504) is
much less likely.
6/17-18 temperatum
dicendi genus . . . Orator. That is,
"moderate manner of speaking." McKerrow points to Cicero’s
De Officiis I. i. 3 as a source for the sense of
the phrase, if not of the actual wording;
vis enim maior
in illis dicendi; sed hoc quoque colendum est aequabile et
temperatum orationis genus (For while the orations exhibit
a more vigorous style, yet the unimpassioned, restrained
style of my philosophical productions is also worth
cultivating). (Loeb)
McKerrow further
points to Cicero’s Orat. 28. 98, 6.21, and Smith's
citation of De Orat. ii. 60 (Nashe, Works,
n. to iii. 312. 18).
6/19-20 the
mountaine ... a mouse. „ The proverb is
drawn from Horace’s Ars Poetica (Horacet
Satires, etc,, p. 139), and was included by
Erasmus in his Adagia (Opera Omnia, ii. 339
B: "Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus").
6/19-7/4 Let
other men . . . xi j. ye ares toyle.
McKerrow notes that Chettle refers to this passage in Kind-Heart's
Dream (ed. N.S.S, 61. 13-14): "Once thou
commendedst immediate conceit, and gauest no great praise
to excellent works of twelve yeres labour" (Nashe, Works,
n. to iii. 312. 24-26).
6/20the Italionate pen. Ascham, in his famous attack on the
Italianate Englishman, quoted the proverb "Inglese
Italianato e un diabolo incarnato" (The
Scholemaster, p. 65). Ascham's objection was
essentially moral, while Nashe's is evidently more
aesthetic: Italianate affectations vitiate English style
and turn English writing into a pastiche of foreign
sources.
6/23Quids and Plutarchs plumes. Publius Ovidius Naso (d. A.D. 18)
was best known for his Metamorphoses and Plutarch
(first century A.D.) for his Moralia and Parallel
Lives which provided "sentences" and exempla
for Elizabethan writers. Because Ovid and Plutarch were
both very anecdotal, they were especially subject to
excerpting, and to the kind of abuse Nashe is here
criticizing.
6/23 plumes.
Nashe is plying oh the reference to the "Italionate pen"
and the proverbial idea of "borrowed feathers."
6/24 extemporall
vaine. Nashe contrasts the labored contr- vances of
an inferior hack with the "sprezzatura" of a gifted
writer (cf. 6/2-3, and see Hibbard, p. A-5) • Gabriel
Harvey later twitted Nashe for his "piperly Extemporizing
and Tarltonizing" (Foure Letters, pp. 19-20).
6/27 confention.
Nashe appears to mean "emulation," although the word is
not so defined by the OED.
7/l What.
That is, "who”; in Elizabethan usage "what" had particular
reference to a person’s nature, character, or function
(OED 2).
7/2 tandem
aliquando. That is, "at last."
7/3-4 xij. yeares toyle. McKerrow could find no authority for
this comment on Virgil’s twelve years' work (Nashe, Works,
n.to
iii. 312. 32-33); the number may simply arise from the
twelve books of the Aeneid.
7/4AEneidos. McKerrow points out that the use of
"Aeneidos” as if it were in the nominative case was
not uncommon, although he argues that in the
present instance it may be a misprint for "Aeneides."
Nashe does not indicate any great sensitivity to the
question of what form of a Latin word is called for by the
syntax of his sentence (cf. "doth olere atticum,"
5/11).
7/4-5 Peter
Ramus. Pierre La Ramee (1515-1572), whose attack on
Aristotelian logic found many adherents at St. John’s, and
was generally espoused by Puritans. Hibbard feels that
Nashe may not have "really understood the issues involved
in the dispute between Aristotelians and Ramists," but
that "the connection between Ramus and Puritanism would
have been quite sufficient to enable him to decide where
he stood" (Hibbard, p. 6).
7/11 Ariosto.
Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533) wrote the great Italian
romantic epic Orlando Furioso (1532).
7/13 Tusculane.
Cicero’s Tusculan Disputations (45 B.C.) were an
apt source for scraps, since the work is itself made up of
borrowings from a Greek authority, embellished with
quotations from Latin and Greek poets (King, p. vii).
7/13 Latine
Historiographers. For example, Gaius Cornelius
Tacitus (d. c. A.D. 117), Pausanias (d. c. A.D. 180),
Pliny the Elder (d. A.D. 79), Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus
(d. c. A.D. 160), all of whom are cited in Lodge's Wits
Miserie (Lodge, Works, xvi. passim).
Other important Latin historians were M. Terentius Varro
(d. 27 B.C.), Julius Caesar (d. 44 B.C.), Cornelius Nepos
(d. 24 B.C.), Strabo (d. c. 21 B.C.), and Titus Livius (d.
A.D. 17).
7/l5 Plutarch.
See above, n. to 6/23. Lyly notably drew anecdotes and
historical allusions from Regia et Imperatoria, Apopthegmata,
and from the Apophthegmata Laconica (Shackford, p.28).
7/15 Plinie.
Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus, d. A.D. 79) was
the author of the Historia Naturalis, from which
so much of the Euphuistic "unnatural natural history" was
drawn.
7/18-19 Nil
dictum . . . prius. That is, "nothing is
spoken which was not spoken before." The adage is drawn
from Terence (Eun. prol. 41 s "Nullum est
iam dictum, quod non dictum sit prius"), and appears in
the Adagia of G. Conatus in Erasmus' Adagia
(1574, ii. 409) as McKerrow points out (Nashe, Works,
n. to iii. 3I3. 16).
7/21 draffe.
Refuse for swine, as in the proverb, "Draff is good enough
for swine" (ODEP).
Nashe's reference to "draffe" ties in with his later
citation of the adage "Sus Mineruam" (7/27).
7/22 indifference.
That is, "difference"} this passage is one of only two
instances of this usage cited by the OED.
7/24 Apish
deuices. Nashe is punning on the literal sense of"monkey
tricks,"
and the more abstract meaning of "Apish" as "slavishly
imitative," and "deuices" as literary "conceits" (OED
10). He later was to turn this comment against himself: "Euphues
I readd when I was a little ape in Cambridge"
(Nashe, Works, i. 319.15).
7/25 Pollicie.
Since Nashe was not yet embroiled in his paper war with
Gabriel Harvey, it seems unlikely that he could be the
target of this gibe, although as McKerrow points out, "The
desire to be a partaker, or at least a chronicler, of the
noble and stirring deeds of his time, was evidently very
near to Harvey’s heart, and he often recurs to it in his
writings" (Nashe, Works, v. 83). Harvey’s later fliting of
Nashe includes the charge that he "in an Age of Pollicy,
and in a world of Industry ... is constrained to make
woeful Greene and beggerly Pierce Pennylesse. . the
arguments of his stile" (quoted from Harvey’s Foure
Letters by McKerrow, Nashe, Works, v, 85). A target
more in line with Nashe’s concerns in 1589 would be
Puritans in general, and the Marprelate tracts in
particular. Since the Marprelate tracts did concern
themselves with important issues of "Pollicie," they may
be considered Nashe’s object in this statement (see e.g.
McGinn, pp. 141-42).
7/25 ware
gown . . . Vniuersitie. A hit at the
anti-intellectualism of the Puritans. Cf. John Penry’s Aequity
(1587): "Priuate men that neuer v/er of Vniuersity haue
well profited in diuinity" (quoted by McGinn, p. 54).
7/27 Sus
Mineruam. That is, "a sow (to teach) Minerva The
adage comes from Cicero (TdcKerrow cites Acad. Post.
i. 4. 18, Epist. ad Diversos, ix. 18.3 in
Nashe, Works, n. to iii. 89. 14-15). Erasmus included the
expression in his Adagia (Opera Omnia ii.
43A) . Tilley notes Udall’s explanation of the proverbs
"A swyne to teach Minerua, was a prouerbe against suche, as . , .
beeyng theimselfes of no knowlage . . . wil take vpon
theim, to teache persones that are excellentely skilled"
(Tilley, p. 620, quoting Apoph. f. 342v).
8/1 Asinus
ad Lyram. That is, "(To see) an ass (play) on a
harp”; the proverb is to be found in Erasmus’ Adagia
(Opera Omnia ii. 164B). See also Tilley, p. 21.
8/2 motion.
That is, "urging" (OED †7); Nashe
plays on the more usual modern meaning ("a formally-made
proposal") to imply that he has collected together
"Gentlemen & riper iudgements" into a deliberative
assembly.
8/5 the
Sabaeans . . . Strabo reporteth. McKerrow
cites Strabo xvi. 4. 19 (Nashe, Works, n.to
iii. 313. 29-31):
Bordering upon
these people is the very fertile country of the Sabaeans,
a very large tribe, in whose country myrrh and
frankincense and cinnamon are produced; and on the coast
is found balsam, as also another kind of herb of very
fragrant smell, which quickly loses its fragrance. . , .
Those who live close to one another receive in continuous
succession the loads of aromatics . . . and when they are
made drowsy by the sweet odours they overcome the
drowsiness by inhaling the incense of asphalt and goats’
beard (Jones, vii. 347-49).
8/10 Goates
beardes. Fleay sees this as a reference'to Kyd
(Fleay, ii. 124).
8/15 ouerseeing.
Not simply "perusing," but a side-allusion to "seeing a
work through the press."
8/17 Gothamists.
McKerrow points out that the men of Gotham were
proverbially foolish at least as early as the
mid-fifteenth century; he also notes Fleay’s view that
"Gothamists" and "Goates beards" (8/10) are references to
Kyd (Nashe, Works, n.to
iii. 314. 9l Fleay, ii. 124), The jest book Merle
Tales of the Mad Men of Gotam (by Andrew Borde, c,
1565) exemplifies the popular view of "Gothamists."
Another possible strand in Nashe’s meaning might relate to
the "Goths," proverbial for northern Europeans isolated
from (or opposed to) classical culture (see e.g. The
Scholemaster. p. 126s "surely to follow rather the
Goths in rhyming, than the Greeks in true versifying, were
even to eat acorns with swine, when we may freely eat
wheat bread amongst men").
8/18 Puritie.
Possibly Nashe is referring to exaggerated insistence on
the use of native words only, an idea espoused by Sir John
Cheke in a letter to Sir Thomas Hoby:
Iam of this opinion, that our own
tongue should be written clean and pure, unmixed and
unmangled with borrowing of other tongues, wherein if we
take no heed betimes, ever borrowing and never paying, she
shall be fain to keep house as a bankrupt (Saintsbury, pp.
35-36).
Thomas Wilson,
in his Arte of Rhetorique (1533), insisted that
English should not he adulterated by "inkhorn terms"
derived from classical and other sources (Saintshury, p.
34).
8/19 absurditie.
Possibly Nashe means "the exaggerated use of exotic
words," in contrast with "Puritie."
8/19 ouer-rackte.
That is, "ouer-strained"; this passage is the first
citation for this word given by the OED. Nashe‘s
propensity for compound words is a particular hallmark of
his style. In the Epistle to the Reader prefixed to the
second edition of Christs Teares (c. 1594) Nashe
defended himself against criticism of his use of
"boystrous compound wordes" (Nashe, Works, ii.
I83. 25). See the Glossary for other examples of Nashe’s
usage.
8/22 punies.
That is, "raw novices," derived from the name ("puisnes")
given new pupils in the universities or Inns of Court (OED);
this passage is the first citation given by the OED
for the use of the word in this sense.
8/22-23 a tale
of Ihon a Brainfords will. McKerrow argues
that "Ihon" (or "Ioane" of 1610) is
a "slip of the pen for Gillian" (Nashe, Works, n.
to iii. 31h. 15). McKerrow points to the source for this
allusion, also used in Summers Last Will (c.
1592), as a vulgar piece, Jyl of Braintfords
Testament (?1560). Smith, in his note to this
passage, identifies Brainford as a holiday resort of the
lower classes often mentioned in jest hooks and pamphlets
of the day (Smith, n. to i. 310).
8/25 Tasso.
Torquato Tasso (1544-1595), author of Rinaldo (a
romantic epic, 1562), Aminta (a pastoral play,
1573), Jerusalem Delivered, 1575), and Torrismondo
(a tragedy, 1587). Tasso was imprisoned as a madman by
Alphonso II of Este from 1579 to 1586, and was exiled upon
his release. Perhaps because of his itinerant life as an
exile, Tasso was associated with melancholy (Tasso's
Melancholy was performed as a new play in 1594, Henslowe1s
Diary, ii. 167; cf. "tragick Tasso” 18/26).
8/27-9/1 The
Glow-worme . . . the apes follie.
McKerrow cites Camerarius, Fab. Aesopicae
(1571), no. 382, p. 365: "Simii et Avicula" (Nashe, Works,
n. to i. 260. 25); cf. 97/21-22.
9/4-5 our
English prouerbe . . . trauaile. McKerrow
calls this "a fairly common saying," and cites e.g. Tr.
and Cres. I. i. 70 (Nashe, Works, n. to
iii. 314- 24).
9/5-9 the Panther . . . intended
enterprise. D. C. Allen points out that while Nashe
was criticizing others for delving into compendiums and
abbreviators, he apparently drew this illustration from
Lycosthenes’ Apopthegmata (1574, p. 1229; Allen,
p. 171). McKerrow cites Pliny's Natural History (viii.
41) as the ultimate source (Nashe, Works, n. to
iii. 314. 25-29). Nashe refers to the same anecdote in Haue
With You (Works, iii. 108).
9/11 what
doo you lacke. That is, the cry of a vendor, here
representing living by trade.
9/12 quadrant.
That is, "worthless" (worth only the value of the Latin quadrans,
the smallest copper coin during the era of Caesar). The
ill-reputed Clodia was called "Quadrantia" by some of her
clients (Plutarch's Lives, vii. 155). McKerrow
notes a possible side-allusion to "quadrant," the court of
a college: "He is contrasting the uneducated merchant
class with the pretentious university wit" (Nashe, Works,
n. to iii. 314. 32). Nashe may also allude to the
quarterly publication of cheap pamphlets, the writers of
which he describes in the Anatomie as "brainlesse
Bussards . . . euery quarter bigge with one Pamphlet or
other" (Works, i. 9).
9/12 crepundios.
That is, "empty talkers" (from Latin crepundia, a
rattle). The appearance of this word, apparently coined by
Nashe, in the anonymous An Almond for a Parrat
(Works, iii. 369. 36) is one argument for
Nashe's authorship of that pamphlet.
9/13 spit
ergo. That is, "display superficial knowledge of
logic (act the pretentious university wit)." The
expression spit implies not only a contentiousness
on the part of these university wits, but also that their
Latin is the result of rote learning, "tied only to their
tongue and lips . . . and therefore . . . soon spit out of
the mouth again" (The Scholemaster, p. 74). A
propensity for the word ergo seems to have been
proverbial for "inexperienst punies" and those
ridiculously affecting learned airs. Note the similarity
of this passage with that in An Almond: "But
suppose we should send some Crepundio forth our schools
to^beat thee about the eares with ergo" (Nashe, Works,
iii. 369. 35-36). Nashe later uses the expression ergo
to satirize Harvey (Works, iii. 66-67), in Hamlet
the Gravedigger is similarly mocked (V. i. 21-22), and in
I Return from Parnassus the word is used as a name
for "punies":
Icannot come to my Inn in Oxforde
without a dozen congratulatorie orations, made by Genus
and Species and his ragged companions. I reward the poore
ergces most bountifullie. and send them away (Three
Parnassus Plays, pp. 181-82).
9/14 those
and these. That is, the uneducated merchants and the
pretentious university wits.
9/15 Pasquil.
That is, "an anonymous satirical work." The name is
derived from that of a statue in Rome ("Pasquillo") on
which satirical Latin verses were posted. Current events
in England tied the name specifically to the writer of an
anti-Martinist tract, A Counter-cuffe given to
Martin Junior by . . Pasquil of England,
published shortly before Menaphon in 1589.
Although Grosart asserts "Pasquil" to be "Nashe's own
pseudo-
nyra" (n. to vi. 14), McKerrow questions the attribution
(Nashe, Works, v. 50)? this passage does not imply
that Nashe was "Pasquil."
9/15-16 Martin,
or Momus. McKerrow points out that Nashe may he
referring specifically to passages in Cooper's Admonition
(ed. Arher, pp, 45, 56):"Martin with
his hitter stile of malicious Momus . . and "Martin
Momus wil say the contrary" (Nashe, Works,
n. to iii. 315. 2-3). "Martin" refers to "Martin
Marprelate," the name assumed by the author of several
Puritan pamphlets issued in 1588-1589 from a secret press?
"Momus" was the ancient god of fault-finding.
9/17 at the
deerest. That is, "at a high price."
9/18 friplers
lauender. Old-clothes dealers ("friplers" or
"frippers") used lavender sachets to preserve their goods
from moths (OED 2), incidentally imparting the
characteristic per- fume. Nashe implies that these
anonymous squihs are old, stale merchandise? their thin
overlay of wit, or superficial sweet smell, does little
but make their tawdriness more apparent. For Nashe’s
comparison of style to clothing, see also 21/7-8 and the Anatomie
(Works, i. 20-21).
9/21 priuelie.
That is, in works published anonymously.
9/21-22 inkhorne
man. See above, 5/15 and n., and n. to 8/18; Nashe
here seems to use the term to refer to one who affects a
superfine style laced with Continental word borrowings
(cf. Gascoigne’s view, in Certayne Notes, that
polysyllabic words "smell of the Inkehorne," Smith, i.
51).
9/22 oppose.
McKerrow argues that this is not a misprint, citing other
instances of contemporary confusion of "oppose" and
"expose," e.g. below, 20/22 (NaShe, Works, n. to
iii. 315. 10) .
9/25 quippe.
Note the pun on "whip."
9/27 probabile.
That is, "probably," by extension representing university
debates, conducted in Latin.
10/1 pro
& contra. That is, the two sides in a debate.
10/2 to
correct Common weales . . . Cambridge. Nashe
is possibly referring to John Penry, a Welshman whom he
openly identified as Martin Marprelate in An Almond
for a Parrat (Nashe, Works, iii. 366-68).
Several phrases in this passage (10/1 to 10/ 7) seem to
refer to the impropriety of a person from a dependent
state like Wales attempting to admonish the English Church
and Parliament. McGinn points out that Penry's Aequity
(1587) and Supplication to the Parliament (March,
1589) while ostensibly concerned with the condition of the
Church in Wales were actually strategies aiming at "the
real object of his attack, namely, the episcopacy"
(McGinn, p. 52). Of the Aequity McGinn concludes,
"it is clear that everything Penry writes about the Welsh
Church is merely an echo of the English Puritan attack on
the episcopacy" (p. 53). The thinly veiled irony of
Penry’s pamphlets in pretending to assume the goodwill
but ignorance of the English Church and Magistrate
concerning the abuses of the Church in Wales was easily
perceived by contemporaries as direct Puritan attacks on
both Church and Magistrate in England. Such phrases as
"the childe beats his father, & the asse whippes his
master" (10/5-6) may refer to Penry’s strategy in his
pamphlets. The phrase "the table of the world turned
vpside down" (10/5) may refer not only to this strategy,
but to the fact, asserted in An Almond, that when
Penry came to Cambridge he was "as arrant a Papist as euer
came out of Wales" (Nashe, Works, iii. 366). A
similar hit may be intended here by the reference to "an
irregular idiot, that was vp to the eares in diuinitie,
before euer he met with probabile in the
Vniuersitie" (9/26-10/1). Slurs on Penry as an outlander
may perhaps be implied by the expressions "neuer heard the
name of Magistrate" (10/2-3) and "can scarcely pronounce
[pro and contra]" (10/1-2), as well as by Nashe's use of
the phrase "Nimis curiosis in aliena republica"
(10/7). Nash'*s inside knowledge about Penry would derive
from their having been contemporaries at Cambridge as
undergraduates between 1582 and 1586.
10/4-5 the
table of the world turned vpside down. A common
ale-house sign down through the mid-ninteenth century
(Nashe, Works, suppl. n. to iii. 315. 19). See
above, n. to 10/2.
10/5 the
childe beats his father. McKerrow suggests
Aristophanes’ The Clouds (1321 ff. and 1408 ff.)
as Nashe’s source, perhaps by way of T, Wilson's Rule
of Reason (1551) which refers to the scene (x. i.;
Nashe, Works, n. to iii. 315. 20). See above, n.
to 10/2
10/7 nightcrowes.
That is, birds whose croaking in the night was an evil
omen.
10/7 Nimis
curiosus . . . republica. That is, "overly
inquisitive in a foreign country." McKerrow cites
Cicero’s De Officiis (i. 34. 125; Nashe, Works, n.
to iii. 315- 22):
Peregrini autem
atque incolae officium est nihil praetor suum negotium
agere, . . . minimeque in aliena esse republica curiosum
(As for the foreigner or resident alien it is his duty to
attend strictly to his own concerns, not to pry into other
people’s business, and under no condition to meddle in the
politics of a country not his own). (Loeb)
Nashe disclaims
any desire of embroiling himself in political controversy,
and returns instead to the literary sphere ("studies of
delight"). See above, n. to 10/2.
10/9 triuiall.
Characteristic of the lower division of the seven liberal
arts, i.e. "sophomoric.’’
10/11-12 runne
through . . . none. McKerrow notes this
expression occurs in II Return from Parnassus:
"Running through euery trade, yet thriue by none" (II, i.
59t and also V. iv. 21; Nashe, Works,
n. to ill. 315« 26-27).
10/12 Nouerint.
The beginning of the legal phrase "Noverint universi"
("Let all men know"), here used to signify the occupation
of a scrivener. McKerrow points out that "the passage
which follows is probably the best known and most
discussed of all Nashe's writings" (Nashe, Works, n. to
iii. 315. 27). The question is whether Nashe implies that
Kyd, who was born to "the trade of Nouerint," was
the author of the ur-Hamlet referred to below
(10/18).
10/14 necke-verse,
A scriptural verse read in Latin by a person wishing to
claim benefit of clergy, and exemption from trial by a
secular court (thereby saving his "necke"). Masters and
scholars of the universities had traditionally been
accorded the status of clerks In this respect, even if
they were not in holy orders (Curtis, p. 19).
10/15 English
Seneca, A reference to Seneca His Tenne Tragedies,
Translated into Englysh (1581), edited by Thomas
Newton, referred to by Webbe in his Discourse of
English Poetrie (1586) as "the laudable Authors of Seneca
in English" (Smith, i. 244). The phrase "English Seneca"
may also be interpreted generally: Senecan influence on
English tragedy was pervasive, as Ascham noted when he
termed the Roman "our Seneca” (The Scholemaster, p.
112).
10/15 candle
light. McKerrow suggests the expression implies the
plays olent lucernam (Nashe, Works, n. to
iii. 315. 30-31).
10/16 Bloud
is a begger. McKerrow points out that this line
does not occur in Newton’s Seneca, but is a typical
Senecan line, as in Gorboduc (IV, Chorus, 17):
"Blood asketh blood" (Nashe, Works, n. to iii.
315. 30).
10/17 intreate
him faire . . . morning. An exaggeratedly
circumstantial description of a brisk good-morning
greetings cf. "vf vales" (5/15).
10/18 Hamlets.
A reference to a pre-Shakespearean Hamlet. Henslowe's
Diary (ed. Greg, p. 163) recorded in 1594 the
performance on tour of an old play by the name of Hamlet.
Chambers traces the probable transmission of the ur-Hamlet
from Pembroke's Men (with whom Kyd was associated) to
Shakespeare’s company, Sussex’s Men (Eliz. Stage,
p. 95). While Boas (In his edition of Kyd’s Works,
p. xx-xxix) and Fleay (ii. 124) argue for the authorship
of Kyd, McKerrow concludes:
Nashe was aware
of a Hamlet play, but the passage throws no light on its
authorship. There is no reason for supposing either Kyd or
The Spanish Tragedy to be referred to (Nashe, Works,
n. to ill.316. 4-5)
Although Hibbard
(p. 35) proposes that Nashe’s terms could refer to
Shakespeare as well as to Kyd, this possibility can be
excluded on the basis of external evidences Meres, in his
Palladis Tamia (1598) makes no mention of Hamlet
when he gives an extensive catalogue of Shakepeare’s works
( Smith, ii. 318). Ajudgment as to whether Kyd is the
object of Nashe’s allusions inthis
passage must be made on balance, taking into account the
reference to "Nouerint" (10/12), to "the Kidde in AEsop"
(10/23), to bungling translations (11/1-2), and to the
proverb "ifs and ands" (11/9).
10/19 tempus
edax rerum. That is, "time devours all things"
(Ovid, Met, xv. 234).
10/20 that.
That is, "that which" (OED 7).
10/21 let
bloud. The actual manner of Seneca’s death.
10/23 Kidde
in AEsop. A thorough discussion of whether Nashe
here refers to Kyd as the author of ur-Hamlet is to
be found in J. Dover Wilson’s paraphrase of V. Osterberg's
Studier over Hamlet-Teksterne (RES,
1942, xviii. 358-94). While Osterberg argues that
the fable from Spenser’s May Eclogue (in The
Shepheardes Calender) has little application except
to bring in the name Kyd, Nashe appears to mean
that the writer who fails to follow the bidding of his
"mother tongue," is taken in, and in a sense swallowed up
by, the meretricious wares of Italian translators. The
application to Kyd is established by that author’s
translation of Tasso’s Padre di Famiglia (The
Householders Philosophie, 1588), which was "full of
mistakes that warrant Nashe’s sneers" (Hibbard, p. 35).
See below, n. to 11/1-2.
10/24 newfangles.
Cf. "a Pedlars packe of new fangles" (Lyly, Works,
i. 255)• Nashe appears to associate the word with
unsteadiness of purpose in literary matters, as in Haue
With
You:
As newfangled
and idle, and prostituting my pen like a Curtizan, is the
next Item that you taxe me with; . . . twise or
thrise in a month, when res est angusta domi, the
bottome of my purse is turnd downe- ward, & my conduit
of incke will no longer flowe for want of reparations, I
am faine to let my Plow stand still in the midst of a
furrow, and follow some of these newfangled Gallardos
and Senior Fantasticos, to whose amorous Villanellas
and Quipassas I prostitute my pen in hope of
gaine; but otherwise there is no newfanglenes in mee but
pouertie, which alone maketh mee so vnconstant to my
determined studies (Nashe, Works, iii, 30-31).
Newfangles in Haue
With You as in the Preface appear to be associated
with Italian translations.
11/1-2 prouenzall
men . . . Articles. That is, "men having
neither a native's nor a linguist’s grasp of Italian."
Grosart takes "Prouenzall" as "provincial," asserting that
"one use of the term in Latin and Italian meant a
foreigner" (n. to vi. 16). Grosart interprets the passage
to mean "those who are neither foreigners (and so would
have an excuse for their ignorance), nor yet sufficiently
educated Englishmen as to the Articles [of their
faith]--such poor plodders are but plodders or
ignoramusses as all indifferent . . ." (ibid.) McKerrow
could "offer no suggestion as to the meaning of this
phrase" (Nashe, Works, n. to iii. 316. 10-11). The
OED cites this passage as the first usage of
"Provencal," which seems geographically inappropriate,
since Italian translations areunder
discussion. Grosart's reading of "foreigner" seems
attractive, particularly since it stands in contrast with
"home-horn" helow (11/4-5). "To distinguish of Articles"
would he to approach a subject logically and methodically:
cf. Gabriel Harvey's expression, "[I] was advised ... to
interpret my intention in more express terms; and
thereupon discoursed euerie particularities by way of
Articles or Positions (Foure Letters, ed.
Harrison, p. 31). Perhaps by "Articles" Nashe intends a
pun on the part of speech, as basic to grammar as the
"Abcie" (20/25) to written language.
11/6 thrust
Elisium into hell. That is, ignorantly or
unsympathetically blunder in the use of ancient myth.
McKerrow points out two possible referents for this
expression: Kyd’s Spanish Tragedy (I, i. 73-76),
where Elysium is depicted as the realm of Pluto, and
Marlowe’s Faustus (III. 62-63), "This word
'damnation' terrifies him not, For he confounds hell in
Elysium" (Nashe, Works, n. to iii. 316. 4-5).
Modern scholarship puts the date of composition for Doctor
Faustus as late as 1592 (Ribner, p. xxiv) making it
likely that Marlowe’s line is an echo of the Preface.
11/6-8 Haue
not learned . . . hexameter. That is, know
no way of demonstrating their "classicism" but by
ostentatiously and inappropriately forcing the Greek and
Latin heroic meter onto English. Nashe's expression
implies that these writers can no more claim to have lived
in the spheres (despite their affectation of elevation),
than to have naturalised the hexameter into English.
Nashe's play on the word "hexameter" reduces it to a
physical, rather than a literary, unit of length, by which
one could "measure . . . the Horizon." McKerrow points out
that experimentation in classical meter was a widely
accepted learned movement in 1589 (Nashe, Works,
n. to iii. 316. 4-5): Nashe's gibe is not intended against
serious experimentors, but against those whose affectation
of "classicism" was clumsy and mechanical (as
Stanyhurst's, see below, 15/13-l6 and
n.).
11/9 ifs and
ands. A proverbial expression referring to botched
legal instruments (thereby perhaps alluding to the
scrivener Kyd);"'If and 'an' spoils many a good
charter" (ODEP). St. Thomas More uses the phrase in
his Richard III: “What, quod the protectour, thou
seruest me, I wene, with iffes and with andes" (ed.
Sylvester, p. 48, 11. 24-25).
11/10candle stuff. That is,
stilted literary work which "smells of the lamp"; cf.
"candle light," 10/15 and n.).
11/11 peripateticall.
Nashe uses an "ink-horn" term to satirize the
writer-gallant's self-importance. McKerrow cites Dekker’s
Westward Hoi (II. i., Wks.. ed. Pearson,
ii. 293) where the expression "peripatetical gate [gait]"
implies "a stiff or stately walk" (Nashe, Works,
n. to iii. 316. 20).
11/13-16 turning
ouer French Doudie . . . argument. Nashe
seems to mean that the "French disease" has a more direct
effect on the writer-gallant’s life than French
literature. There is no independent confirmation that
"French Doudie" means venereal disease, although
the meaning of "Doudie" as "trull" is supported by several
nearly contemporary passages cited by McKerrow (e.g. Rom.
and Jul. II. iv. 43: "Dido a dowdy," Nashe, Works,
n. to iii. 316. 22). Nashe appears to be telescoping the
terms appropriate to a French book into those appropriate
to a French "dowd." He is playing on the possible
indelicate meaning of "inner parts"; at the same time, as
McKerrow points out, the Inner city was where book-sellers
were to "be found, not loose women (who were generally to
"be found on the outskirts). "Turning over" is open to an
offcolor interpretation, "but as McKerrow points out it
was a term commonly used to describe looking over books.
The implication of "French disease," however, in any
reference to things French, was a stock joke to the
Elizabethans (see e.g. Meas. for Meas. I.
ii. 55). Nashe seems purposefully to intertwine two
possible referents, as he did with the expression
"vainglorious tragoedians, " see above, 5/17 and n.
11/20-21 Erasmus.
Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536), the great Dutch humanist,
who, although an Augustinian monk (hence, "Father")? spent
most of his life outside the cloister. He travelled
throughout Europe, coming more than once to England, where
he lectured on Greek at Cambridge from 1511 to 1514.
Ascham termed Erasmus "the honour of learning of all our
time" (The Scholemaster, p. 52). Erasmus’ most
obvious influence on Nashe in the Preface is through his
Adagia.
11/22 Philip
Melancthon. The graecized name of Philip Schwartzerd
(1497-1560), a German humanist who was professor of Greek
at Wittenberg University. He published translations from
Euripedes, Lucian, Pindar, and Plutarch, although the bulk
of his work was theological. (Nashe, Works, n. to
iii. 316. 32).
11/23 Sadolet.
S, Jacopo Sadoleto (1477-1547) wrote two books in Latin,
one on political theory and the other on philosophy, which
were widely known. He was highly regarded as a scholar,
but apparently did not publish any translations" (Nashe, Works,
n. to iii. 316. 32).
11/23 Plantine.
Christoffel Plantin (1514-1589)> a printer rather than
a scholar. Nashe apparently includes him because of the
number of humanistic works which issued from his press
(Nashe, Works, n. to iii. 316. 32)
11/2 A reedified.
In Nashe's metaphor, physical rebuilding is used to
represent the renewal of scholarship; since "re- edified"
partakes equally of vehicle and tenor, Nashe welds the two
ideas together, implying the need of physical resour-' ces
for the advance of intellectual pursuits.
11/27 William
Turner. Turner (d. 1568) was suspended as the Dean
of Wells in 1564 for vestiarian irregularities (Porter, p.87), and Nashe's objection
to him apparently centers on this Puritanism (Nashe, Works,
n. to iii. 317. 3). Evidently Turner’s reputation as a
Puritan had outlived his memory as a Greek scholar and
pioneer in the advancement of the natural sciences in
England (Porter, pp. 80-81).
12/3 Sir
Thomas Eliot. Sir Thomas Elyot (?1499-1546) was the
author of The Boke Named the Governour (1531), a
humanistic manual for rulers, and a work important to the
development of English prose. One of his express purposes
in the Governour was "to augment our Englyshe
tongue"; he frequently couples Italianate or Latinate
words with their English equivalent, in order to make the
meaning of the more exotic word clear (Krapp, p. 288).
12/3 equalls.
That is, "contemporaries"; the first citation in the OED
for the use of the word in this sense is 1596 (Nashe, Works,
suppl. n. to iii. 317. 6).
12/4 Sir
Thomas Moore. Sir Thomas More (St.) (1478-1535) was
author of the witty Utopia (1516). More, a
prominent English humanist and friend of Erasmus, applied
humanistic principles in his active public career, until
he was martyred- for refusing to take the Oath of
Supremacy.
12/5 at that
instant. That is, during the early period of English
humanism, prior .to the Reformation.
12/7 Saint
Iohns in Cambridge. St. John’s, founded in 1511, was
the home of some of England's greatest humanists: Richard
Croke, Sir John Cheke, and Roger Ascham (Thompson, p. 11).
Its peak of scholarship and fame came in the 1540s and was
ended by the accession of Mary (1553). Ascham, in The
Scholemaster (p. 117), mourns "that grievous change
that chanced anno 1553. when more perfect scholars
were dispersed from thence in one month, than many years
can rear up again.” Ascham’s work, in 1568, looked back to
a St. John's already distant by a generation. Nashe’s
presentation relies on Ascham’s praises in The
Scholemaster, although he himself was two
generations removed from the golden age of St. John’s. By
the late 1580s St. John's had become the very center of
radical Puritanism, amovement
with
which Nashe was notably out of sympathy.
12/8 an
Vniuersitie within itself. Cf. "Sir John Cheke and
Dr. Redman, by their only example of excellency in
learning, of godliness in living . . . did breed up so
many learned men in that one college of St.
John's at one time, as I believe the whole university of
Louvain in many years was able to afford" (The
Scholemaster. p. 55). Ascham also refers to
"such a company of fellows and scholars in St. John’s
College, as can scarce be found now in some whole
university” (ibid. p. 116).
12/9 Houses.
Colleges of the university.
12/9 Halls.
Student residences similar to colleges, but
unincorporated, and differently administered. A master
would lease a building and rent rooms to scholars over
whom he presumably exercised some discipline (Curtis, p.
36).
12/9-10 Hospltalls.
University hostels, one step further from actual colleges
than were the "halls."
12/14 fowre
of clocke bell. The tolling at four o’clock, a
common hour for rising in the sixteenth century, when
students were supposed to keep early hours (Thompson, p.
30).
12/16 sufficient
Schollers. Many are named by Nashe below. Anoverview
of
St. John's contribution to England is provided by R.J.
Schoeck in his introduction to The Scholemaster:
Dominated by
northerners (both Fisher and Ascham v/ere Yorkshiremen),
it quickly became a home of intellectual leaders. Ryan has
noted that twenty- six or -seven future bishops v/ere
students, among them Edwin Sandys, Archbishop of York.
During the century, such reformers and preachers as Thomas
Becon, Nicholas Ridley, Thomas Lever, and Thomas
Cartwright came from its body; from it came such scholars
as Sir John Cheke, a great teacher of Greek, Sir Thomas
Wyat, the poet, Sir Thomas Hoby, diplomat and translator
of Castiglione’s Courtier, and (later) Abraham
Fraunce, a member of the Sidney circle and author of the Arcadian
Rhetorike, as well as such writers as Robert Greene
and Thomas Nashe (p. viii).
12/17 weale.
That is, "the welfare of a country or community"; this
word participates in the metaphor of the colonia,
borrowed from Ascham (see below, 12/20-21 and n.).
12/19 Trinitie
Colledge. Trinity is called a "royall erection"
because it was founded by Henry VIII (in 1546)f Ascham had
termed it "that princely house" (The Scholemaster,
p. 117).
12/19 the
Vniuersitie Orator. That is, Roger Ascham, who
succeeded Cheke as Public Orator in 1546 and held the
office until 1554, although he was absent from Cambridge
much of the time (Nashe, Works, n. to iii. 317.
21-22).
12/20 an
Epistle. Ascham’s letter of 21 Nov. 1547 to the Duke
of Somerset on behalf of St. John’s;
Primum alimus
optima ingenia optimis disciplinis et moribus:
deinde, ex nostro coetu proficiscuntur, qui reliqua fere
singula collegia explent et ornant First we nourish the
best talents, by the best order of learning and
discipline, and then they set out from our company, nearly
able in themselves to fill out and adorn the other
individual colleges).
McKerrow cites
Ascham’s Wks, ed. Giles, i. 138, letter 76 (Nashe,
Works, n. to iii. 317. 21-22); cf. above, 12/8 and
n.
12/20 the
Duke of Somerset. Edward Seymour (c. 1506-1552)
served under Henry VIII, his fortunes rising when his
sister married the King in 1537. In 1547,
when his nephew Edward VI acceded to the throne, Seymour
became Protector and Duke of Somerset. In effect, he then
ruled England for two years, until his fall was engineered
by his enemies, and he was executed for treason. Seymour's
zenith coincided with the golden era of St. John's,
celebrated by Ascham, and he was chancellor of Cambridge
when Ascham wrote to him in 1547 (Curtis, p. 29, n. 24).
12/20-21 Colonia
deducta. That is, "a colony founded by or drawn from
(St. John’s)." The expression occurs in The Scholemaster,
but not in any of Ascham's letters to Somerset (Nashe, Works,
n. to iii. 317* 21-22):
Yea, St. John's
did then so flourish, as Trinity College, that princely
house now, at the first erection was but colonia
deducta out of St. John's, not only for their
master, fellows, and scholars, but also (which is more)
for their whole both order of learning and discipline of
manners [cf. Ascham's epistle above, n. to 12/20], And yet
to this day, it never took master but such as was bred up
before in St. John's; doing the duty of a good colonia
to her Metropolis, as the ancient cities in
Greece, and some yet in Italy at this day, are accustomed
to do, (The Scholemaster, p. 117).
12/21 Suburbes.
Nashe appears to mean "subordinate cities" (i.e. scholars)
which make up the "Metropolis" of St. John's, interpreting
"sub-" as "subsidiary" (OED 11), rather than as
"near to" (the actual meaning of the prefix in "suburb").
12/22 vno
partu . . . prodiere. That is, "from one
part they (Cheke, etc.) came out into the commonwealth";
McKerrow found nosource for this phrase (Nashe, Works,
n. to iii. 317- 24-5).
12/23 Sir
Ihon Cheke. Sir John Cheke (1517-1557) was a
Fellow of St. John’s, tutor to Edward VI, professor of
Greek at Cambridge (1540-1551)> and Public Orator
(1544). He was the most famous Greek scholar of his time
in England (Nashe, Works, n.to
iii. 317. 25-26). Sackville, as he is presented in The
Scholemaster, describes Ascham as "the scholar of
the best master, and also the shoolmaster of the best
scholar, that ever were in our time," referring to Sir
John Cheke and Queen Elizabeth (The Scholemaster,
p. 15).
12/24 Sir
Ihon Mason. Sir John Mason (1503-1566) was
Chancellor of Oxford, more of a diplomat than a scholar,
and apparently unconnected with Cambridge (Nashe, Works,
n. to III. 317. 27). Mason’s presence in The
Scholemaster (p. 13) perhaps explains his presence
in Nashe’s list.
12/ 24-25 Doctor
Watson. Thomas Watson (1513-1584) was a Fellow and
later Master of St. John's; ultimately, he was Bishop of
Lincoln (Nashe, Works, n. to iii. 317. 27). Ascham
described him as "one of the best scholars that ever St.
John’s College bred" (The Scholemaster, p. 61).
12/25 Redman.
John Redman (1499-1551) took his B.A. and M.A. at St.
John’s, was Public Orator in 1537 and Lady Margaret
Professor of Divinity in 1538. Later he was Master of
King's Hall, and was the first Master (1546-1568) of
Trinity College (Nashe, Works, n. to iii. 317.
27).
12/25Aschame. Roger Ascham (1515-1568) excelled in
classics at St. John’s, where he became Greek Reader in
1538. He had a career’ first as tutor to Princess
Elizabeth, then as secretary to an English ambassador,
Latin secretary to Queen Mary (despite his Protestantism),
and private tutor to Queen Elizabeth upon her accession.
His most famous work is The Scholemaster (1570),
which carries humanism into the realm of primary
education. He was the first important Elizabethan critic
(Miller, p. 44).
12/25 Grindall. Probably William Grindal (d. 1548)
is intended; a Fellow of St. John's in 1543, he was tutor
to Queen Elizabeth (Nashe, Works, n. to iii. 317.
28). He was Ascham's favorite pupil (Smith, n. to i. 312).
12/25Lever. Probably Thomas Lever (1521-1577)
rather than his brother Ralph. Thomas took his B.A. and
M.A. at St. John's, and, after Marian exile (during which
he met Calvin and Bullin- ger and "received from them a
ticture very prejudicial to his future preferment," Baker,
i. 130) became canon of Durham Cathedral (Nashe, Works, n.
to iii. 317.28). Lever had been a controversial Puritan,
losing his prebend at Durham due to vestiarian
irregularity (Porter, p. 8?), which Nashe apparently
overlooks.
12/25 Pilkington.
Probably James Pilkington (71520-1576) rather than his
brother Leonard (Arnold, p. 60) . A Fellow of St. John’s
(1539) and a Marian exile, he was later Master of St.
John's (1559-61), Regius Professor of Divinity (±559)» and
Bishop of Durham. (1561-76).
12/27 repurged.
The purpose of much humanistic study was to return to the
purity of the original Latin and Greek texts.
12/27-13/1 expelde
from their puritie. By "expelde" Nashe appears to
mean "dispossessed," although this meaning does not appear
in the OED. The idea that the arts had been driven
out of their purity implies that the quality of purity is
firm, though the arts may or may not partake of it. The
recovery of "purity" was often as concrete as Nashe8s
image implies: the finding of an ancient manuscript.
Nashe's physical metaphor of expulsion may also allude to
the historic upheavals which marked the fall of the
classical world, and later of the Byzantine Empire.
13/1-2 a more
perfect Methode of Studie. Cf. Ascham's praise of
the influence of St. John's "for their whole both order of
learning and discipline of manners" (The
Schqlemaster, p.117). Ascham criticized "reading the
precepts of Aristotle without the examples of other
authors," a fault which was corrected at Cambridge during
his time there (The Scholemaster, p. 114). Study of
Plato, Demosthenes, and Cicero characterized the new
method; its single most important attribute was the study
of Greek. The curriculum was attacked by conservatives
who espoused more concentrated study of Aristotle, and by
Puritans who rejected Aristotle in favor of Ramus (and
distrusted classical study altogether).
13/3-4 fountainss . . . riuers.
Nashe uses a similar expression in the Anatomie:
"many make toyes their onely studie, storing of trifles,
when as they neglect most precious treasures, and hauing
left the Fountaines of truth, they folow the Riuers of
opinions" (Works, i. 46. 33-36). McKerrow suggests
Cicero (De Orat. ii. 2?. 11?) as a source of the
figures "Tamen et tardi ingenii est rivulos consectari,
fontes rerum non videre" (yet it is a sympton of
congenital dullness to follow up the tiny rills, but fail
to discern the sources of things).
13/4-5 their ouer-fraught
. . . Compendlaries. That is, "their Studies,
ouer-fraught with trifling Compendlaries" (Nashe, Works,
n. to iii. 318. 2-3). Use of compendiums or digests,
instead of study of original authors, was much criticized
by humanists, e.g. Ascham (McKerrow cites Ascham's Engl.
Wks., ed. Wright, 259 foot).
13/6-7 Diuinitie dunces. John
Duns Scotus (d. 1308), the scholastic
theologian known as "Doctor Subtilis," provided a name for
the latter-day "Dunsmen" or "Dunses" who were extreme in
their opposition to humanism. Ascham, in The Schole
master (p. 118), complained that "Duns, with all the
rabble of barbarous questionists, should have dispossessed
of their place and room, Aristotle, Plato, Tully, and
Demosthenes." The name of Duns or Dunee
came to mean "blockhead."
13/7 Pupils
pulpit men. Cf. "they will leape into the pulpet
before they haue learned Stans puer ad mensam" in
An Almond (Nashe, Works, iii. 358. 34-35).
13/7 Priselan.
A Homan grammarian who taught at Constantinople under the
Emperor Anastasius (d. A.D. 518), Priscian was a favorite
of the Middle Ages, and his name was proverbial for the
rules of grammar.
13/9 expired.
The OED cites this passage as the unique instance of the
word used to mean "to cause (time) to pass" (OED†7†b) . Grosart (n.
to vi. 18) interprets the word as the Latinate "breathed
out." Nashe may intend a subdued word play on "killing
time" and "wasting breath."
13/9 Epitomes.
In Ascham’s view, the use of epitomes was allowable only
at the elementary level, where they could be helpful to
teach Latins "grammatica itself is sooner and surer
learned by examples of good authors, than by the naked
rules of grammarians. Epitome hurteth more in the
universities, and study of philosophy; but most of all in
divinity itself." The use of epitomes he calls, "A silly
poor kind of study, not unlike to the doing of those poor
folk, which neither till, nor sow, nor reap themselves,
but glean by stealth upon other men’s grounds" (The
Scholemaster, p. 94).
13/10 Catechisme.
A series of questions and answers designed to teach church
doctrine at the most elementary level; Nashe may mean the
word to imply rote-learning in general.
13/13 abbreviations.
Short summaries or abridgements. The use of such digests
was so widespread that by 1616 King James was forced to
issue a decree forbidding the use of compendia and
abbreviators, and ordering Cambridge students to turn to
the study of original texts (Sheavyn, p. 111).
13/14 to
vaunt the pride of contraction. That is, "to
display proudly the ability to do things on a minute
scale."
13/15-17 the
Palter nosier ... a pennie. McKerrow reports
the historic foundation of Nashe's remark; the writing
master Peter Bales wrote:
within the
compasse of a penie in Latine, the Lords praier, the
creed, the ten commandments, a praier to God, a praier for
the queene, his posie, his name, the daie of the moneth,
the yeare of our Lord, and the reigne of the queene.
He set the penny
in a ring and presented it to Queen Elisabeth on
17 August
1576 along with "an excellent spectacle by him deuised for
the easier reading thereof" (Holinshed's Chron.
ed. 1807-08, iv. 33O» and Stow’s Annals, ed, 1615,
p. 680: quoted by McKerrow, Nashe, Works, n. to
iii. 318. 14-15). The coin would have been about half an
inch in diameter.
13/18 No pennie, no pater
noster. Heywood includes this saying in his Dialogue
of Proverbs (p. 174, 2572). McKerrow refers to W.
Turner, The Old Learning and the New (1548): "Where do we
reade in the Gospel, of hyred prayers, which ye wyll let a
man haue for money? & if he geue no penye, he shall
haue no Pater noster" (E 7; Nashe, Works, n. to
iii. 318. 16- 17).
13/18-19 which their nice
curtailing. That is, "which nice curtailing of
theirs."
13/20-24 Scythians . . . stomacks.
McKerrow cites Aulus Gellius (xvi. 3) as a source for this
passage:
And the Scythians also are accustomed,
when on any occasion it is necessary to fast, to bind up
the belly with broad belts, in the belief that the hunger
thus troubles them the less; and one may almost say too
that when the stomach is full, men feel no hunger for the
reason that there is no vacuity in it, and likewise when
it is greatly compressed there is no vacuity (tr. Rolfe).
14/6 Dialogue Latine. That is,
Latin contrived into conversations and learned by rote.
Ascham held such "making of Latins" in
particular scorn, saying of schoolmasters who had
published "such kind of Latins": "A child shall learn of
the better of them that which another day, if he be wise
and come to judgment, he must fain to unlearn again" (The
Scholemaster, p.19).
14/12 absurditie.
Nashe refers directly to his forthcoming Anatomie of
Absurditie at the conclusion of the Preface; in the
Anatomie, "absurditie" amounts to vice.
14/14 Master
Gascoigne. George Gascoigne (?1525-1577) was
educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. His Supposes
(1566), an adaptation of Ariosto’s Suppositi, is
the earliest extant English comedy in prose; his Jocasta
is the second earliest extant English tragedy in blank
verse, and his Certain Notes of Instruction Concerning
the Making of Verse is the earliest extant English
critical essay. Gascoigne also wrote satirical works (The
Adventures of Master F. J., and The Steele Gias).
Nashe apparently is referring to Gascoigne’s Supposes,
a translation from Italian.
14/16 beate
the path. That is, "opened up or prepared the way."
14/19 Graeca
cum Latinis. McKerrow points to Cicero (Fin,
i. beginning) and Quintillian (Inst. Or. x.
5- 2). Cicero defended his practice of translation from
Greek into Latin against
a variety of
criticism, including the view that translation was in
itself a frivolous occupation (Nashe, Works, n. to
iii, 319. 12).
14/19 Master
Turbeuile. George Turberville (?1540-1610), Fellow
of New College, Oxford, was especially known for his
translation of Manuan's Eclogues (1576); he
undertook various other translations, from modern Italians
and from Ovid. His own Epitaphs, Epigrams,
Songs, and Sonets (1567) shows the
influence of Wyatt and Surrey, themselves conduits of
Italian influence.
14/22 Arthur
Golding. Golding (?1536-?1605) was best known as the
translator of Ovid's Metamorphoses (1565-1567).
His translations of various Latin and French works are
"clear, faithful, and fluent" (OCEL). As McKerrow
points out (Nashe, Works, n. to iii. 319. 15-16),
Golding would have "been only about 53 when Nashe referred
to him as "aged." The fact that the Metamorphoses
had been published over thirty years before Nashe's
writing may have let Nashe to believe that Golding was
very old. The use of the epithet "aged" implies Nashe had
no personal knowledge of Golding.
14/25 Master
Phaer. Thomas Phaer (?1510-1560) wrote a
translation of the Aeneid, complete through Book
IX, and extending into part of Book X; the work was later
finished by Thomas Twyne (the first seven books, 1558;
through part of Book X, 1562; Twyne’s completion, 1573).
William Webbe, in his Discourse of English
Poetrie (1586) was unqualified in his praise ofPhaer’s translation:
while I lyue in
my conceyt I shall account, Master D. Phaer
without doubt the bests who, as indeede hee had the best
peece of Poetry whereon to sette a most gallant verse, so
performed he it accordingly, and in such sort, as in my
conscience I thinke would scarcely be doone againe, if it
were to doo again. . . . Hys worke, whereof I speake, is
the englishing of AEneidos of
Virgill, so farre foorth as it pleased God to
spare him life (Smith, i. 24-3).
14/27 hautie.
McKerrow (Nashe, Works, n. to iii. 318. 20- 21)
considers Nashe may be referring to the liberties taken by
Phaer in his translation.
15/l corrigat
qui potest. That is, "let him correct (it) who is
able."
15/3-4 Master
Stanihurst. Richard Stanyhurst (1547-1618)
published his translation of the first four books of the
Aeneid in 1582? McKerrow points out that
Stanyhurst’s hexameters were constantly derided (e.g. Old
Wives' Tale, 11. 607-14; Nashe, Works.
n. to iii. 320. 1-4).
15/7 hissed.
Nashe may be using this onomotopoetic word to point up the
excess of that effect in Stanyhurst’s poetry.
15/8 ca-rterlie.
Gf. the proverb, "To swear like a carter" (ODEP).
15/8 varietie.
Cf. Pierce Penilesse:
so senceles, so
wauering is the light vnconstant multitude, that will
daunce after euerie mans pipe; and sooner prefer a "blind
harper that can squeake out a new horne-pipe, than Aleinous
or Apolloes varietie, that imitates the right
straines of' the Doryan melo- die (Nashe, Works,
i. 225. 26-31; suppl. n. to iii. 319. 29).
McKerrow points
out that Nashe appears to he using the word "for rhythm or
music" (ibid. n. to iii. 319- 29).
15/9 hodge.
A nick-name for "Roger," the word was used to typify the
English rustic.
15/13-16 Then
did he . . . bouncing. McKerrow points out
that the lines are put together from parts of "Other
Poetical Devices" appended to Stanyhurst’s translation of
Aen. I-IV:
A clapping
fyerbolt (such as oft, with rounce robel hobble,
loue toe the ground clattreth . . .
. . . now grislye reboundings
Of ruffe raffe
roaring, mens herts with terror agrysing
With peale meale
ramping, with thwick, thwack,sturdelye
thundring
(ed. Arb. pp.
137- 38; Nashe, Works, n. to iii. 320. 1-4).
15/20-21 Thrasonical
huffe snuffe. The phrase occurs in Stanyhurst’s Aen.s
"Linckt was in wedlock a loftye Thrasonical huf
snuffe" (ed. Arber, p. 143; Nashe, Works, n. to
iii. 320. 8-9). Fleay points out that the characters Huff,
Ruff, and Snuff occur in Preston’s Cambyses (1569)
(Fleay, ii. 131).
15/21 terrible.
That is, "exciting terror," and also, "painfully bad";
Nashe plays on the two meanings.
15/24 Master
France. Abraham Fraunce (fl. 1582-1633) was a
contemporary of Robert Greene at St. John's, receiving his
B.A. in the same session (Pruvost, p. 297). He was a
member of the literary circle centered around Sidney, and
was author of the Arcadian Rhetorike (1588). His
translation of Watson's Amyntas (1587) was in
English hexameters. Nashe's scorn of hexameters is
evidently not categorical, but based on merit in
individual instances.
15/25 Thomas
Watsons . . . Amintas. Watson (1513-1584)
was a Fellow of St. John's in 1535» and Master 1553-1554.
He was Bishop of Lincoln 1557-1559• He wrote several works
in Latin verse between 1581 and 1594, his Amyntas
appearing in 1585.
16/9 translated
Antigone. Watson's Latin translation of Antigone
(Sophoclis Antigone interprets T. Watsono,
1581) was not put into English and Nashe's epithet
"translated" refers to Watson's translation of the Greek
into Latin.
16/11 Haddon.
Walter Haddon (1516-1572), sometime Fellow of King’s
College, was Regius Professor of Civil Law at Cambridge in
1551? in 1552 he was Master of Trinity Hall. Ascham calls
Haddon "one of the best scholars indeed of all our time,"
and Schoeck notes that he was "celebrated as a Latin
Stylist" (The Scholemaster, p. 13 and n.).
16/13 Carre.,
Nicholas Carr (1524-1568), an original Fellow of Trinity
College, Cambridge (1546), was Regius Professor of Greek
in 154?. He was Master of Trinity under Mary (Porter, p.
1.06), but became merely a private citizen under
Elizabeth, practising as a physician (Nashe, Works,
n. to iii. 320. 27).
16/13 Virgil
to Theocritus. Virgil's Eclogues (first
century B.C.) were patterned after Theocritus' Idylls
(third century B.C.); in some ways Virgil went, beyond his
model, expanding the capacity of the pastoral genre.
Nashe's comparison is extremely complimentary to Carr as
a poet in his own right.
16/14 Tho.
Newton with his Leyland. Thomas Newton of Cheshire
(71542-160?) issued in 1589 a collection of Latin poems by
John Leyland (or Leland, 71506-1562), King Henry VIII's
antiquary. Newton included some of his own work in an
appendix. McKerrow notes that Francis Mere's Palladis
Tamia (1598) follows Nashe in this list of English
poets writing in Latin, including all those mentioned by
Nashe, and referring identically to "Thomas Newton with
his Leyland" (Nashe, Works, n. to iii. 322. 28).
16/14 Gabriel
Haruey. Harvey (?1545-1630) wrote in Latin on
rhetoric and was one of those who tried to establish
classical meters in English. He did not publish any
extensive work in English hexameters, although he
experimented with the form incorrespondence
with Edmund Spenser (Three Proper and Wittie Familiar
Letters,, 1580). Harvey was later to be Nashe*s
adversary in a battle of pamphlets. When Nashe looked
back to this passage, in Haue With You, he implied
that his praise of Harvey was never more than luke-warm:
I praisde
him (after a. sort) in an Epistle in Greenes
Menaphon. .. I did,
I did, as vnfainedly and sincerely as, in his first
butter-fly Pamphlet against Greene, he praisd me
for that proper yong man, Greenes fellow
Writer, whom (in some respects') he
wisht well too (Works, iii. 130-31).
Gabriel Harvey’s
brother Richard early took offence to this entire passage,
finding Nashe an insolent upstart:
this Thomas
Nash, one whome I neuer heard of before . . .
sheweth himselfe none of the meetest men, to censure Sir Thomas
Moore, Sir Iphn Cheeke, Doctor Watson,
Doctor Haddon, Maister Ascham, Doctor Car,
my brother Doctor Haruey, and such like (Epistle
to Lamb of God, 1590; Nashe, Works, v.
76).
16/16 Epitaphers.
Such poets as Thomas Churchyard (c. 153°- 1604) and George
Whetstone (c. 1551-1587) "made a business of composing
epitaphs to famous personages" (Miller, p. 228).
Repetitions in the various elegies by Whetstone indicate
that "he manufactured rather than created his epitaphs"
(ibid.). In 1579
Thomas Lodge had entered his epitaph to his mother In the
Stationers1Register a week in
advance of her actual death, "perhaps the most notorious
instance of the carcass-seeking crow" (ibid. p. 227).
16/16 position
poets, Although McKerrow conjectures that Nashe
means "writers of short poems on fixed subjects,
epigrams, sonnets, etc., as opposed to long epics," he
concedes he knows of no other instance of the expression
(Nashe, Works, n. to iii. 320. 30)• Possibly Nashe
means "those who write poetry in order to flatter patrons
and seek position."
16/19 continuate.
That is, "sustained"; these poets write only short
profitable pieces, and do not maintain a sustained
artistic effort. Cf. "Continuate Historie," 1/10.
16/21 Churchmen.
Nashe appears to mean "zealous Puritans," not necessarily
ordained ministers or "divines." In the Anatomie
Nashe answers Philip Stubbes (fl. I583-I59I), author
of The
Anatomie of Abuses (1583), and other Puritans, such
as Stephen Gosson (1555-1624) who had criticized poetry
and wit
in his Schoole
of Abuse (1579):
I must confesse
that poets are the whetstones of wit, notwithstanding that
wit is dearely bought . . . pull off the visard that poets
maske in, you shall disclose their reproch, bewray their
vanitie, loth their wan- tonnesse, lament their folly, and
perceive their sharps sayinges to be placed as perles in
dunghils, fresh pictures on rotten walles, chaste matrons
apparel on common curtesans (Hardison, p. 87).
16/22 although
the neoessitle . , . confute. That is, the
argument of these Puritans against poetry could be proved
invalid by the fact that philosophy makes use of "dark
fables" to express its meaning, thus proving poetry to be
more than mere vanity or impiety.
17/1 an sit.
That is, "or whether it be . . .the phrase would have been
part of the formula by which the two sides of a debate
were stated. The "afternoone sessions" took place Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday from one to three o’clock, aspart of the required
curriculum at Oxford and Cambridge (Curtis, pp. 88-89).
17/1 trueth.
Here meaning "belief" (OED †3†b).
17/1 discouered.
That is, "revealed"; here meaning "openly held."
17/3 the
AEgiptian Epaphus. McKerrow points out that the
sacred bull Apis (or "Epaphus") was itself spotted (cf.
Lyly, Works, ii. 19.4; 24. 22 and notes), although
there was no tradition of sacrificing spotted beasts to
"Epaphus.”
17/8 fine
fingerd. That is, "affecting fastidious refinement.“
17/8 canuaze.
The OED cites this passage as the first usage of
"canvas" to mean "to pull to pieces, criticise or discuss
destructively (a writing, etc.)." By the phrase "canuaze .
. . plus vltra" Nashe appears to mean "to carry
analysis to an extreme," or "to go too far in drawing out
an analogy."
17/9 reconciling.
That is, carrying on the process of making or perceiving
an analogy.
17/11-12 full
poynted . . stabbe. Perhaps Nashe implies
that the writer, in his inebriated state, stabs through
the paper with his pen when making a full stop. The
context makes it likely that Nashe is also referring to
taking a swig from the pot, although no such definitioA of
"stab" is provided by the OED.
17/12 dagger
drunkennesse. The Dagger was a celebrated tavern in
Holborn c. 1600 (OEDs Nares); Nashe appears to use
"dagger" attributively to represent "ale-house." Cf.
Gascoigne's reference to "dagger-ale" (Diet
for Dronkardes, Works, ii. 467.) Alehouse
brawling must certainly be included in the implications of
Nashe's phrase (cf. Pierce Penilesses "weare
alehouse daggers at your backes," Nashe, Works, i.
208, 14).
17/13 Tam
Marti quam Mercuric. That is, "as much of Mars as of
Mercury." McKerrow cites this as George Gascoigne’s motto,
and a phrase in common use at the time. Although McKerrow
finds no source for the expression (Nashe, Works,
n. to i. 169. 5-6), it can perhaps be traced to emblematic
presentations of Pallass Wisely the poets decipher Pallas
to have a Helmet on hir head, and a Book in hir hande, and
draw hir speares alwayes wreathed with Lawrell, signifying
by this Embleme, that Mars and Mercurie
were of one broode (Grosart, vi. 208).
17/15 foecundi
calices. McKerrow locates the source of this phrase
in Horace (Epist. i. 5. 19). "Fecundi calices quern
non fecere disertum" (The flowing howl—whom has it not
made eloquent?) (Nashe. Works, n. to iii. 321.
23).
17/16 Kanne.
That is, "khan," an exotic word for an unfurnished
shelter; possibly a pun on a drinking "can."
17/16 Silenus.
A satyr, foster-father and attendant of Dionysus, who was
generally represented as a drunken and jolly fat old man,
garlanded with flowers and riding on an
ass.
17/17 iuie.
"Ivy," the plant sacred to Bacchus. Taverns selling good
wine advertised by hanging garlands of ivy over the door,
while a truly excellent wine needed no such advertisement
(cf. "Vino vendibili suspensa hedera nihil opus" in
Erasmus' Adagia, Opera Omnia, ii. 589C).
17/17 nosecloth.
McKerrow found no parallel for this expression, although
he points out that Nashe seems to mean a drink (Nashe, Works,
n. to iii. 321. 26). A parallel can be found in Heywood's
Dialogue (C4):
As sober as she
seemth
few days come about
But she will
ones washe her face
in an ale clout [i.e. "get drunk"].
Nashe parallels
his own expression in The Vnfortunate Traueller (Works,
ii. 250. 26-28): "Another woulde he sure to wipe his mouth
with his handkercher at ye ende of euery ful point." Nashe
seems to imply that the writer is more husily engaged ineating
and drinking than in writing.
17/21 pottle
pottes. That is, "two-quart tankards." Sheavyn
points out that part of the payment for a "catchpenny
pamphlet" or "small volume of so-called poetry" was a
pottle of wine (p. 72).
17/22 ποιειν
.
. . πινειν. That
is, "he who would he a poet must first drink." Sidney
derived the word poet from "this word Poiein,
which is to make" in his Apology (Hardison, p.
103) . The expression πινεινχρητηρας
οινιο("to drink howls of wine") appears in
the Iliad (viii. 232) (Henry George Liddell and
Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, rev.
Sir Henry Stuart Jones, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968).
Nashe has created a more sophisticated version of the
"pot-poet" joke.
17/22-23 blew
burning . . . tost. For a candle to burn
blue was a folk omen indicating the presence of ghosts or
the Devil (OED). Nashe is thus indicating the
presence of rather lower spirits than "Pallas with
the nine Muses." Grosart ventures as an explanation of
this passage, "They seem to have had a custom of burning a
layer of spirits on top of their ale, both to flavour it
and to toast the bread inserted atthe
same time" (n. to vi. 23). The association of ale and
toast seems to have been proverbial, as in Haue With
You:
"Iudas the Gaulonite in the raigne of
Herod was a hot toast, ... It cannot
choose βut he lou'd ale well then" (Works,
iii. 48. 19-21).
17/24 Parnassus,
The mountain a few miles north of Delphi, with its
Castalian spring, was one of the chief seats of the Muses.
I8/3 Theonine
dente. That is, "with the tooth of the railer Theon"
(Horace, Epist. i. 18. 82j Nashe, Works,
n. to iii. 322. 8). The expression appears in Erasmus' Adagia
(Opera Omnia, ii. 466F).
18/5-6 so
farre from . . . equalitie. That is
"peerless" in the rather loose sense of "excellent."
18/9 Moecenas.
Gaius Gilnius Maecenas (c. 70-8 B.C.) was a Roman knight
celebrated for his patronage of such writers as Virgil and
Horace.
18/11-12 Si
nihil . . . foras. That is, "If you bring
nothing, Homer, out you go!" (Ovid, Ars Amat. ii.
280).
/
18/12 sales.
The OED gives this form as a Northern
inflectional plural.
18/13 drie
braind doltes. Nashe refers to the doctrine of humors (see
above, 2/7-8 and n.).
18/15 redde
rationem. That is, the imperative, "give an
account."
18/15 Petrache.
Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374) was the Italian poet and
humanist whose sonnets to Laura founded a genre and a
tradition. To his contemporaries he was best known as a
classical scholar who wrote Latin works, rather than as an
unrequited lover who wrote a sonnet sequence in Italian.
McKerrow notes that Nashe’s spelling is allowable, and
occurs in other contemporary works (Nashe, Works,
n. to iii.322.
20).
18/16 Tasso.
See above, 8/25 and n.
18/16 Celiano.
Livio Celiano (fl. 1589 ) was placed by Meres on the same
level as Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarch, Tasso, and Ariosto
(Smith, ii. 319. 3; Nashe, Works, n. to iii. 322.
21) on account of his now obscure Rime (1587).
18/17 Chaucer.
Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1345-1400), a contemporary of
Boccaccio and Petrarch, is best known for the Canterbury
Tales (c. 1387).
18/17 Lidgate.
John Lydgate (?1370-?1451) was a prolific poet whose chief
works include the Troy Book (between 1412 and
1420, first published 1513) and the Fall of Princes
(1420-1438, first published 1494)
18/17 Gower.
John Gower (7133G-1408), called "moral Gower" by his
friend Chaucer, wrote in French, Latin, and English; his
best known English work is the Confessio Amantis
(1390)'
18/20-21 Haile
fellow well met. That is, a greeting which would
imply the equality of all the writers Nashe has
mentioned. The context implies that Nashe does not
subscribe to a vew of them all as equal, although
he does feel Chaucer, Lydgate, and Gower were as important
to English literature as Petrarch, Tasso, and Celiano were
to Italian literature. Nashe elsewhere shows that he
considered Chaucer a pioneer, rather than an accomplished
poet who could be placed as an equal to his Continental
contemporaries:
Art, like yong grasse in the spring of
Chaucers florishing, was glad to peepe vp through
any slime of corruption, to be beholding to she car’d not'
whome for apparaile, trauailing in those colde countries(Strange Newest Nashe, Works,
i. 317. 1-4).
18/23 Ariosto.
See above, 7/11 and n.
18/24 What.
A colloquial ellipsis representing here an indefinite
question, as e.g. "What do you think?"
18/26 tragick
Tasso. See above, 8/25 and n.
19/3 fare.
Nashe appears to mean "rank," or "have standing" the OED
cites only one instance of this usage (I. tg), which dates
from 17.04.
19/5 their.
That is, "those of the English courtier-poets" (e.g.
Sidney).
19/5 subiectum
circa quod. That is, "that which is spoken of": in
philosophical language, the foundation or subject of a
proposition; here, the thematic content, or, as Sidney
phra sed it in the Apologie, "the Idea or
fore-conceite of the work" (Hardison, p. 105) . Nashe may
be referring to Sidney’s Arcadia, since he has
just mentioned "our grauer Nobilitie" and has now passed
to a discussion of pastoral works Nashe may have taken at
face value Sidney’s seeming lack of serious intent in the
Old Arcadia, then circulating in manuscript.
19/9 Spencer.
Edmund Spenser (?1552-1599) was educated at Pembroke Hall,
Cambridge, and later obtained, through his position in
Leicester's household, and acquaintance with Sidney. In
1579 Spenser began The Faerie Queene, and
published the immediately-acclaimed Shepheards
Calender. In 1589 Spenser had returned from Ireland
(where he reluctantly spent much of his life involved in
Irish affairs) to London, for the purpose of overseeing
the printing of the first three books of his epic.
19/11-12 the
only swallow ... summer. A reference to the
proverb, "one swallow does not make a summer" (or, in
Erasmus’ Adagia, "una hirundo non facit ver," Opera
Omnia, ii.
299C).
19/12 -13 Apollo
. . . his Tripos. The oracle at Delphi had
pronounced Socrates the wisest of men (Plato, The
Apology, ed. Fowler, p. 81).
19/15-16 Platos,
. . , Puritanes common wealth. Plato had banished
poets from his ideal republic (Rep. x. 605).
Because of Plato’s great importance to the Renaissance,
condemners of poetry, such as Puritans, had a ready
argument (see e.g. Gosson’s Schoole of Abuse, ed.
Hardison, p. 89). Sidney, in his Apologie for Poetrie,
attempts to forestall this criticism bycharacterising
Plato
himself as a poet, due to his use of fictionalized
dialogues (Hardison, p. 101). Later in the same
work,.Sidney brings up the problem directly:
But now indeede
my burthen is great; now Plato his name is layde
vpon mee, whom, I must confesse, of all Philosophers I
haue euer esteemed most worthy of reuerence (ibid. p.
132).
Sidney repeats
his argument that Plato’s writings were poetic, and claims
that Plato’s objections were to the abuse of poetry, not
to poetry itself (ibid. pp. 133-34).
19/16 Mathew
Roydon. Little is known of Roydon, except that he
wrote the "Elegie or Friends Passion for his Astrophill"
(i.e. Sidney), first published 1593 and included in
Spenser’s- Colin Clout, 1595 (Nashe, Works,
n. to iii. 323. 18).
19/16-17 Thomas
Atohelow. Nothing is known of Atchelow directly,
although he is "believed to have had a considerable
reputation as a poet. Some extracts from his poems appear
in Englands Parnassus (1600), by which time he was
apparently dead (Nashe,. Works, n. to iii. 323.
18).
19/17 George
Peele. Peele (?1558-?1597) was a successful player
as well as playwright. His numerous literary productions
included poems and pageants as well as plays. At the time
of Nashe‘s writing, he would perhaps have been best known
for his pastoral play, The Araygnement of Paris
(first published in 158^). His most recent work was
apparently the eclogue To the Right Honorable and
Renowned Shepheard of Albions Arcadia, Robert
Earle of Essex and Ewe, for his Welcome
into England from Portugall (1589).
19/19 Astrophel.
That is, Sidney.
19/23 the
last, thogh not the least. A common saying
(see Tilley, L 82).
19/26 primus
verborum Artifex. That is, "master' of the language
arts."
19/27 Arraignment
of Paris. See above, 19/17 and n.
20/2 me
iudice. That is, "in my judgment."
20/4 priuate
deuices. An allusion to private or coterie drama.
20/5 taffata.
Literally, the cloth of which the player's costumes might
be made; figuratively, "bombastic."
20/6 peecte.
McKerrow read "picked" (Nashe, Works, n. to iii. 324. 2),
although "pieced" (i.e. "pieced out") seems natural and
logical. Fleay (ii. 34) so read the passage, although
neither Grosart (who ventured "pierced") or McKerrow
followed him.
20/6 periwigs.
Although Fleay (ii. 132-33) interpreted this passage as
referring to "plagiarists, not to actors," the term
"periwig" may have been associated with over-acting. In
the first quarto of Hamlet (ed. Weiner, p. 121),
Hamlet tells the players, "0, it offends me to the sould
to hear a robustious periwig fellow tear a passion in
tatters." The periwig would have been part of the actor's
costume; cf. "taffata," 20/5.
20/8-9 King
of Fairies . . . Delphrigus. Greene echoes
this expression in his Groatsworth: "Why, I am as
famous for Delphrigus, and the King of
the Fairies, as euer was any of my time" (Grosart,
xii. 3.31).
20/9 Pease
porredge ordinarie. McKerrow points out that the
"pottage ordinary" is mentioned in Fletcher’s Wit
Without Money (IV. i. 20), being evidently one of
the cheapest.
Sheavyn points
out that "the Ordinary, where Gallants met together . . .
was utilized almost as much as the bookseller's shop, for
'conference of the best Editions'" (Sheavyn, p. 14-8).
20/9 Tolossa.
That is, "Tholosa, " the Latin name for Toulouse (McKerrow,
Bibliography, p. 340). Toulouse had a history of
being constantly taken and retaken by opposing factions.
Nashe appears to be referring also to the proverb
"Tolosanum aurum," included by Erasmus in the Adagia
(Opera Omnia, ii. 396B), a saying which refers to
unlucky, ill-gotten gains. Nashe may well be collapsing
the two references into one, either through confusion or
as a play on words. Nashe's meaning seems to be that the
actors or plagiarists have forgotten the source of their
wealth.
20/11 fardles
on footback. This may have been a stock gibe at
players. Sheavyn points out:
it was by no
means infrequent for players, in an age when travellers
normally rode on horseback, to trudge on foot after the
vehicle which carried their properties. Dekker repeatedly
taunts the players with being compelled to "travel upon
the hard hoofe from village to village for chees and
buttermilke," (The Bel-man of London, Non-dramatic
Works, III, 81 [1885]), and "strowting up and down
after the wagon" (Sheavyn, pp. 98-99).
Greene echoes
Nashe's expression in his Groatsworths "I was faine to
carry my playing Fardle a footebacke" (Grosart, xii. 131;
cf. above, n. to 20/8-9).
20/12 Roscius.
See above, n. to 5A5-18. Nashe may have had one particular
actor in mind. Fleay identifies "Roscius" as R. Wilson
(Fleay, i. 258; ii. 279» 281, 283). But cf. Nashe’s
expression in Pierce Penilesse:
Not Roscius
nor AEsope, those admyred tragedians that haue
liued euer since before Christ was borne, could euer
performe more in action than famous Ned Allen (Works,
i. 215. 13-15).
In Strange
Newes Nashe derides Harvey for using Spenser's name,
"thinking his very name (as the name of Ned Allen
on the common stage) was able to make an ill matter good"
(Works, i. 296. 2-3).
Greene's later gibe at actors echoes many of the
terms Nashe uses here:
Roscius art thou proud with Esops Crow, being
pranct with the glorie of others feathers? Of thy selfe
thou canst say nothing, and if the Cobler hath taught thee
to say Ave Caesar, disdain not thy tutor ... I graunt your
action, though it be a kind of mechanical labour (Grosart,
xii. 132-33).
20/l4 de profundis.
That is, the first words of the penitential Psalm CXXX,
which includes the verse (3); "If thou, Lsrd, shouldest
mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?" Nashe may intend
to indicate merely customary obsequies for the dead.
20/15 Caesar.
That is, their leader, "Roscius."
20/17 juggling
mediocritie. Nashe is apparently referring to the
encrochment of mere spectacle into drama (cf. Hamlet III.
ii. 13: "inexplicable dumb shows and noise"). Nashe may
also be implying that the loss of their "Roscius" would
reduce actors to the level of juggling vagabonds,
scrambling for a living.
20/17 blankss.
That is, "blank verse."
20/20 William
Warners . . . Albions. ' Warner (71558-1609)
studied at Oxford and was an attorney in London. Albions
England (first edition, 1586) is his metrical
British history enriched with myth and fiction. McKerrow
suggests that Nashe’s term "Albions" may be
patterned after the AEneids of Virgil (Nashe, Works,
n. to iii. 324. 17). It may, however, be a short title
(cf. AEneidos, 7/4).
20/21 made
a full point. That is, "came to a period."
20/22 oppose.
That is, "expose"; see above, 9/22 and n.
20/23-24 In
speech. That is, "grammar": these were the first two
words of Lily’s Short
Introduction of Grammar (1577> etc.), which were
printed in large type as if serving as a title(Nashe,
Works, n. to i. 305. 18).
20/25 Abcie.
That is, "alphabet."
20/25 firstlings.
That is, "first fruits"? Nashe’s first excursions into
print were this Preface and The Anatomie of Ahsurditie
(pub. 1589 but written earlier).
21/2-3 Anatomie
of absurdities. That is, "The Anatomie of
Absurditie" (1589). This variant of the title makes
the application to Stubbes’ Anatomie of Abuses
(1583) more apparent.
21/5 blankes.
That is, "blank verse" (see above, 20/17 and n.) with
a pun on the name of a French copper coin called a
"blank."
21/6 Hospitall.
A shelter or home for those in need, as, for example, old
soldiers (e.g. Leicester’s Hospital in Warwick).
21/6-7 If
you chance to meet it In Poules. This begins
an elaborate conceit in which Nashe speaks of his Anatomie
both as a book and as a person seeking a position.
Book-selling and position-seeking went on at St. Paul's
(cf. the proverb, "Choose a horse in Smithfield and a
serving-man in Paul's," and Miller, p. 4).
21/7 a new
sute of similitudes. The "suit" can be both the
livery of the apprentice and the stylistic ornament of the
book. Nashe seems to imply that some revision of the Anatomie
should be expected? both "new sute" and "double
apparaile," 21/8-9, seem to carry this Implication. Later,
when Nashe adopted a position philosophically opposed to
revision, he used a similar clothing metaphors:
Because your
hooks do call for a litle more drinke and a' fewe more
clothes when they are gone to bed, that is, when they lie
dead, you thinke ours should do so too. No, no, we doe not
vse to clappe a coat ouer a ierkin, or thrust any of the
children of our hraine into their mothers wombe again,
& beget them a new after they are once borne. If it
bee a home booke at his first conception, let it be a home
booke still, and turne not cat in the panne, conuert the
Pater noster to a Primer, when it hath begd it selfe out
at the elbowes vp and downe the cuntrey (Works, i.332.
11-21).
Nashe’s Epistle
to the Anatomie as it was published (as well as
the style of the whole) indicates that Nashe did not in
fact revise the work:
that little
alliance which I haue vnto Arte, will authorize my follie
in defacing her enemies and the circumstaunce of my
infancie, that brought forth this Embrion,
somewhat tollerate their censures, that would deriue
infamie from my vnexperienst infirmities. What I haue
written, proceeded not from the penne of vainglory but
from the.processe of that pensiuenes, which two Summers
since ouertcoke mees whose obscured cause, best knowne to
euerie name of curse, hath compelled my wit to wander
abroad vnregarded in this satyricall disguise,
& counsaila my content to dislodge his delight from
traytors eyes ( Works, i. 5. 11-22).
Nashe’s drift
here definitely distances the work from the present.
21/7-8 the
eloquent apprentice of Plutarch. McKerrow was unable
to find this reference (Nashe, Works, n. to iii. 325, 1)but cf. "like Appelles
Prentice who coueting to mend the nose, marred the cheeke"
(Lyly, Works, i. 325.1).
21/8-9 double
apparaile. See above, n. to 21/7.
21/87. yeres
olde. Nashe is collapsing together the idea of his
hook as his "firstling" or child and as an apprentice (who
would not he seven years old, but would have spent seven
years in service). He perhaps alludes to his seven years
at St. John’s (cf. Nashe, Works. iii. 181. 23-5).
21/9 couenants.
..That is, the apprenticeship agreement.
21/10 Indentures
of dutie. That is, the contract which hound the
apprentice to a master. Nashe seems to he contrasting the
de jure hond and the de facto independence
of this "firstling": i.e. the work is finished (and indeed
registered), but not yet issued.
2l/l3 Apocrypha.
Martin Marprelate*s Epistle represents the Puritan
view on this issue:
The last Lent
there came a commandment from his Grace into Paul's
Churchyard, that no Bihle should he found without the
Apocrypha. Monstrous and ungodly wretches, that to
maintain their own outrageous proceedings thus mingle
heaven and earth together (p. 78).
22/l In
laudem Author!s. That is, "In praise of the author."
22/2 Distlchon
amoris. That is, "an alternately-rhymed poem of
love."
22/3 wanton.
Upcher apparently means, "gay, lively" (related to OED
3†d).
22/4 enspire. That is,
"inspire": breathe life into (OED†2b)
The poet plays on his use of the word "life" in the
previous line.
22/5 your father Hermes. That
is, Hermes as the god of eloquence.
22/6 surfet. That is, suffer
from over-abundance. Upcher is contrasting the wholesome
simplicity of Greene’s work with the laborious abundance
of images in Lyly’s. Melicertus makes a similar contrast
in his eclogue (see below, 107/2-17). Upcher's use of
surfeit in this figurative sense predates the first usage
cited by the OED (4b: 1605).
22/8 Floras. That is,
"springs."
22/9 Greene. Obviously punning
on Greene’s name: a grassy field.
22/10 gleades. That is,
"glades"; possibly a pun on "glees" or "songs."
22/11 Lillie. A reference to
John Lyly (?155^-I606), whose Euphues (The
Anatomie of Wit, 1578, and Euphues and his England,
1580) gave rise to the word "Euphuism." Lyly’s elaborate
prose style was widely imitated, by Greene himself among
others. Lyly also wrote dramatic works, which included
some lyrics; see, e.g., Sapho and Phao
(acted in 1584; see "below, 51/17 and 69/12).
22/12 labouring
beautie. A reference to the intricate and artificial
stylization of Euphuism, involving elaborate antitheses
and citations of "unnatural natural history."
22/13 old
age. Lyly, at 35, had hardly reached old age, but Euphues,
published some ten years earlier, was perhaps considered
"old" (cf. "aged Arthur Golding" 14/22).
22/15 the
downes of Arcadie. While "downs" are a specifically
English landscape feature, Arcadia was the ancient Grecian
country which served as a semi-mythical locale for
pastoral works. The hint of identification of "Arcadie"
with England is characteristic of the pastoral medium in
English literature.
22/l6 Aganippes
. . , wells. Aganippe was one of the fountains
(the other being the Hippocrene) on Mount Helicon, sacred
to the Muses. Helicon, in Boeotia, is actually far from
Arcadia geographically, although poetically the
association is natural.
22/18 Delos.
A sacred island, one of the Cyclades.
22/19 feedes.
That is, "supplies."
22/22 Choas.
That is, either "Cos" or "Chios"; "both are Aegean islands
of the Greek Archipelago.
23/3 lesse.
That is, "lest."
23/3 shrike.
That is, "shriek"; the OED provides this
definition only for the substantive form of the word, and
not for the verb (defined as birds’ piping).
23/4 Robin.
That is, the familiar form of Robert, here referring to
Greene. The poet uses the name affectionately, and also
plays on a bird metaphor involving the word "shrike"
(23/3), and, of course, the robin red-breast (Greene was
apparently red-haired, having "a iolly long red peake,
like the spire of a steeple," Nashe, Works, I.
28?. 7-8).
In some contexts the name Robin was used
pejoratively of Greene. For example, in the Hierarchy
of Angels (1635) Thomas Heywood expressed
disappointment in Greene’s accomplishments:
Greene, who hath in
both Academies ta’ne
Degree of master,
yet could never gain
To be called more
than Robin; who, had he
Profest ought save
the Muse, serv'd and been free
After a 7 years
prenticeship might have
(With credit too)
gone Robert to his grave.
(Quoted by Sheavyn, pp. 129-3Q*)
In Foure Letters
(1592) Gabriel Harvey disparaged Greene by associating him
with Robin Goodfellow (p. 161), a mischievous sprite with
sexual overtones (cf. Gascoigne’s "Lullaby."* Wks.
i. 44).
23/5Henrie Vpchear. Henry Upshare
(or Upcher) matriculated as a pensioner from St. John’s in
the spring of I5&5t although he apparently
took no degree. He was still living in 1613, but, apart
from the fact that his immediate family was located near
Ely, nothing is known of him (Venn).
24/l Thomas
Brabine. Storojenko identifies Brabine as "Thomas
Burnaby or Barnabie," one of Greene’s "most devoted
friends," who "more than once got him out of difficulties"
(Grosart, n. to vi. 24-25). To him Greene dedicated Neuer
Too Late (1590)» mentioning in his address "how in
al bounden duetie I haue for sundry fauors bin affected to
your Worship" (Grosart, viii. 5-6). In the dedication to
the second part of Neuer Too Late (Francescos
Fortunes, 1590) Greene similarly speaks of "hauing
receiued many friendly, nay fatherly fauours at your
hands,” and signs himself "your worships adopted sonne"
(ibid. vii. 115-117). Greene supplies some information
about Burnaby in his dedication of A Quipfor
an Vpstart Courtier (1592): "all Northamptonshire
reports how you are a father of the poore, a supporter of
auntient Hospitalitie, an enimie to Pride, and to be
short, a maintayner of Cloth breeches (I meane of the old
and worthie customes of the Gentilitie and yeomanrie of
England) " (ibid, xi. 210). A considerable difference in
age between Burnaby and Greene is implied by the terms of
the dedication to Francescos Fortunes and it
therefore may be considered possible that Burnaby is the
"Thomas Burneby" recorded as admitted to Gray's Inn in
1571 (Foster).
24/6 drumming. See above, n.
to 6/5.
24/7 to delight. That is, "how
to delight."
24/9 Smirna. Smyrna, the
Turkish city known as Izmir, is located on the west coast
of Turkey, immediately adjacent to the island of Chios.
The Gulf of Smyrna is perhaps intended by the poet.
24/9 Helicon. See above, n. to
22/l6.
24/10 Caballian founts. The
Caballine fountain is another name for the Hippocrene (see
above, n. to 22/16).
24/11 Parnassus. See above, n.
to 17/24.
24/11 • his Lawrell. One of
the peaks of Parnassus was sacred to Apollo, here
indicated by his association with laurel, the transformed
Daphne.
24/16 tearmes of trees and stones.
An allusion to the characteristics of Euphuism. Nashe
later turns a similar expression against Greene’s styles
"Is my stile like Greenes, or my leasts like Tarltons?
Do I talke of any counterfeit birds, or hearbs, or stones,
or rake vp any newfound poetry from vnder the wals of Troy?"
(Nashe, Works, i. 319- 1-4). Cf. Melicertus'
eclogue, 107/6-10^ cf. above, 22/11 and n.
24/21 Tityrus.
The name of one of the shepherds in Virgil's Eclogues,
here used to represent the type of a pastoral poet.
26/l Arcadia.
A possible reference to Sidney's Old Arcadia; cf.
above, 6/15 and n.
26/6 sauors.
Greene's usage seems to involve a metaphor based on the
use of savour in biblical translations (OED
2c.); "the smell of sacrifices and incense regarded as
pleasing to God." Here the air yields unpleasing or
"preiudiciall" savors, forboding not a sign of grace from
the gods, but rather some "fatall resolution."
26/7 Democles.
Cf. Lyly’s Euphues and his England; "as no Thersites
could be transformed into Vlisses, so no Alexander
could be couched in Damocles" (Works,
ii. 37). Possibly the name "Democles" is intended to evoke
that of "Damocles"; if so the downgrading of the character
of "Democles" in the second half of Menaphon (see
96/2-5) comes as less of a surprise.
26/13 sinnews.
The use of this word implies the Renaissance commonplace
of the state as a human body.
26/i6 insights.
That is, "wisdom"; Greene implies that rule in Arcadia is
more a matter, of reflection than of action, and uses the
plural to stress the contrast between "insights" and
"conquests." This passage predates the first usage of the
word in the plural cited by the OED (1817).
26/17 Pater
Patriae. That is, "the 'father of his country," atitle adopted by Augustus
Caesar (see Ovid’s Tristia, IV. iv. 13).
26/18 whether.
That is, "whither."
26/20 Delphos.
That is, "Delphi"} the form used by Greene is also to be
found in Sidney’s Old Arcadia and Golding’s
translation of the Metamorphoses. The form
perhaps indicates a confusion between Delphi (the site of
Apollo’s Oracle), and Delos (a sacred island, site of a
temple of Apollo). Perhaps, like "tripos" (see below,
26/22 and n.), the variant is formed by analogy to other
Greek words.
26/22 Tripos,
That is, "tripod"; this passage Is the first usage of the
word in this sense cited by the OED, which
conjectures that the word was formed from the Latin
"tripus" by analogy to other Greek words (OED†1†b).
26/23 Pithia.
That Is, the Pythla, or priestess of Apollo, named for the
python killed by Apollo.
26/24 Dylonimas.
That is, apparently, "double-sayings." Cf."dyleman" In Greene’s Euphues
Censure to Philautus (Grosart, vi. I87. 3). Greene
seems to have coined this Greek-sounding word suggestive
of "dilemma."
27/2 Lemman..
That is, Tethys, consort of Oceanus, confused by Greene
with Thetis, a sea-goddess who was mother of Achilles (see
29/6, 52/7, etc.? cf. "Tethys with Oceanus" in Golding's
Ovid^ix. 593).27/21 applaud. That is, "sanction"
(an extension of OED 4); this passage predates the
first usage of the word in this sense cited by the OED
(1591) and involves a more abstract meaning.
28/2 dated.
Greene appears to mean "temporal," although the OED
does not so define "dated."
28/3 Delphian
Caue. The chasm supposed to have been at Delphi,
which was believed to have led to the center of the earth.
28/7 quiddities.
That is, "subtleties or niceties" (OED 2); the term is
derived from scholastic arguments on the "quiddity"
(essence) of things.
28/12 Ianus.
Derived from the Latin word for a gate (ianua),
Janus was the old Italian deity of beginnings, represented
both by the gate and a double-faced head. Greene's usage
here and elsewhere (see also 37/3) implies deceptiveness,
being "double-faced" in the sense of hiding one's true
feelings. The classically appropriate associations with
Janus are not invoked.
28/12 f
urnish out . . . thoughts. That is, "fill up
the vacancy of his abstraction or depression with
distracting, pleasurable thoughts."
28/14-15 leuell
their lookes . , . Xion. Maintain a level of
demeanor in accordance with that of their king.
28/l6-17 Regis
ad arbitrium . . . orbis. Source not found.
28/25 Nymphes
. . . paragon. These inflated terms mock the
conventions of literary pastoral with its
semi-mythological landscape. In marked contrast Is the
reference to the homely "countrey youngsters" (28/26).
29/6 Thetis.
See above, 27/2 and n.
29/7-10 Dolphines
.. instrument. Arion (fl. 628-25 B.C.)was a Greek
musician and poet who, according to Herodotus (I. 23), was
rescued by dolphins after being thrown into the sea by
robbers. His instrument was the lyre, by which he is
represented among the constellations.
29/8 carreers.
That Is, "frisks or gambols" (OED†2†b); the term is
derived from horsemanship.
29/9 Arion.
See above, n. to 29/7-10.
29/11 mounting;
bankes. That is, "waves."
29/lA his
Queene. That is, Amphitrite.
29/15-16 Proteus
. . . his flockes. Gf. Gascoigne’s At
Kenilworth; "Proteus; '. . . my little skill excuse,
For heardmen of the seas, sing not the sweetest notes’"
(Gascoigne, Works, ii. 105).
30/6 Auarreon.
AverroSs, a twelfth-century Spanish Arab philosopher and
physician, who was noted for his commentaries onAristotle.
30/14 Astronomical!
motions. That is, astrological influences.
30/18 Chrisocolla.
This view of chrisocolla as the touchstone of metal is to
be found in Lyly; "women are to be drawen . . . as the
straw is by the Aumber, ... or the gold by the mi- nerall
Chrysocolla" (Works, iii. 138). Pliny’s mention of the
mineral (xxxiii. 26) is not so closely related to Greene’s
as Lyly’s is.
31/2 Affric
shrubs. D. G. Allen identifies this as one of
Greene’s inventions (n. on "Trees," p. 1013). Cf.
39/27.
3l/7 faulted
with. That is, "got into trouble with."
31/12 not
worth a pinne. Proverbial (ODEP).
31/27 Mars
in the net. The story is found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses,
iv. 176-89),
32/9 Lapanthe.
Source not found.
32/12 Fortunes
globe. Cf. Ovid, Ex Ponto (II. iii. 55')
i "stantis
in orbe deae" (the goddess who stands on the sphere).
32/16 Cimbrians.
Possibly the Cimbri, a teutonic tribe defeated by Marius
in 101 B.C.
32/19 neuer.
The sense here seems to call fort "and that Menaphon
wil neuer; neuer loue, for as long . . . ." Perhaps the
compositor erred, especially since the possible error
comes at the break between two pages. I have not emended
the text onthe
basis of this conjecture, however, partly because Greene
uses broken syntax above (31/4) to imitate the train ofMenaphon*s
thought.
33/7 Smooth’d
face. That is, "smooth-faced."
33/12-16 bitter
sweete . . . pleasures . . . paine.
Oxymorons typical of conventional Petrarchan love poetry.
34/11 as it
were. That is, "as if he were."
34/27 trimming
vp. That is, "wrapping up."
35/18 by
course. That is, "by turns" (OED 33†b).
36/6 blisse.
That is, either "gladden" or "bless" (OED †bliss, 2)5
"bliss" and "bless" became blended in the 16th and 17th
centuries.
36/21 the
gaze of the Basilisckes. Gf. in Lyly’s Euphues
and his England: "the Basiliske, whoe eyes
procure delight to the looker at the first glymse, and
death at the second glaunce" (Works, ii. 130), and
"We shunne . . . the sight of the Basilisk, for
dread of death" (ibid, ii, 170).
36/21-22 the
sting of the Tarantula. In Lyly's use (Works,
ii. 407• 68) music is an antidote to the sting of the
tarantula. Bond points to Hoby's Courtyer (1561,
Tudor Transl., p. 36).
36/24 Auicens
Aphorismes. That is, teachings of the Arab
philosopher and physician Avicenna (980-1037). Greene
refers to him frequently (see Grosart, iii. 117 and 118;
vii. 320; viii. 25). Greene's fondness for the word
"aphorisms" is ridi culed by Nashe in Haue with You:
"That word Aphorismes Greene Exequutors may
claime from him; for while hee liu’d he had no goods nor
chatties in commoner vse than it" (Works, iii, W.
8-10) .
36/25 sith.
That is, "seeing that," expressing cause; "since" was
until the raid-seventeenth century restricted to time (OED,
sith, c 2).
37/1-2 set
all thy rest vppon this. That is, "stake everything
vpon this," an expression from card-playing (Grosart, n.
to vi. 86. 6).
37/2 Solamen
miseris . , . doloris. Cf. Lodge’s Rosalynde*.
"What, Rosalynde, Solamen miseris socios hahuisse
doloris. Cheerly, womans as we have "been
"bed-fellows in royalty, we will "be fellow-mates in
poverty" (p. 33) .
37/3 Ianus
double faced. See above, n. to 28/12.
37/13 Haleione.
The myth usually associated with the Halcyon concerns its
ability to calm waters; D. C. Allen identifies the
attribute here ascribed to the bird as one of Greene’s
inventions (n. on "Birds," p. 1012).
37/21 hope
the daughter of time. Proverbially, truth is
the daughter of time ("Veritatem temporis filiam esse,"
Aul. Gellius, i. 2. 9); the motto was used on English
coins during the reign of Queen Mary (ODEP).
37/22-23 starres
. . . favourable aspects . . . froward
opposition. That is, referring to astrological
influence.
38/7-8 balme
in the Vale of lehosaphat. While the valley of
Jehoshaphat is mentioned in the Bible (Joel 3:2, 3:12), no
balm is there associated with it.
38/15 allay.
That is, alleviate (OED, "allay," II. 11: based on
a confusion with "allege" v1).
38/23-24 Turtle
. . . trees. D. C, Allen identifies this attribute
of the turtledove as one of Greene’s inventions (n. on
"Birds," p. 1012).
38/24 Doues
delight not . . . cottages. Cf. Ovid’s Trlstia
(I. ix. 7-8): "aspices ut veniant ad Candida tecta
columbae accipiat nullas sordida turris aves" (you see how
the doves come to a white dwelling, how an unclean tower
harbours no birds).
38/24-25 Lyon
. . . haunts. D. C. Allen identifies this
attribute of the lion as one of Greene's inventions (n. on
"Animals," p. 1012).
38/27 Nullus
. . , opes. That is, "no friend will approach when
wealth is lost" (Tristia, I. ix. 10). The expression
appeared in Lily’s Short Introduction of Grammar
(Nashe, Works„ n. to i. 20. 12).
39/4 as
Andromache . . . eris. That is, "You willbhe
to me my lord, my husband, and my brother." Applegate
points out (p. 361) that the Latin quotation is actually
the statement of Briseis to Achilles in the Heroides
(III. 52). The wording is a possible loose Latin
translation of the closely related statement of Andromache
to Hector in the Iliad (vi. 429) or in Plutarch’s
Moralia (145 b).
39/8 Portia.
Portia is not traditionally associated with patience. Her
courage in wounding herself to show herself "superior even
to pain" (Plutarch’s Lives, vi. 155) is perhaps
relevant to Sephestia's reference here. Portia's later
suicide (ibid. p. 247), after Brutus' death, is in
opposition to the implication of the reference.
39/10 sheete.
That is, "sail" (OED 4); the use is poetic rather than
nautical since the nautical term is used to refer to the
rope controlling the sail.
39/18 Iuno
. . . Semeles nurse. The story is told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses
(iii. 259 ff.). The reference seems only marginally apt:
the fact of Hera’s disguise alone seems intended, not her
motivation or the outcome of the story.
39/25 greeues.
That is, "griefs."
39/26the lowest shrubbes . . , tempests.
Cf. the proverb, "Oaks may fall when reeds stand to the
storm" (ODEP).
39/27 valleis
of Affrica. Cf. above, 31/2.
40/3 Synara.
D. C. Allen identifies this herb as one of Greene’s
inventions (n. on "Herbs,. " p. 1013) .
40/4-5 Aulica
. . . miserla. Source not found.
40/l4 Hiacinth.
Since in fact the hyacinth does not produce a yellow
flower, the color certainly intended, the comparison is to
be taken loosely.
40/16 gray
glister. "Gray" was the traditional color for the
Renaissance heroine’s eyes.
40/17 alabaster
. . . flockes. A mixed metaphor is produced when
Greene has Menaphon add the rustic reference to the fleece
of his sheep to one of the traditional formulas of the
Renaissance effictio, the comparison of the neck
to alabaster.
40/18 borders.
Typical of the English garden style is the use of mixed
borders as opposed to beds of flowers.
40/20-21 Atheist
... as the Thessalian of Bacchus. It was the
Thebans who rejected the godhead of Bacchus (Met,
iii. 517 ff.). The Thessalians were famous as enchanters
(see e.g. Ovid's Amores, iii. 7. 27).
40/23 benigne
Planet, That is, in its astrological influence.
42/14- - Mars
his paramour. That is, Mars’s paramour, Venus (see
e.g. Met. iv. 17i ff.j cf. above, 31/27 and n.).
42/23 at
a blush. That is, "at first sight."
42/25 fondling.
Here Greene appears to mean "foundling, " although the
word is defined by the OED as referring to a "fond" or
foolish person.
43/4 Samela.
Cf. "Pamela" in Sidney’s Arcadia.
43/15 cloathes
of AEgypt. ’ That is, wall-hangings: usually painted
cloths.
43/16 store
of plate. A typical Elizabethan display of wealth.
43/22-23 Philemon
. . . Baucis . . . Iupiter. Ovid relates
the story of a pious old couple who, in their own humble
way, entertained Jupiter and Mercury (Met, vii. 618
ff.).
43/24 foundwhat he promist. Possibly, a humorous glance at the
high level of abstraction in "what" Menaphon has promised.
44/3 chimed
on to rest. That is, as the tolling of a bell marks
the hour.
44/4 flocke
bedde. That is, a bed stuffed with wool instead of
feathers (Grosart, n. to vi. 53).
44/10-11 pictures
. . . stones. Cf. Ovid's Metamorphoses;
"simulcra videt diversa figuris" (v. 211: He sees images
in various attitudes), and "inmotusque silex armataque
mansit imago" (and there he stayed, a motionless rock, an
image in full armour). Ovid’s description of the effects
of the Gorgon’s head does not include any story of
pictures being turned into stones, although the persons
turned into stones appear to be like pictures' (cf.
Golding’s Ovid, v. 264: "his men like Images in
sundrie shapes all stone").
44/16 an
olde bladder. That is, a rustic storage vessel.
44/23-24 took
his bow and arrowes. Proverbial (ODEP); this passage
is the first citation.
45/1 Morpheus,-,
Phobetor. and I colon. Applegate points out
(p. 358) that "whereas Ovid gives Icelos or
Phobetor as one of three sons of Somnus, along with
Morpheus and Phantasos, Greene names Morpheus, Icolon
[sicj, and Phobetor as three gods of sleep"; cf. Met.
xi. 633-49.
45/6 this or
the like passion. Perhaps an indication that Greene
is not taking his heroine’s "passion" too seriously.
45/7-8 hay
leafe . . . free from lightening;. Although
D. C. Allen identifies this attribute of the bay as one of
Greene’s inventions (n. on "Trees," p. 1013), the
contemporary emblem book, Whitney’s Choice of Emblems
(1586) provides evidence that this was an accepted belief:
Both freshe, and
greene, the Laurell standeth sounde
Thoughe
lighteninges flasshe, and thunderboltss do flie:
Where, other
trees are blasted to the grounde,
Yet, not one
leafe of it, is withered drie (p. 67).
45/8-9 Eagles
penne . . . thunder. Although D. C. Allen
identifies this attribute of the eagle as one of Greene’s
inventions (n. on "Birds," pp. 1011-12), this item
of natural history is also to be found in Lyly: "The Eagle
is neuer stricken with thunder" (Works, ii. 398);
Bond notes that the reference is not to be found in Pliny.
45/11-12 no
adamant so harde . . . make soft. This
traditional item of natural history is to be found in
several places in Lyly (Works, i. 210, i. 3®5t
ii* 87, ii. 224).
46/1 alabaster
necke. Cf, above, 40/17 and n.
46/3-5 if
Samela had appeared in Ida . . . supremacie.
Cf. Peele’s Arraignment of Paris (1584), V. i.
156-69, where Diana awards the golden apple to Queen
Elizabeth.
47/4 chamlet.
That is, "camlet," a fine fabric made of angora goat hair.
Sleeves were traditionally one of the most opulent parts
of the apparel (see e.g. The Romance of the Rose,
t1. 64-70).
47/9-10 cast
his disease . . . water. Contemporary
medical practice diagnosed ailments on the basis of an
analysis (casting) of urine ("water").
47/16 Date
gardens of Arabia. Cf. in Lyly:
The
Egiptians neuer cut their Dates from the tree, because
they are so fresh and greene . . . and who so cutteth the
incense Tree in Arabia before it fal, committeth sacrilege
(Works, ii. 465. 15-20).
47/18 the
Salamander . . . fire. This traditional
piece of unnatural natural history has no obvious source
(see Nashe, Works, n. to ii. 46. 27).
47/19-20 Cameleon
. . . aire. Cf. Lyly's Sndimion (Wks.iii.
4 129-30): "Loue is a comelion, which draweth nothing into
the mouth but ayre" (Bond notes the reference is to be
found in Pliny, xxix. 29, and Barth. Angl., xviii. 21).
47/18-20 fire
. . . water . . . earth . . . aire.
That is, the four traditional basic elements.
48/1 put
her childe to nurse. In contemporary practice, the
child of a wealthy household would he put out to a wet
nurse; this is an incongruous touch in the supposedly
simple pastoral world.
48/13 hyacinth.
This is the only flower mentioned in this pastoral
catalogue of flowers which has any mythological
overtones. The rest are common English stock.
48/17 fet.
That is, "fetched"; in contemporary practice, the -ed
suffix was often dropped after verbs ending in the t sound
(Grosart, n. to vi. 68); cf. 56/13 and 104/8.
48/22 deepe
effects. That is, "strong outward emotion" (OED †3).
49/7 The
Eagle loues faire bird. The eagle and the oak were
sacred to Zeus (Jove).
49/19 post
of Ganimede. The beautiful Trojan youth,
Ganymede, was transported by an eagle to Olympus, at the
behest of Zeus (Aen. v. 255).
50/11-12 the
olde prouerbe . . . museas. In Erasmus'Adagia (Opera Omnia, H.76IE), the proverb
appears as "Aquila mus- cas non captat (The eagle does not
catch at flies). The alteration of "captat" to "capit"
(seize) does not significantly change the meaning, and
was a commonly received version of the proverb (see
Gabriel Harvey's Letter-Book, 1573, p. 50)
50/12-13 in
opinion. That is, "of the opinion."
50/26 Iillyflowers.
D. C. Allen identifies this as one of Greene's inventions
(n. on "Herbs," p. 1013); the word appears to be a variant
spelling of "gillyflower," however (one sanctioned by the
OED). See Spenser’s reference to the flower in his
April Eclogue; "Bring hether the Pincke and purple
Cullam-bine, With Gelliflowres" (11. 136-37). The flower
is a clove- scented pink, and thus Greene’s reference to
its smell (as its important characteristic) is quite apt.
51/3-4 Geometricall
proportion. That is, a proportion made up of
equivalent ratios? Greene implies that love is a single
measure which can be represented in different "scales,"
according to the graduated calibrations of social
position? both parties in love must be in the same
"scale."
51/17 Phaon
enloyed Sapho. The legend had been dramatized by
Lyly in Sapho and Phao (1584).
51/26-27 the
toplesse Promontorie of Sicilia. That is, Mount
Etna.
52/5 period.
A rhetorical term applied to a sentence consisting of
several parallel clauses, the "period" was typical of the
Euphuistic style.
52/10-11 natiue
home . . . worst nurserie . . . friends
. . . strangers. Such antitheses typify the
Euphuistic style.
52/15 Venus
standeth on the Tortoys. Cf. Lyly’s description of
the regalia of Venus:
Venus with a Torteyse
vnder hir foote, as slowe to harmess hir chariot drawen
with white Swannes, as the cognisance of Vesta,
hir birds to be Pigeons, noting pieties with as many
inuentions to make Venus currant as the Ladies vse
slights in Italy to make themselues counterfaite (Works,
ii. 98).
Bond notes that
Plutarch (Coniug. Praecepta 29) mentioned a
statue by Phidias representing Venus standing on a
tortoise, to admonish women to be homebodies.
52/16-17 Snayle
... by minutes. Cf. the proverb, "The snail slides
up the tower at last, though the swallow mounteth sooner"
(ODEP).
52/23 Topace.
D. C. Allen identifies this attribute of the stone as one
of Greene's inventions (n. on "Precious Stones," p.
1011).
53/7 Thetis.
See above, n. to 27/2.
54/9 weede.
That is, “garb"; since Diana is a goddess of the woods,
Greene may intend a pun involving reference to the
summer's growth of wild plants (see also 89/23).
54/13 Arethusa.
..The story of the transformation of the attendant of
Diana, Arethusa, into a river is told by Ovid (Met.
v. 409 and 572 ff.).
54/15 Aurora.
Greene’s description of Aurora differs from the
traditional "rosy-fingered" and "saffron-robed" and
suggests English morning fog.
54/16 the ruddie
glister of her loue. Aurora's traditional lover,
Tithonus, would not be characterized by a "ruddie
glister." Greene seems to rely on naturalistic
association, and her "love" is either the sky or clouds.
54/18-19 Thetis
. . . Neptunes fancie. See above, n. to 27/2.
55/2-5 Venus
. . . Iuno . . . Pallas. See above, n. to
46/3-5.
55/9 Priamus
young bo?/ . . . Greek!sh Paramour. That is,
Paris and Helen.
55/15Lapithes . .
. Medusa. The Lapithae were a mythological race
of Thessalians, not associated with the myth of Medusa.
Greene perhaps interprets the tribe’s name in relation to
"lapis" (stone) and thereby creates a connection between
them and the Medusa, which turned men to stone.
55/17 astonied.
..Greene puns on the sense of "dazed, " and on the literal
effect of the Medusa.
55/23 Cupids
wings. Cf. above, 52/21.
55/25 Hobbie
. . . beyonde her marke. D. C. Allen identifies
this attribute of the bird as one of Greene's inventions
(n. on "Birds," p. 1012)j but cf. in Lyly, ". . .
neyther any Hawke scare so hie as the broode of the
Hobbie" (Works, i.231).
55/26-56/1 Palme
tree . . . highest. Cf. in Lyly, "It is
proper for the Palme tree to mounte, the heauyer you loade
it the higher it sprowteth" (Works, i. 191).
56/7 Endymion.
Lyly’s play Endymion had been acted before the Queen in
February, 1588 (Brooke and Paradise, p. 40).
56/13-14 Aeneas
. . . lason . . . Demophoon. Stock types
of the unfaithful lover; cf. Euphues:
Who more trayterous
to Phillis then Demophoon? yet he a
trauailer. Who more periured to Dido then Aeneas?
and he a stranger: both these Queenes, both they
Caytiffes. Who more false to Ariadne then Theseus?
yet he a .sayler. Who more fickle to Medea then Iason?
yet he a starters both these daughters to great Princes,
both they vnfaythful of promisses (Lyly, Works,
i.222)
56/17 Non placet.
That is, "It does not please," the formula used for a
negative vote in contemporary university assemblies (OED).
56/26 rammage.
That is, "wild, untamed" (OED 1.b), a hawking term.
56/26 came to
the fist. That is, "came tamely upon call," a
hawking term.
57/6 the hearbes
in Syria. D. C. Allen identifies this reference
as one of Greene's inventions (n. on "Herbs,"
p. 1013).
57/3 the flie
Tyryma. D. C. Allen identifies this insect as one of
Greene's inventions (n. on "Insects," p. 1013); cf.
"tyre," a supposed venomous snake of Syria and Arabia
(OED).
57/15 race.
That is, either "raze," or "erase."
57/16 start vp.
That is, "started up"; see above, 47/17 and n.
57/19as plaine as
a packstaffe. Proverbial (OPEP).
57/23 cracke.
Greene uses this word apparently to emphasize Doron's
clumsy breaking through the underbrush.
58/10 warmes.
Ungrammatical, but clea.rly called for by the rhyme with
"harmes"; a rustic touch.
59/2 -5Pan
. . . Midas , . . doubled. The story of
Midas’ foolish preference for Pan’s music over Apollo’s,
resulting in the transformation of his ears, is told by
Ovid (Met. xi. 146-79).
59/11 am ate.
Although the OED defines the word as "dismay" or
"cast down,” Greene appears to mean "cast off."
59/23 readie.
That is, "already" (OED 12) 5 a passage from the
fifteenth-century Rolls of Parliament is cited by the OED
as the only instance of the word used in this sense.
60/3 to hide
a_ pad in the straw. Proverbial (ODEP).
60/11 ouer the
shooes. Proverbial (ODEP).
60/14 vollies.
A military expression, invoking the common contemporary
metaphor of love as combat.
60/27girded.
That is "taunted" (Lyly, Works, n. to ii. I83;
10)} the OED does not so define the word.
61/1 banding.
That is, "bandying"; the text has not been emended since
the reading may reflect an elision in pronunciation, or
may be a mere spelling variant.
61/3 yong frowes.
That is, "yuffrouws" (young women); this passage is the
first cited by the OED for the use of the word;
cf. Golding's Ovid (vi. 337)! "... like
one of Bacchus froes."
61/7 made
restraint. That is, "controlled," an unusual
construction in English.
61/19 while.
That is, the duration of time needed for (dinner) (OED I.
1. e).
61/20 teeth
. . . stomacke. Greene puns on two senses of
"stomach": anger (OED 8†c) is indicated by
Menaphon’s clenched teeth, which also prevents him from
satisfying his hunger (OED 5).
62/6 sobrietie.
That is, "gravity" (OED 3); in this passage, excess
seems to be implied.
62/9 plaudite.
See above, 5/9 and n.
62/11-12 motion
. . . question. Terms taken from formal
deliberations.
62/13 Naereus.
Classical myths and legends do not provide the source for
the conversation between Nereus and Juno to which Greene
here alludes.
62/20 boorded.
That is, "addressed" (OED 4)
62/21 gathered
vp her crums. A proverbial expression for
convalescing (ODEP); here it is. used figuratively
to mean "pulled herself together."
63/4-5 Lampetia
. . . flowers. Lampetie, one of Phaeton’s sisters
(Ovid, Met. ii. 349), was transformed with her
sisters into poplar trees, not flowers. "Lampetia," a
character in the Odyssey who tends the divine
cattle of her father Helius, is not transformed and is
thus unlikely to be Greene’s intended referent.
63/8 supposition.
Greene appears to mean "support" in the sense of
"provision," although "supposition" is not so defined by
the OED.
63/21 Lunas Loue
. . . Latmos. That is, Endymion.
63/22-23 Mercurie
. . . Argus. The story is told by Ovid (Met.
i, 662-717); in trying to outwit the guard of Io, Mercury
Impersonates a shepherd. It is not, however, Mercury’s
playing which lulls Argus, but his tale of the origin of
the pipes on which he plays.
64/3 the Tyrian
heyfer . . . Agenors darling. Samela
changes the sex of the animal into which Jupiter
transformed himself when he pursued Europa, the daughter
of Agenor (Ovid, Me ii. 858-75 and vi. 103-07).
64/9 leekes.
Cf the proverb, "lovers live by love as larks by leeks" (ODEP).
64/25 Diogenes
quippes. Diogenes, founder of the school of Cynics,
was famous for his pointed remarks. Diogenes had figured
in Lyly’s comedy Alexander and Campaspe (1584).
65/5-6 either
a Vestall or a Sybill. That is, by
"chaunting that word" either come to partake of its
meaning (and prove a Vestal) or else conjure by it (and
prove a Sibyl).
65/9Amulia.
Greene has perhaps telescoped the names of two virgins of
note, "Aemilia" and "Tuccia." It was Tuccia who carried
water in a sieve. Both Vestals are mentioned in a passage
in Lyly.
Wher is Aemilia.
that through hir chastitie wrought wonders, in maintayning
continuall fire at the Alter of Vesta .... Where
is Tuccia one of the same order, that brought to
passe no lesse meruailes, by carrying water in a siue, not
shedding one drop from Tiber to the Temple of Vesta?
(Lyly, Works, ii. 209).
Cf. also the
proverb, "to carry water in a sieve" (ODEP).
65/14 Epicurus.
The third-century B.C. philosopher whose broad principles
were rather distorted and narrowed in the Renaissance to
refer only to matters of diet.
65/15 Abradas.
This pirate is perhaps an invention, since the name means
"you rob" (Latin). In this passage Greene echoes his
earlier work, Penelopes Web:
I remember, Israena,
that Epicurus measured euery mans dyet by his owne
principles, and Abradas the great Macedonian
Pirat thought euery one had a letter of mart that bare
sayles in ye Ocean (Grosart, v. 197)
65/16 letter of
Marte. That is, "letter of marque," a license in
effect amounting to permission to pirate, directed
against subjects of a hostile power.
65/17 Diogenes
tub. The tub was one of the important props in
Lyly’s play Alexander and Campaspe (see above, n.
to 64/25). The story that Diogenes lived in a tub was
originally derived from Seneca.
66/3 homes.
The sign of cuckoldry, basis of countless contemporary
jokes.
66/12-13 Achilles
. . . Patroclus. See the Iliad, xxiii. 65
ff.
66/25 inchacte.
That Is, "enchased," engraved or adorned with figures in
relief; here used figuratively (OED 4).
67/1 gentpie.
That Is, "gentlemanly characteristics" (OED l†c); the difficulty In
distinguishing whether the word refers to behavior or to
breeding and status is representative of accepted social
views of the periods that is, one aspect naturally would
be accompanied by the other. Cf. the proverb, "A gentleman
will do like a gentleman" (ODEP).
67/4 Andromache
. . . Hector. This reference may well be Invented
by Greene to balance the allusion to Achilles and
Patroclus (see above, 66/12-13).
67/8 Hippolitus
. . . Virbius. The story that Aesculapius restored
Hippolitus to life is related by. Ovid (Met; xv.
544).
67/8 twise a
man. A pun on "Virbius" (vir bis).
67/26 dallying.
That is, "delaying"; for a similar elision, see above,
"banding," 61/1.
67/26-27 Catastrophe
. . . Epitazis. Terms describing parts of the
dramatic action of a play, the "catastrophe" being the
final section (whatever the outcome), and the "epitazis"
the second section (following the exposition), in which
the rising action is developed.
68/8 both bal
and racket. Tennis terms.
68/8-9 the coast
was cleere. Proverbial (ODEP).
68/l4 Oenones
ouermatch. That is, equal to Helen.
68/15-16 Iuno
. . . frhite heyfer on the Lincen downes. A
reference to the story of Io (Ovid, Met. I. 583
ff.; cf. above, 63/22-23). While the Latin refers to
"pascua Lernae consitaque arboribus Lyrcea" (the
pasture-fields of Lerna, and the Lyrcean plains thick-set
with trees, 11. 601-02), Golding’s translation (i. 7^1)
provides a text much closer to Greene's "Lincen downes"s
"The Fen of Lenna and the field of Lincey."
68/19 ieat .
. . straw. The mineral jet, when electrified by
rubbing, is able to attract straw; a common Euphuistic
simile (see e.g. Lyly, Works, i. 228. 25 and n.),
derived from Pliny (xxxvi, 34).
68/23 Paris
. . . Paramour. Because of the pastoral context,
it is more likely that Melicertus is referring to Oenone,
not Helen, as Paris' paramour.
68/27 as the
Heliotropion . . . her load. The heliotrope
(sunflower or marigold) turns toward its "lode," the sun.
Cf. Lyly, Works, ii. 172: "A Louer is like ye
hearb Heliotropium, which alwaies enclyneth to that place
where the Sunne shineth.’"
69/7 Ephaebus.
Lyly's Euphues and his Ephoebus was a version of
Plutarch’s Be Educatione Puerorum (Works,
n. to i. 352).
69/10 Lucilla in
Athens. The character Lucilla in Euphues,
who nearly broke up the friendship of Euphues and
Philautus by her attractions, including her witty
conversation. In the work, Lucilla actually lives in
Naples, not Athens; Euphues travels from Athens to Naples,
the two cities symbolizing "philosophy" and "worldliness."
69/10 to anatomize
wit. A reference to the subtitle of BuphueSt
"The Anatomy of Wit."
69/11 Similes.
A distinctive mark of the Euphuistic style; excessive use
of similes was criticized by Sidney in his Apology:
Now for similitudes,
in certaine printed discourses, I thinke all Herbarists,
all stories of Beasts, Poules, and Fishes are rifled vp,
that they come in multitudes to waite vpon any of our
conceits; which certainly is as absurd a surfet to the
eares as is possible; for the force of a similitude not
being to prooue anything to a contrary Disputer but onely
to explane to a willing hearer, when that is done, the
rest is a most tedious pratling (Hardison, p. 143).
69/12 Sapho
Phaos Paramour» See above, 51/17 and n.
69/14 Priamus
wanton. That is, Paris.
69/15 Vale of
Ida. The setting appropriate to Paris and Oenone.
69/19 last loue.
That is, "latest infatuation."
69/20 loue .
. . Iu.no. A reference to Juno’s legendary
jealousy.
70/2 oaten
harmonie. A reference to the sound of the reed-
pipe, representative of pastoral music.
70/5 spheare.
Contemporary astronomy postulated concentric hollow
transparent globes to carry the various heavenly bodies.
70/8-9 Whose
Christall lookes . , . cleare. That is,
"Whose Christall lookes doo cleare the cloudie heauens."
70/15 Atraeus.
That is, "the sun." In "The Apologie of As- tronomie"
preface to Planetomachia, Greene relates the story
of Atraeus reliance on his exposition of the sun's
qualities to secure his leadership of the Argives
(Grosart, v. 21).
70/17 Delian
light. That is, "sunlight."
71/4 snake .
. . grasse. Proverbial (OPEP).
71/11 Tamberlaine
. . . Zenocrate. A reference to Marlowe’s II
Tamburlaine. Zenocrate dies in Act II; later,
Tamburlaine pleases "his humorous fancie" by means of
"stigmatical trulls," but he does not choose them for
himselfs "Then bring those Turkish harlots to my tent, And
I’ll dispose them as it likes me best" (IV. ii. 89-90).
Later in Act IV (iv. 66-84) the harlots are brought in and
allotted to the common soldiers.
71/11 the worlds
faire eye. An allusion to II Tamburlaine:
"Now, bright Zenocrate, the world's fair eye" (I. iv. 1).
71/12-13 stigmatical.
That is, "blemished," possibly referring to marks of the
"pox" (OED 4); this passage is the first citation
given by the OED for the use of the word in this
sense.
71/18-19 Syrian
Wolues . . . the Moone. Cf. Endimion;
"I am none of those Wolues that barke most when thou [the
moon] shinest brightest" (Lyly, Works, iii. 31)
See also below, 126/4.
71/19Scyrum. Lyly twice refers to
"Scyrum" (Works, i. 232; ii. 14), which Bond
annotates as "Scyros" in the Aegean.
71/23 fatall.
That is, "caused by fate," a sense not recorded by the OED.
72/3-4 offenslue.
That is, "being offended"; this sense is not recorded by
the OED.
72/14-15 one
string to his bow. Cf. the proverb, "Two
strings to one’s bow" (ODEP).
72/16 set
your rest. See above, 37/1-2 and n.
72/22-24 a Canterbury
tale, . » . propheticall full mouth . . . a
Coblers eldest sonne. Fleay (i. 258-59) identifies
the reference to Marlowe:
There cannot "be
much doubt that ... he is described as "prophetical"
(Merlin), "full mouth" (cf. "every word filling the mouth
like the Fa burden of Bowbell,' Perimedes). teller
of a "Canterbury Tale" (Marlow was born at Canterbury),
"as he were a Cobler’s eldest son" (he was so).
72/24 tell
where anothers shooe wrings. Cf. the proverb, ”1
know best where the shoe wringeth me" (ODEP).
73/8-9 as
luno did to Hercules. That is, in assigning the
twelve labors.
73/19 approue.,
Greene appears to mean "feel" or "experience," a meaning
closely related to "eprouver" (French), but not recorded
by the OED for "approve."
75/4 Put to
nurse in the countrey. Cf. above, 48/l; here the
incongrousness is more apparent, as "the countrey" is
distinguished from the pastoral setting.
75/8-9 the
doubled night. According to legend, Zeus took two
nights to sire Hercules ("Alcides").
75/9 wrastling
with snakes. The new-born hero, Hercules,
demonstrated his prowess by strangling the serpents sent
by Hera (Pindar, Femean Odes, i. 39 ff.).
75/12 ingrafted.
Greene appears to mean "innate," perhaps arising from a
sense of "firmly implanted." This usage of the word is not
recorded by the OED.
75/12-13 twise
horn. Bacchus, as a god of the fertility of nature,
dies and comes to life again.
75/13 Thracian
Bacchus. Bacchus was generally held to have come
from Thrace.
75/14 alternate.
That is, "interchanged, exchanged for the other (of two)"
(OED†7: Obs. rare); this
passage is the only citation given by the OED for
the use of the word in this sense.
76/20-21 Cyrus
. . . Astyages.- According to Herodotus (i.
107-30) Cyrus (d. 529 B.C.) was related to Astyages
(although he was not his grand-son); when Cyrus was
twenty, he ousted Astyages from the throne of Medea to
unite Medea with Persia and found the Persian Empire.
77/11 loue
. . . Ganimede. See above, 49/7 and n.
77/24-25 wise
are the children . . . fathers. Proverbial
(ODEP).
77/26 Dogge
dales. The period from July 3 to August 11,
associated with the heliacal rising of Sirius, the
"Dog-star," to which a pernicious influence was
attributed, including the supposed increase in dogs'
running mad.
78/8 gaue
him the lie. That is, "called him a liar."
78/21 imbecilitie
of that age. That is, the weakness of a child.
79/4 Hadrionopolis.
Hadrianopolis (modern Edirne), the great commercial city
founded by the Roman Emperor Hadrian about 125 A.D.
79/5 Tyrian.
The type of purple (cf. Ovid’s Met, v. 51-52,
etc.) .
79/13-14 affection
of the Sunne to his Hyacinth. The story story is
told by Ovid (Met. x. 162 ff.).
79/15-18 loath
to incurre . . . duty. That is, the poets
were "reluctant to anger women by putting forward, as a
simile (in the example of the marigold), any
representation of submissiveness to wilfull wives, who
love no precepts less than those having to do with duty."
80/7 orient. That is, shining:
the quality associated with the orient pearl.
80/10-11 Marigold . . . shut
vp her dores. Cf. in Lylys:
This is she that resembling the noble
Queene of Nauarr, vseth the Marigolde for hir flower,
which at the rising of the Sunne openeth hir leaues, and
at the setting shutteth them, referring all hir actions
and endeuours to him that ruleth the Sunne (Works,
ii. 215).
80/1 8 one poyson is harmelesse to
another. Cf. in Burhues and his England:
"the scorpions sting, . . . being full of poyson, is a
remedy for poyson" (Lyly, Works, ii. 172).
81/2-3 Venus dy ing Adonis.
Adonis was transformed into either a rose or an anemone
(Ovid, Met. x. 298 ff.)j cf. above, 59/20.
81/9 his. That is, "its" (her
fancy's).
81/18 Pontia. Apparently a
goddess personifying the Black Sea; "Pontus" is the
traditional male personification (e.g. Ovid, Met.
xv. 756).
81/25 reflexe. Greene appears
to mean "shining" as in Gascoigne's The Glasse: "the
glimsing of her eyes have in it a reflexion, fame more
vehement than the beames of the Sunne" (Works, i.
49) . This sense of "reflex’" or "reflection" is not recorded by the
OED.
83/15-16 most
carefullest. The double superlative was common and
acceptable in contemporary writing.
83/16 Non
est inuentus. That is, "He is not found," a
proverbial expression derived from the answer made by a
sheriff "in the return of the writ when the defendant is
not to be found in his bailiwick" (ODEP).
83/19-20 vnconstant
times . . . triumphes. Cf. above, l/7- 8 and n.).
83/22 Sardenian
smiles. That is, "sardonic smiles"; cf. Erasmus’ Adagia
(Opera Omnia, ii. 825A5 "Sardonius risus").
84-/14 Niobe.
The story of the mother who was transformed into a weeping
statue, after her impiety caused the death of her seven
sons and seven daughters, is told by Ovid (Met. vi.
165 ff.? 305 ff.).
85/2 our
bright bow-bearing God. That is, Apollo, as
patron of shepherds.
85/2-4 played
the shepheard awhile . . . Arcadian Downes.
Cf. in Euphues: "Did not Apollo converte
himselfe into a shepherd . . . for the desire he had to
heale hys disease [i.e. love]?" (Lyly, Works,
i.236). The ‘transformation of Apollo into a shepherd for
this reason (love) is not a traditional legend; see also
below, 101/25-26.
85/10-11 chacte
the night . . . his lookes. Greene means
either that the brightness of the child’s looks chased the
night away, or else that the "golden rayes" of the boy's
eyes adorned the darkness of the night, as if it were set
with jewels.
85/21 Strumpet
of Greece. That is, Helen of Troy.
86/3 supportance.
That is, "assistance, backing" (OED); this passage
is the only citation given by the OED for this
word.
86/11 kistrell.
That is, "kestrel," a small hawk, applied to persons
contemptuously (OED lb); this passage is the first
citation given by the OED for the use of the word
in this sense.
86/11-12 if
you will needes bee starting, lie serue yee.
Menaphon reverses the terms of his metaphor, now
portraying himself as the hawk and Samela as his preys "if
you will be leaving your lair (OED, "start" 9), I
will drive you out of it (OED, "serve" 53a).
86/27spent whole Eclogues in anguish.
Greene mocks the literary pastoral convention.
87/l4Tyre. A term from falconry,
’’tear with the beak" (OED).
88/6 sweete £riefe. An
oxymoron typical of Petrarchan conventions.
88/21 at mortal iarres. A
hyperbolic expression for their petty dispute; cf. Lyly;
"at mortal iars" (Works, ii. 328).
88/21-22 make hay . . , shinde.
Proverbial (ODEP).
88/22 take opportunitie . . .
forelockes. Proverbial (ODEP).
89/2-3 freeze . . . fire.
A polarity typical of Petrarchan love poetry.
89/19 I liue to sorrow,
you to pleasure spring. A conventional topos of
Petrarchan sonneteers.
89/23 weede.
That is, "clothing," with a possible pun on the literal
dead weeds which are winter's clothing; cf. above,
90/14 tyre.
That is, "tough morsel of prey, morsel of flesh," a
hawking term; this passage is the only one cited by the OED
for the use of the word in this sense.
90/15 sute
and seruice. The phrase was a formula used to
describe the responsibilities of a tenant to his lord.
90/22 gather
up his crummes. See above, 62/21 and n.
90/24 equall.
Greene perhaps puns on two senses of the word "equally
reciprocated" and "on the same level in dignity."
90/24 surfeiting.
Greene probably intends both "feasting" and "becoming
cloyed."
91/11 brasse
sounding buildings. Cf. Golding’s Ovid; "Fame hath
his dwelling . . . in a towre . . . The house of sounding
brasse (xii. 46 f f. Golding’s version takes some
liberties with the Latins "Fama . . . tota est ex aere so-
nati" (Rumour . . . built all of echoing brass) (Met,
xii. 43 ff.).
91/16 stood
vpon thornes. Proverbial (ODEP).
91/27 Philosophical!.
That is, "scientific," in having to do with astrology.
92/5 learned
of Apelles . . . crepidam. That Is, "Let the
cobbler stick to his last"; Pliny (xxv. 36) assigns the
saying to Apelles. Cf. Erasmus' Adagia (Opera
Omnia, ii.228A).
92/7 sowterly.
That is, "suitable to a cobbler," referring back to the
proverb of the cobbler's last (92/5).
92/9 loues
armor!e. A commonplace of Petrarchan sonneteers, the
love-war metaphor.
92/14 Daphne.
The story of Apollo and Daphne is related by Ovid (Met. I.
452-67).
92/15 Bndymion.
The story had been portrayed by Lyly's play (acted in
1588), borrowed from Lucian's Dialogues of the
Gods, xi.
92/21-22 Iuno
. . . Alcmena. A reference to Juno's jealousy of
the mother of Hercules, a feud visited upon the son in the
form of the twelve labors.
92/23-24 eternal!
night. A play on the two nights it took to sire
Hercules.
93/3 inferiour
comparisons,. Perhaps akin to the proverbial "odious
comparisons"; otherwise, possibly, "drawing of
comparisons to inferior things."
93/10 enuied.
That is "injured"? the only citation given by the OED for
the use of the word in this sense is from 1621.
93/12 pannicles.
Greene appears to mean "plumes" (perhaps from French,
"pennes"), although the OED defines the word as
meaning "membranes."
93/13-14 Perseus
.. Hesperia. A reference to Perseus’
transformation of Atlas (whose realm is "Hesperia," the
borders of the west) into a mountain, accomplished by
exposing the Medusa-head (Ovid, Met. iv. 629-63
and elsewhere).
93/20 affinitie.
A reference either to Olympia’s kindred, or to her claim
upon him due to their being "affianced."
93/22 mounted
himselfe. That is, on a horse.
94/4- all to
be blubbered. "To be" apparently acts as an
intensifier, an example of "folk etymology": the
intensifying prefix be- (OED, "be-," 2) has been
interpreted as the verb to be.
94/14 bitten
on the bridle. The expression appears intended to
convey the degree of Olympia’s resentment, not her open
perversity (as with a horse that "takes the bit in its
mouth").
94/16-17 necessitie
the present times best pollicie. Cf. the proverb,
"to make a virtue of necessity" (ODEP).
94/21 stoccado
des babies. That is, a "peck (literally, a stab) on
the lips."
95/1 Porturn
aut mortem. That is, "either to a haven or to
death."
95/16 short
cut. This passage is the first citation given by the
OED for the use of this expression.
96/3 Epicure-like.
See above, 65/14 and n.
96/5 Heliogabalus.
That is, "Elagabalus," the emperor Marcus Aurelius
Antoninus (d. 222 A.D.), famous for his debauchery.
96/7 prouerbial
... No heauen but Arcadie. The expression does not
appear to be proverbial, but cf. Sidney's Arcadia;
Pyrocles praises the setting, "Doo yow not see how every
things Conspires together to make this place a heavenly
Dwelling?" and Musidorus answers, "yf yow woulde returns
unto Macedon, yow shoulde see eyther, many heavens, or
fynde this, no more then earthely" (pp. 12 and. 15).
96/11-1 2 colte
. . . cast all his wanton teeth. Proverbial (ODEP).
96/27 vertue of necessitie.
Proverbial (ODEP).
97/17 ouerlookt.
That is, "looked over."
97/19-20 Eagle
sighted . . . gaze on the Sunne. Cf. in Euphues:
"No birde can looke againe the Sunne, but those that bee
bredde of the. Eagle" (Lyly, Works, i. 231).
97/21 Aesops
Apes. See above, 8/27-9/1 and n.
98/3 Arlthmeticke.
Greene appears to mean something similar to the proverbial
phrase "to be beside the book" (OCEL).
98/10 re and
voce. That is,- "by fact and by argument"; cf. in Euphues
and his England: "able to sinne both by experience
and authoritie" (Lyly, Works, ii. 2A).
98/11-13 no
vacuum . . . albo. That is, "There is no vacuum in
nature," and, "Black is the opposite of white": both the
most basic of schoolboy propositions.
98/19-21 Ioue
. . . Licaon. Ovid describes Jove's anger against
Lycaon (Met, i. 16^-67)» which causes Jove to send
the great deluge (i. 262-312).
98/23 cast
his bad peniworths. Cf. the proverb, "He thinks his
penny good silver" (ODEP).
98/26-27 turne
a new leafe. Proverbial (ODEP).
99/12 wil
they nill they. Proverbial (ODEP).
99/17-18 a mountain
... in a Mole hill. Proverbial (ODEP).
99/24 amazed
like Medusaes Metamorphosis. Greene apparently,
means "like a metamorphosis caused by Medusa"
(i.e. being turned to stone), rather than "the
metamorphosis experienced by Medusa" (i.e. having
snakes wreathed in her hair).
100/20 remooue.
That is, "affect"; the OED cites Lyly’s Love's
Metarn. (1600) as the unique instance of the use of
the word in this sense.
101/5 the
haires . . . Boreas chinne. See above, 5/20
and n.
101/6 the
dangling deawlap . . . Bull. See above, 5/21
and n. Cf. Golding's Ovid (II. 1068)t "A dangling dewlap."
101/7 Erimanthian
Boare. A reference to one of the twelve labors of
Hercules, the passage jocularly compares the lady's hair,
as it curls over her forehead, to the tusk of the boar.
101/2-8 spangled
... of Saturne. A purely fantastic comparison.
101/8-9 Mars
. . . milke white cloudes. Fleay (i. 257) points
to a passage in The Taming of a Shrew
where a lady is called "as fair as is the milk-white way
of Jove." The whole passage is, of course, a travesty of
the traditional effictio.
101/11 none
such. Proverbial (ODEP).
101/17-18 take
opportunitie by the forhead. See above,88/22 and n.
101/22 Thessalian
Tempe. A beautiful and famous valley (Ovid, Met. i.
569; vii. 222, 371).
101/25-26 Apollo
, . . to playe the shepheard. Cf, in Euphuest
Did not Neptune
chaunge himselfe into a Heyfer, a Ramme, a Floude, a
Dolphin, onely for the loue of those he lusted after? Did
not Apollo conuerte himselfe into a shepheard,
into a Birde, into a Lyon, for the desire he had to heal
hys disease? (Lyly, Works, i. 236).
101/25-27 Beautie
. . . that fetcht loue from heauen , . . for
Agenors daughter. See above, 64/3 and n.
102/6 pauilion.
A tent associated with chivalric wars or tourneys.
102/27 spels.
That is, circles having magical powers.
104/20 pomegranade.
The mention of the pomegranate is an Italianate touch (cf.
Lyly, Works, i. 125. 2 and n.).
105/7 pauilion.
See above, 102/6 and n.
105/11 the
downe of Swannes . . . Sennesse.
Perhaps a reference to Ovid (Met, xv. 713-25):
hinc calidi
fontes lentisciferumque tenetur Liternum multamque trahens
sub gurgite harenam Volturnus niveisque frequens Sinuessa
columbis (Next the hot pools were reached, and the
Liturnum, thick grown with mastic bearing trees, and the
Volturnus, sweeping along vast quantities of sand beneath
its whirling waters; Sinuessa, with its thronging flocks
of snow-white doves . . .).
105/14 orient
pearles. That is, the most perfect eastern pearls.
106/4 deuine
vpon. Greene appears to mean "conjure with" or "be
inspired about."
107/9 conceipt.
That is, rhetorical "invention."
107/9 too
much dearth. Apparently, an oxymoron. Melicertus is
playing on the idea of the disproportion of quantity of
ornament and quality of inventiveness in the similitudes
typical of the style he is criticizing.
107/10 abstract.
Melicertus appears to mean "far-fetched" (related to OED 4: "separated from matter, from
material embodiment, from practice").
107/13
A weak conceipt . . . approve. That is, "A
weak conceipt cannot approue [[demonstrate] his power."
108/5-6
Those eyes . . . that earst the Chaos did
reforms. Cf. in Lylys "... Loue sat vpon the Chaos
and created the world" (Works, iii. 301 and n.).
108/17-18
Venus Sonne . . . Psiches his desired deare.
The story of Cupid and Psyche appears in Apuleius’ Golden
Ass (iv. 30-vi. 24).
108/19
stowre. That is, "place" (OED, "stour," sb.1†3†b) ;
Greene’s usage is apparently based on a misunderstanding
of Spenser’s use of the word to mean "time of turmoil and
stress,"
109/11
Alcidelian springs, Greene’s meaning here is
somewhat obscure, since no particular spring is associated
with the Graces. The Hippocrene and the spring "Castalia"
are associated with the Muses, but neither of these would
be called "Alcidelian." "Alcides" (Hercules) diverted the
Alpheus as one of his twelve labors, but that river was
not associated particularly with either .the Muses or the
Graces. Greene nevertheless refers to these springs
repeatedly in his works(Grosart viii. 9, ix. 44, xii. 11, 12, 16, 17).
109/22 quill, Note the
reference to writing.
110/4
although my yeres be young. Not really
appropriate to Melicertus.
111/8-9 Jackets . . . rustie
bills. Greene seems to maintain an ambiguity as to
whether he is referring to ordinary clothing and pickaxes
or to special military tunics and pikes.
111/16-17
such men . . . Cadmus. The story is related
by Ovid (Met. iii. 104-30).
111/19
~20 the Greekes . . . Helena. A reference
to the Trojan War.
111/24
Agamemnon. That is, the leader of the besieging
forces, as Agammemnon was of the Greeks at Troy.
112/1 Thersites,
A member of the Greek army at Troy, the type of cowardly
baseness; cf. "no Thersites could be transformed into
Vlisses" (Lyly, Works, ii. 37).
112/21-22
to throwe downe his gantlet. The traditional chi-
valric challenge? proverbial (ODEP).
112/25-26
Bitches that yuppie in hast . . . whelpes.
Proverbial (ODEP).
112/27
Spattarmia. D. C. Allen identifies this herb as one
of Greene’s inventions (n. on "Herbs/' p, 1013).
113/5 Fabius
of Rome . . . delay. Maximus Verrucosus
Quintus (fl. 233-221 B.C-.) earned the epithet
"Cunctator" (the delayer) for his strategy in dealing with
Hannibal.
113/22-23
Titan . . . Lemman. See above,, 2?/2 and n.
113/23-24
in the listes. That is, ready to joust.
114/7 stratagems. That
is, "violent broil" (OED†3);
this loose usage of the word occurs several times in
Greene’s writings, and was possibly a coinage of his. (Cf.
Grosart, vi, 197, vii. 56, 212, xii. 45, etc.).
114/18 Helena . . . beautie.
A reference to the Trojan War.
1
14/23 Olympiades. That
is, the Olympic Games.
116/17 house doue. That
is, "stay-at-home."
116/18 see you vnder a couple
of Capons. Possibly, "see you going to market."
116/24
smiled in his sleeue. Proverbial (ODEP).
117/1 Grange
house. Grosart notes, "a larger farmhouse than you
think yourself able to visit" (n. to vi. 136. 16).
117/2 the
great Dogge. That is, the watchdog which would
perhaps attack a stranger.
117/3-4
so one hot soone colde. Proverbial (ODEP).
1174-5
draffe . . . eate him. Gf. the proverb,
’’Draff is good enough for swine” (ODEP).
118/6 Kitchin
gaine. That is, "drippings”; this passage is the
only citation given by the OED for this
expression.
118/9 Within
thy cap . . . my glove. A reference to the
wearing of a traditional "favor"; cf. above, 93/18.
118/10
At foots ball ... my champion be. A parody
of the chivalric conventions, represented in Menaphon
by Pleusidippus and Olympia (cf. above, 91/4).
119/13
forehearse. The OED conjectures, "that
which guards the front"; this passage is the only citation
given by the OED for this word. The word is related to the
French "herse" (portcullis), and thus continues the
metaphor implied by "trampling": the heart is a besieged
castle being attacked by the "trampling" tears.
120/14
I seale ... . my thummes. That is, a mock
legal transaction.
121/1 a
ring of a rush. Proverbial for a thing of
no value (ODEP).
121/9 a
starre whose influence. A reference to astrological
forces.
122/12-13
playing loath to depart. Cf the proverb, "Many
’Good nights’ is loth away” (ODSP).
123/27
kneeling downe . . . pardon. A traditional
transaction between executioner and victim in
contemporary England.
125/22-23
forerehearsed. That is, "aforementioned, Just
described"; the word is not recorded in the OED.
126/4 Syrian
wo lues . . . Moone. See above, 71/18-19 and
n.
126/5 such
lettice . . . lips. Proverbial (Erasmus' Adagia,
Opera Omniag ii. 386D: "Similes habent
labra lactucas”).
Glossary
The Glossary is not a complete concordance, "but
includes words from the text which are not easily
recognizable or which have significantly changed their
meaning since the sixteenth century. If a word occurs more
than twice, only the first instance, followed by "etc.,"
is cited. Proper nouns are included; cross references
provide direction from variant spellings and to notes in
the Commentary, the latter indicated by "See n." An
asterisk followed by a citation of the text indicates the
passage is cited by the OED as the first instance
of that usage of the word; a double asterisk followed by a
date indicates the date of the first citation of that
usage in the OED.
a Prep, of (i.e. a late
lately) 2/12, 65/18
a prep, on (i.e. a shipboord
on shipboard) 78/26, 95/15
abbreuiations sb. short
summaries 13/13. See n.
abiect sb.
mean-spirited thing 81/8
aboade sb.
(abode) dwelling place 22/14**(1614)
absolute a.
perfect 19/19
accident sb.
occurrence 34/7, 126/8
act v.
express 83/18
adamant sb.
diamond 45/11; magnet 68/18
addicted ppl. a.
devoted 65/I, 65/3
admiration sb.
admirableness 18/22
Adonis sb. an
unfortunate lover of Venuss the type of masculine beauty
42/24, etc.
aduance v.
present 113/26
AEolus sb.
god of the winds 29/12, 38/12
affie v.
trust 83/24
affinitie sb.
kindred 93/20. See n.
affoord v.
yield naturally 5/7, *37/20, etc.
affrighted v.
deterred from *5/22
against adv. in
preparation for 47/2, 59/16
Agamemnon sb.
leader of the Grecian forces besieging Troy 111/24
aime sb.
target 88/l
Aleides sb.
Hercules 75/8
allay v.
alleviate 38/15. See n.
alledg(ed. -ing)
v. plead 32/8, etc.
allegations sb.
assertions, arguments 63/15
alonely adv. only
106/15
alongst prep. along
53/21, etc.
amate v.
daunt 59/11
ambiguity sb.
dubiety, uncertainty 27/21 **(1598)
Amphitrite sb. wife
of Poseidon, queen of the sea 29/H
amomum sb. an
aromatic plant 8/7
amors sb.
romantic love 4l/l, etc.
Anchises sb.
father of Aeneas, by Venus 42/13
annoy sb.
troubling circumstance 107/14
annuals sb. yearly
records 77/2 **(1689)
antickt (it) v. pt.
performed antics *20/7
Apollo sb. the sun
79/21; protector of cattle and herds 91/26
applaud v. encourage
27/21
approue v.
experience, find by experience 73/19; demonstrate 107/13
approued
ppl. a. tested 113/16, 125/14
argent a.
silver (heraldic term) 95/4
Argus sb, the
countless-eyed servant of Hera who was set to watch lo
63/23
as adv.
(restrictive prefix): as then adv. then 79/7,
99/2; as shewing showing 52/15; as
touching touching 73/7, etc.
assay v.
make an assay 77/15
assayed v. pt.
assailed 122/17
assertaineth
v. assures 93/14-15
astonied ppl. a.
momentarily deprived of the power of action, dazed 55/17,
61/6
atchiude v. pt.
(achieved) gained (a material acquisition) 104/8
Aurora sb. dawn
54/15, 108/10
auaileable a.
efficatious 78/18
auant int.
begone! 24/7, 49/20
Bacchanals sb.
devotees of Bacchus 61/25, **(1590)
bad v.
bade 47/7, etc.
balsamum sb. .
balsam, aromatic resin 8/6
bandie v.
rally back and forth 19/9, wrangle *64/27
banning ppl.
a. cursing 90/11
banquerout a.
stript bare *21/1
banquet
sb. light repast between meals
53/12
bare v.
bore 93/26
begun(ne) v.
pt. began 73/11, 93/7
behoue
sb. (behoof) benefit 119/6
bemoanings sb.
lamentations 89/24
bequeathed v.
entrusted 76/19
betimes
adv. soon, forthwith 94/11
bewray v.
display, make known 71/9, 89/12
bills
sb. pikes Hl/9. See n.
bin v.
been 14/27, etc.
blisse v.
bless '36/6
bodge
vpv. botch up', put
together clumsily 11/9
boord
sb. (board) table used for meals
93/21
boorded v. pt.
addressed, accosted 62/20
bootless a.
unavailing 84/23
borders
sb. strips of ground for flowers
4o/l8. See n.
Boreas
sb. the north wind 5/20, etc.
braue a.
finely dressed 59/16; splendid, showy 55/2, etc
braue y.
defy 67/22
brauers
sb. braggarts *19/4
brauing
ppl. a. threatening 51/6
brinded
ppl. a. brindled 117/23
brute
sb. (bruit) widespread rumor 96/12
bucklers
sb. shields 19/4
bumbast
sb. cotton-wool stuffing, "fustian"
5/25* See n.
caitiffe a.
basely wicked 119/5
calender
sb. outward sign, index 31/27, 39/6
canonicall a. of
admitted supremacy 92/3-4
canuaze v.
discuss reductively l?/8. See n.
carefull
a. full of concern 26/10; full of
grief 27/22
careless
a. free of care 39/19
careers
sb. gambols 29/8
carterlie
a. churlish 15/8
cassocke
sb. loose gown 59/18
catastrophe
sb. situation 116/6-7. See n.;
denouement 125/23
censers
(-ors) sb. pl. judges
65/24, etc.
censure(s)
v. judgment(s), opinion(s) 5/4,
etc.
censure(s)
v. judge(s) 64/19, 69/22
chacte
v. pt. (chased) adorned 85/10. See no.
chamlet
sb. (camlet) a costly fabric 47/4
champion
sb. chivalric defender 44/27, etc.;
chempaign, plain 29/17
characters
sb. pl. brand, stamp 66/26
chaunted
v. warbled 29/20
cholar
(choller) sb. anger
92/24, etc.
cintfolyle
sb. the flower cinquefoil 48/12
circumstance
sb. subordinate matters or details
78/23, 81/14
cloathes
sb. (cloths) hangings 43/15
close
a. hidden 34/15
closely
adv. secretly, covertly 16/23
cloutes
sb. clothes 75/9
clownerie
sb. crude rusticity *15/10
clownes
sb. rustics 110/23
clownish
a. crudely rustic 69/23, 93/2
clyme
sb. realm 27/14
Cholcos
sb. Cholchis in Asia Minor, the
destination of the Argonauts 48/17
collation
sb. comparison 18/19
comical a.
happy or fortunate 125/23
commoditie sb,
collateral for credit 6/9. See n.
companion(s) sb.
"fellow(s)" (used contemptuously) 10/11, 64/l 4-
compare sb.
comparison 22/10, etc. (*107/2)
compasse sb. scope
41/4
compendiaries sb.
compendiums 13/5 See n.
complain him v.
bewail himself, lament 87/I
conceate, conceipt,
conceit sb. conception, idea, thought 28/12, etc.;
mental capacity 107/9; personal opinion or judgment 27/25,
etc.; private opinion of oneself 30/ll; witty notion or
expression 18/2, etc.; use of conceits as a quality of
literary taste or style *9/12; a morbid affection of the
mind 23/13, etc.
conceipt(est) v.
apprehend *30/14
conceipted ppl. a.
full of imagination, ingenious 1/9
conceipters sb.
fanciers *29/7
condescended v.
acceded 103/15
confines sb.
territory 77/8
confute v.
overcome by argument 16/23
conjecture sb.
conclusion 29/25
conioyned v.
united 83/2
considerate a.
deliberate, careful 30/26
constitution sb. disposition
31/23
consume v. waste away 73/18
contention sb. emulation 6/27.
See n.
continent sb. tract of land 26/8,
etc.
continuate a. sustained,
continuous 1/10, 16/19
contrarietie sb. state of
opposition 82/4, 102/22
copesmates sb. (copemates)
companions 77/2
corasiues sb.
corrosives 26/11
coucht ppl. a.
framed, arranged 106/6
countenance v.
face out 86/14
counterfeits
sb. painted representation,
portrait 92/11
course
sb. drift, tenor 41/9
covenants
sb. specific clauses of a formal agreement 21/9. See n.
couerte
in adv. secretly 113/11
couerts
sb. shelters 50/16
cowcumbers
sb. cucumbers 118/16
cowsloppe
sb. the flower cowslip 48/13
cracke
v. flounder, crash 57/23. See n.
crepundios
sb. empty talkers *9/12
crowde v. pt.
(crowed) uttered a joyful cry 36/3
cruell sb.
(crewell) worsted yarn 48/6
cubbs sb,
cob nuts *117/17
cunning sb.
wisdom, intelligence, wit 107/10; skill 14/5
Daphne sb. the
daughter of a river-god transformed into a laurel tree to
avoid the pursuit of Apollo 63/3, 92/14
date v. put
an end or period to *32/8
dated ppl. a.
temporally arranged 28/2. See n.
dastard a.
cowardly 112/1
decasillabon sb. ten-syllable
verse (i.e. iambic pentameter) *6/6
decipher(ed) v.
portray(ed) l/6, 103/14; revealed 63/1
deepe a.
intense, profound 30/7
deerest sb.
highest price 9/17
deined v. pt.
(deigned) bestowed *48/4
delicates sb.
delicacies 82/9
delicious a.
delightful 22/3, 105/18
demeanours sb, way
of life 61/10
descant sb.
amplification 74/19 **(1594)
descanted v. pt. made
remarks, commented 72/22
desiune sb. (from
Grench, dejeuner) breakfast 47/1
despite sb.
contemptuous defiance 81/5
determinate a.
conclusive, final 16/25
deuice sb. poetic
invention 106/3
deuices sb.
dramatic pieces 20/4; witty writings, "conceits" 7/24
deuine vpon v. augur
from, be inspired concerning 104/18, 106/4
devise sb.
device, heraldic bearing 94/26, 95/2
deuoure v. absorb
so as to do away with 105/12, 105/20 **(1625)
deuourd ppl. a.
engrossed 106/3
deuoyrie sb.
(devoir) duty 123/27
dexteritie . sb.
cleverness, sharpness 20/l
Diana sb.
goddess of the woods and of chastity 54/9
datev.
put an end or period to *32/8
dated ppl. a.
temporally arranged 28/2, See n.
dastard a.
cowardly 112/1
decasillabon sb.
ten-syllable verse (i.e. iambic pentameter) *6/6
decipher(ed) v.
portray(ed) l/6, 103/14; revealed 63/1
deepe a.
intense, profound .30/7
deerest sb,
highest price 9/17
deined v. pt.
(deigned) bestowed *48/4
delicates sb,
delicacies 82/9
delicious a.
delightful 22/3, 105/18
demeanours sb. way
of life 61/10
descant sb,
amplification 74/19 **(1594)
descanted v. pt.
made remarks, commented 72/22
deslune sb. (from
French, dejeuner) breakfast 47/1
despite sb.
contemptuous defiance 8l/5
determinate a.
conclusive, final 16/25
deuice sb.
poetic invention 106/3
deuices sb.
dramatic pieces 20/4; witty writings, "conceits" 7/24
deuine vpon y.
augur from, be inspired concerning 104/18, 106/4
deuise sb.
device, heraldic bearing 94/26, 95/2
deuoure v.
absorb so as to do away with 105/12, 105/20 **(1625)
deuourd ppl« a.
engrossed 106/3
deuoyre sb.
(devoir) duty 123/27
dexteritie . sb,
cleverness, sharpness 20/1
Diana sb.
goddess of the woods and of chastity 54/9
diapason sb.
outburst of sound *112/4
dilate v.
discourse or write at large (upon) 77/3
Diogenes sb.
founder of the school of the Cynics ("dogs") 64/25, 65/17' .
dinde v. pt.
dined 20/8
discents sb.
downward steps *56/6
discountenanst v. pt.
abashed 19/2
discouer y.
make known 5l/i3» etc.; manifest, exhibit 42/14, etc.
discouering v.
manifesting 2/13-14
disgest(ed) v.
digest(ed) 94/l6, 100/9
disgestion sb.
digestion 6/4
disgraced ppl. a.
put to shame, eclipsed 46/1 **(1594)
disputatiue a.
subject to disputation *16/24
dissembled ppl. a.
hidden 100/11
dissentious a.
inclined to differ or dissent in religious or
ecclesiastical matters 16/26
distilled v. pt.
trickled down 34/26
doate y.
talk foolishly 24/6
doating ppl. a.
weak-minded 13/6
doome
sb. judgment, formally pronounced
decision 26/26, 110/6
doubtful a.
apprehensive, full of fear 26/6; uncertain 115/24
doubtfully adv.
ambiguously 97/8
doubts sb.
uncertain matters, difficulties 27/19, 62/27
draffe sb.
swill given to swine 7/21, 117/4
draue v.
drove 29/25, etc.
dropped ppl. a.
dotted with spots of color 80/27
dumpes, dumps
sb. fits of melancholy, abstraction 2/19, etc.
dunces
sb. religious fundamentalists 13/7.
See n.
dylonimas
sb. equivocations 26/24. See
n.
effects
sb. affects,.feelings 48/22
efficient
sb, cause 16/19
eftsoones
adv. soon afterwards 91/10
element
sb. sky 68/17
Elizium
sb. heavenly fields 103/1
emblazon
v. portray as on a heraldic shielf
81/1 **(1593)
embowell
v. disemblowel 5/18
empayred
v. impaired 78/11
enchac'de ppl. a.
set as with gems *105/6
ende sb. final
cause, purpose 39/20
Endymion sb. youth
who, in his perpetual sleep, is beloved of the moon
goddess Selene 56/7, 92/15
enfeaft v. pt.
(enfeoffed) put in possession of lands 86/24
enioyned v. pt.
assigned 73/8
enuied v. pt.
regarded with ill will 93/10
Epicurus sb. the
type of the glutton 65/14, 96/3
epitaphers sb.
writers of epitaphs *16/16. See n.
epitazis sb. the
rising action of a play, in which the main action is
developed 67/27
epitomes sb. short
digests of longer works 13/9. See n.
equal(l) a.
unfluctuating 27/12, 30/26 **(1626:. rare)
equality sb. the quality of having equals 18/6. See
n.
dquipage sb. equality of
position, rank 16/10. See n.
Erinis sb. a
Fury 9l/9
escapes sb.
inconsiderate transgressions (especially sexual) 31/8
eternlsht v. pt,
immortalized 8/25} made perpetual 76/7
euent sb. outcome,
consequence 34/7, etc.
exalted v. pt. exulted 91/5
excell v. surpass 6/24
**(1611: unusual)
expected v. pt.
awaited 28/l, etc.
expence sb, expenditure 11/25
expired v. pt. caused to
pass, spent 13/9. See n.
exprest v. pt. manifested by
external tokens 75/6
exquisite a. highly finished,
excellent 14/24
extemporall a. able to
extemporize 6/24
eyne sb. eyes 58/15
factlitie sb.
means, resources 19/3
faction sb.
intrigue 123/4
faigne, fained.
See feigned.
falsingv. falsifying
56/25
famin sb. hunger
starvation
famous a. reputable
51/20
fancie sb. romantic love
30/7
fantasie sb. faculty of
mental apprehension 55/11
fardles sb. bundles,
baggage 20/11
fare v. have place,
rank 19/3 **(1704-1)
fatal (1) a. ominous 26/6,
32/5 **(1590); fateful 26/20, etc.
fauchon, fawchen(s) sb. (falchion)
sword or pike 27/7, 93/14
fauor sb. aid, support,
furtherance 34/13, 86/16
fauors sb. tokens of
"fauor" 56/11, etc.
fauour sb. appearance 69/21
fauours sb. features 101/21-22;
attractions, charms 29/19; good attributes 30/9 **(1596)
fawehens. See
fauchon.
feigned, faigned,
fained v. pt. fabled 29/24, etc.
fetched, fetcht
v. pt. performed (a movement) 29/5, 29/8
figured pul.
a. portrayed or represented by speech or action 1/9-10,
65/19
figures sb.
emblems 31/20
filde v. pt.
filled 56/15-
fine a.
overly fastidious 17/18
firstlings sb. first
fruits 20/25
Flora sb.
goddess of spring and flowers 22/8, etc.
fond a.
infatuated, foolish 3l/l0, 67/2
fondnesse sb. folly
125/3
foorth prep, forth from
out of 17/27
for adv. because 60/I8,
etc.
forbare y. pt.
forbore 29/13
forborne ppl. a.
done without, spared 19/13
forenamed ppl. a.
previously mentioned 20/19
forehearse sb. front
guard 119/13. See n.
forerehearsed ppl. a.
just retold 125/22-23
Forepointed pp. a.
presdestined 114/11
forepointing,
forpoynting ppl. a. predestining 34/12, 102/24
forsooth adv.
truly 31/8
forwardnesse sb.
eagerness, zeal 110/17
fripler sb.
(fripper) old-clothes dealer 9/18
frolicke a. joyous
120/10; sportive, cheerful 85/13
front v. confront
88/2
froward a.
perverse, refractory 30/4
fruition sb.
enjoyment, pleasurable possession 57/11
frumpe sb.
taunting speech 60/27, 62/26
furmentie ' sh.
(frumenty) hot spiced milk drink 8/23
furnish out v.
fill out 28/13, 39/24
fustian fume sb. great
display of anger 85/20
gage v.
guage 17/21. See n.
gantlet sb.
gauntlet' 112/22. See n.
gaue v. pt.
displayed as an armorial bearing 124/19 geerde v.
pt. jeered II6/I3
gentrie
sb. polish of manners, good
breeding 67/I. See n. glmmon sb. (gemmon
or gemmal) a double ring 12l/l girded v. pt.
taunted 60/27
giuing. See
gaue.
glistering
ppl. a. sparkling, brilliant 98/I,
IO8/3 gloriosers sb. boasters, braggarts *112/9 glose
sb. gloss, superficial commentary 14/9 Gothamists
sb. proverbially foolish persons 8/17. See
n. greene(r) a. fresh(er), clean(er) 22/14, etc. greeues
sb. griefs 39/25
grounding v.
relying 56/2
grudge v.
envy 23/4
grudged v. pt.
grumbled discontentedly 110/21} was dissatisfied 94/23
habilliments sb.
vestments 39/17
halcione sb.
kingfisher 37/13• See n.
halpeworthes sb.
half-penny-worths, very small quantities 17/20
hammered v. pt.
laboriously contrived 112/19-20
hansell sb.
(handsel) first trial 97/12
happely adv.
haply, perhaps 83/10
haps sb.
mishaps 52/8
hardie a.
presumptuously bold 51/21» 112/4
hardlie adv. with
difficulty 29/3. See n.
haughtie a.
lofty, high-minded 19/6, 75/26
haute a.
haughty, lofty 72/3
hazard sb.
outcome dependent upon Fortune 115/24
healme, helme
sb» helmet 114/20, 115/22
heardgroomes sb.
shepherds 97/3, 99/2-3
Helen, Helena
sb. Helen of Troy 111/20, 114/18
heliotropion sb.
flower such as the marigold 68/27
Hiems sb.
winter (Latin) 46/2
hobbie sb. hawk
55/25
hodge sb.
rustic laborer 15/9, 78/l
home born a.
uncultured *11/4-5; homely 101/21
hospital sb.
hostelry 21/6. See n.
hower(s) sb.
hour(s) 11/13, 16/16
hoyse v.
hoist 78/25
huffe snuffe sb.
braggart 15/20-21. See n.
humor sb. mood
32/21
humors sb.
vagaries, whimsical traits 2/21
humorists sb.
vaporous, changeable persons 7/20 **(1596)
humorous a.
capricious 7l/l3; jocular 74/19
Hymnaeneus sb.
(Hymenaeus, Hymen) god invoked in marriage songs 67/21
hyperbolical a.
extravagant *82/6
Hyperion sb. the
sun 80/8
I int. aye
54/3, etc.
iackets sb.
sleeveles tunics 111/8
iarre sb.
quarrel 80/25
lason sb.
leader of the Argonauts in the quest for the golden fleece
48/17; unfaithful husband of Medea 104/8
Icarus sb. youth
whose death was caused by flying too near the sun using
wings held together with wax 71/21
Idaea, Idea
sb. image (with Platonic associations) 45/4, etc
iigge
sb. (jig) lively jocular song 57/22
imbecilitie
sb, weakness 78/21
imoderate a.
boundless 18/1
impald v.
(impaled) encircled 125/18
impreso sb.
(impresa) emblem *6l/2
impressions sb.
printings 12/2
inchacte v. pt.
(enchased) engraved, imprinted 66/25
inconstant a.
fickle, changeable 2/18
indentures
sb. mutual covenants 21/lO, 120/3
indeuors
sb. endeavors 10/13
indifference sb,
difference, differentiation 7/22. See n.
indifferent a.
disinterested, even-handed, impartial 11/2
inferre v.
bring about 42/7; bring in, introduce 51/22; imply 79/26
infinitum sb.
unbounded space 13/27
infired ppl. a.
enflamed 15/5 **(1661)
influence sb.
astrological effect 104/2
inforce y.
strengthen, encourage 106/9
ingraffe v,
engraft 47/23
ingrosse v.
(engross) name in a formal document, include in a list
*6/7
inkhorn a. affectedly learned or
bookish 9/21, 69/8
insisting v.
persevering, following steadfastly (in a person's steps)
11/23-24
insues v.
(ensues) results 74/7
insulting ouer v.
triumphing over 83/H
insulted v. pt.
.boasted, vaunted *15/l
intermeddle (-ed,
-ing) v. concern or occupy oneself (with what is
none of one's business) 10/26-27, etc.
intermedium sb.
interlude *17/17
interseamed ppl. a.
interspersed *40/18
intitled in v.
holding title to 100/3
inueigle(d) v.
allure(d), seduce(d) 48/3, 51/27-52/1
inuested v. pt.
clothed 11/21
ioconde a. (jocund) merry, cheerful 60/21
Iove sb. Jove, king of the gods and
goddesses 26/4, etc.
ioyes sb. joys 2/15
Iris sb. the rainbow 67/17
ironicall a. that uses or is addited to irony
*6/11
issue v. lead, emerge 80/25
iuggling ppl. a. (juggling) deceptively dextrous
20/17
iumpde v. pt. (jumped) jumped into, effected as
with a jump 126/9 **(1611)
Iuno sb. queen of the gods and goddesses,
notoriously jealous 37/26, etc.
Iupiter sb. king of the gods and goddesses
43/23
kercher sb. kerchief 44/22, 90/18
kilcow a. bragging, bullying, terrifying
*6/1
kinde hearted a. loving 32/5
kistrell sb. (kestrel) small hawk 86/11, See
n.
laies, lays sb. songs 64/1, etc.
latter a. belonging to a subsequent period
7/20
laualtos sb. (lavoltas) high bounds in the
dance lavolta 29/5
lauish sb. prodigality 8/12
lawish a. excessive, unrestrained 85/21
layes, lays. See laies.
learnd v. pt. taught 69/7
least adv. lest 11/16, etc.
leaue adv. (lief) willingly 79/26
lemman sb. paramour 27/2, etc.
leuel(l) v.
direct (one’s looks) 28/14, 78/12
leuel a.
equal 72/l5> 93/7
leuell sb. aim
(of a missile or weapon) 3^/13
liberall a.
free from narrow prejudice 5/4 **(1781)
light ppl. a.
lighted 12/12
lightened ppl. a.
flashed 30/l, 56/10
lightened v. pt.
caused to flash out 34/23, 56/10
lineaments sb.
distinctive features or characteristics 78/24 125/6
list y.
listen 85/14
listes sb.
tilting yard 113/24
load sb.
(lode) object of attraction 68/27
load-starre
sb. (lodestar) guiding star 29/27
load stone sb.
(lodestone) magnet 46/11-12
looking
when v. awaiting the time when 4-6/26
loues
sh. romantic lone 56/17, etc.
lower, lowre
v. (lour) look angry or sullen 60/24, etc,
Luna
sb. the moon 29/26, etc.
madding a.
frenzied IH/I.9
madrigale sb. love
lyric or song *32/4, etc.
magnanimitie sb.
courage 78/18, 112/23-24
maime sb.
injury 88/3
malepart a.
(malapert) saucy, impudent 6l/l7
manuarie a.manual
13/15
margine sb.
strand 27/12
Maro sb.
Virgil 7/3, etc.
Mars
sb. Roman god of war 31/27, etc.
marte
sb. marque 65/16. See
n.
Martin
sb. Martin Marprelate 9/15. See
n.
mate
sb. "chap" (used contemptuously)
5/13
maugre
adv, despite l/ll, etc.
maze
sb. state of bewilderment 115/8
meads, meades
sb. meadows 22/17, etc.
mean(e) a.
undistinguished 43/4, 51/23; base 71/8
meanslie
adv. humbly 4o/8
meanest a.
most inferior in ability or learning 9/19
medicinable a.
pertaining to medicine 79/10
Mercurie sb.
Hermes, inventor of the lyre 63/22
merelle, merely
adv. merrily 13/16, etc.
meruaile sb.
marvel 10/4, etc.
merueilouslie adv.
marvellously 11/25
messe sb. a
bowl-full 116/16
metamorphozed ppl. a.
transformed as if by enchantment 53/4
mef aphu s i cal1 a.
(metaphysical) transcendent, extraordinary *101/27
mildlie adv.
graciously 27/27
mislike v. be
displeased 23/I
moechanicall a.
mean, vulgar 5/13
molde
sb. (mould) the material of the
human body 105/5
mole-spade
sb. shovel for digging moles 44/7
motto
sb. phrase attached to an
emblematic design 95/1
moyst v.
moisten 22/17
Narcissus sb.
emblem of self-love 30/7, etc.
nephew, neuew
sb. grandson 124/8, 125/18
NeptunetNeptunus
sb. Roman god of the sea 27/l, etc.
nere adv. near
16/13
neuew. See
nephew.
newfangles sb.
novelties 10/24
nice a,
fastidious, difficult to please 62/24; involving extreme
minuteness or precision 13/19
Niobe sb. emblem of grief 84/14
none such sb. unmatched or unrivalld thing
101/11. See n.
nosecloth sb. handkerchief 17/17. See n.
nosthrills sb. nostrils 8/8
nymph(es) sb. young and beautiful maidens(s)
28/25, etc.
obseruant a.
attentive in observation. 31/24
Oenone sb.
shepherdess who was the first love of Paris 53/20, 68/14
of
clocke a. o'clock 12/14
offensiue a. being offended. See no.
oppose v. expose 9/22 (See n.), 20/22
ordinarie sb. place to gather socially and dine
20/9
orient a. oriental 105/14; brilliant,
lustrous 80/7. See n.
orizons sb.
prayers 26/24, 67/19
otherwhile adv. at
other times 8/l7
otherwhile a.
occasional *18/24
ouercasting v,
overshadowing, darkening 92/22
ouercharged ppl. a.
overburdened 34/21, 42/19
ouercloieth, ouer-cloyed
v. surfeit(ed), satiate(d) 6/1,
ouer-fraught
ppl. a. overloaded 13/4
ouer-peered
v. pt. looked down on *29/4
ouer-rackt
ppl. a. overstrained *8/19
outbraue v.
face out defiantly *5/25
owes v,
owns, has 48/20
packstaffe sb.
pikestaff 57/19
pad sb. frog
60/3
Pallas sb. Greek
goddess of wisdom 46/4
Pan sb.
pastoral god 62/4, 85/26
pannicles sb.
plumes 93/12. See n.
pappes sb.
breasts I05/13
paralells sb.
things running parallel, implying a moral di rection *39/7
Paris sb.
Trojan prince whose liaison with Helen caused the Trojan
War 53/20
parley sb.
conference, conversation 42/7, etc. incomplete
97/14**(1641)
partiall a. incomplete 97/14 **(1641)
passengers sb. travellers 42/17
passing adv. passingly, exceedingly 42/5, 60/21
passion sb. ouotburst of feeling
passions sb. speeches expressive of strong
feeling 1/9, etc.
patterne sb. sample 15/10 **(1610)
Pauvillion sb. lare stately tent 102/6 (See n.),
105/7
pawne sb. pledge, surety 72/26
pearke v. perch 49/17
peecte v. pt. pieced 20/6. See n.
peniworths sb. advantage obtained 98/23. See n.
peraduenture adv. perchance 17/7
peremptory a. precluding all doubt, conclusive
*26/6, 27/20
perforce adv. forcibly 78/25, 99/4
period sb. extended rhetorical sentence 52/5.
See n.
peripateticall a. stiffly affected 11/11. See n.
peticoate sb. skirt 49/19
pheare, pheere sb. (fere) companion, mate 73/21,
80/10
philosophicall a. scientific 91/27
phlosophie sb. natural philosophy 79/8
phisicke v. treat with remedies *8/3
Phoebe sb. the moon 68/17
Phoebus sb. the sun 29/5, etc.
pight v. pt. pitched 105/7
pilfries
sb. plagiarisms 6/21 **(1592)
pinched v. pt.
straitened, distressed 2/10
platted v. pt.
planned 99/6
plaudite sb. round
of applause 5/9 (See n. ), 62/9
playned him v. pt.
bewailed himself 87/10
pleasance sb. that
which evokes pleasure 19/25
pleighted ppl, a.
(plaited) braided 104/7
pollicie sb.
conduct of public affairs 7/25
polt-footed
ppl. a.. club-footed *51/16
popt y. pt.
put suddenly 21/8
posset sb. hot
spiced milk drink used as a remedy 4-/17
pottle pottes sb.
two-quart tankards 17/21. See n.
pound v.
confine *13/15
pray
sb. prey 77/13
prefixed
ppl. a. appointed beforehand 123/10
prejudicial! a.
harmful, noxious 26/6
prentice
sb. apprentice I03/23
present a.
immediate 100/1
Priam
sb. king of Troy during the Trojan
War 111/21
Pride
sb. splendour lll/l
prime
sb. morning 105/13; spring 114/16
prlncelie a.
appropriate to a sovereign (of either sex) 49/11, etc.
principalitie
sb. pre-eminence 103/4
princockes
sb. coxcomb 115/17
professors
sb. adherents 20/18
prooue, proue
v. find out by experience 74/14, 103/21
prosecuted v. pt.
went on with 42/9’
proud a.
sexually excited *(1590)
pruning v. preening 114/14
quadrant a.
nearly worthless 9/12. See n.
quaint a.
fine, elegant 31/17
quaintly adv,
finely, elegantly 59/18
quarter blowes sb.
fencing strokes 116/12 q
uatted ppl..a.
oppressed 61/27
quicker a.
sharper, more caustic 9/24
quippe v.
assail with a quip 7/27
quoate v. write down
104/12
rebated ppl. a.
blunted 8/I3, 97/25
rebounds v.
re-echo, resound 15/13'
reconciling v.
demonstrating the agreement of 17/9, See n.
reede
sb. rustic pipe, symbol of pastoral
poetry 23/3 reedified v. pt, rebuilt 11/24
reformatorie a.
having a desire or tendency to reform *16/20
refuse a.
made up out of refuse, trashy 13/H• See n.
renowm
sb. renown 93/11
renowmed
ppl. a. renowned 91/6
repose v.
place (something) in the control of another *6/6
repurged v.
cleansed again 12/2?
requitall
sb. exertion in return 4/13. See
n.
resemble v.
compare 9/5
restlesse a.
unceasing 71/26
rethoritian
sb. (rhetorician) elegant writer
6/16, 7/17
reuolue v.
destine 84/6 Roscius sb.
great actor 20/12. See n.
roundelay sb. song
34/1, etc.
rouze v.
cause (game) to rise or issue from cover (figurative)
*17/26
ruffler sb. braggart,
swaggering fellow 116/22
russet sb. homespun wool, emblem
of pastoral simplicitv 25/20, etc.
sables a.
black (heraldic term) 110/25
scaffolde sb,
spectators' stand 123/16
secular a.
unlearned *9/10
selde adv.
seldom 106/11
sent(ing) sb.
scent(ing) 8/8, 8/l5
sentences sb.
quotable sayings, aphorisms 10/16
shadowed y. pt.
portrayed 106/20
shambles sb.
slaughter-house 65/5
sheepish a.
rustic, clownish 111/5
shelfe sb.
sandbank or submerged ledge of rock 30/3, 112/7
shifting ppl. a.
characterized by the use of tricks, deceits or evasions
10/11
shrikes sb.
shrieks 52/17
shrowded v. pt.
concealed 3^/8, 36/17-18
sigtht v. pt.
sighed 55/21, etc.
sillie, silly
a. simple, rustic 106/7, 106/17
simplest a.
most foolish 6/12
simplicitie sb.
foolishness 15/13
singular a.
pre-eminent 16/8, etc.
Slsiphus sb.
emblem of unceasing futile labor 32/13
skincoate sb,
sheepskin coat 103/8
slop sb. loose
trousers 47/4
slowes sb, sloes
117/18
smoothing v.
assuaging *28/10, 28/18
smudgde . . .
vp v. decked out *126/8
sometime adv.
sometimes 86/27
sonets sb.
melodies 57/17
sonetto sb.
sonnet (Italian) 121/5, *122/5
sort sb. band,
group 10/11
sources sb.
springs, fountains 34/24
sowterly a.
befitting a cobbler 72/25, 92/7
speeding sb.
success 116/9
stabbe sb.
thrust 17/12. See n.
staind v. pt.
obscured the luster of *109/20
still adv.
continually 41/20, etc.
stint v.
abate, cease 35/16
stomackt a.
offended 117/7 **(1599)
stout a.
haughty 116/22
straight a.
(strait) strict 113/13
straites
sb. narrow confined place or space
13/26
stratageme sb.
deed of blood or violence 114/7
streighter adv. more
tightly I3/2I
strond sb.
strand 29/1, etc.
Styx sb. one
of the rivers of Hades 39/3
submisse a.
submissive 101/24, 125/4
subscribed to v.
written at the conclusion of 15/2
succeeded to v.
been inherited by 7/17
successe sb.
outcome 27/25
sundrie a. assigned
distributively 1/9 (See n.), 47/6
surcharged ppl. a.
overburdened 80/6
surfet sb.
sickness arising from intemperance 86/21
surfet v.
feast 47/26, 61/13
surfetted ppl.
a. sick by
overindulgence 8/10
surfetting v. feasting 90/24 (See n.), 102/14
surmmised pl.
a. alleged
123/4
sute sb. (suit livery 21/7, 90/15
sware v. pt. swore 117/9
swelt v. swelter 89/5
Sybil sb. (Sibyl) prophetess *76/6
table sb. alehouse sign board 10/4
tables sb.
writing tablets 104/11
taffata a.
floridly bombastic 20/5
tainted
v. pt. colored, tinged 72/19, etc.
tall a.
brave 51/7, 73/4
tapsterlie a.
befitting a tapster *9/22
tedder
sb, tether 51/2
tempersst v.
govern 32/19
terminate v.
denominate *15/18
Themis
sb. Greek goddess of justice (a sea
goddess) 84/5
Thetis
sb. Greek sea-goddess, mother of
Achilles 29/6, etc.
Thrasonical a.
vainglorious 15/20. See n.
throughly
adv. thoroughly. 100/24
tilsmen
sb. peasants 99/2
tire v.
spend *62/8
tirde, tired
ppl. a. attired 47/2, IO3/7
Titan sb, the
sun 70/10, etc.
tost
sb. toast 17/23. See n.
toard a. promising 94/1
traces sb. footsteps 11/22
**(1613)
tracing v. travelling
63/23, etc.
tractacts
sb. (tractates) treatises 7/14
traded
ppl. a. skilled 12/24
tragoedians sb.
actors or playwrights 5/17• See n.
tramels sb.
(trammels) plaits *31/26, 66/14
trauailed v. pt.
studied ll/3
trencher
sb. a plate of wood or earthenware
6/15. See n.
triobulare
a. worthless 15/20. See n.
Troy
sb. site of the Trojan War 42/13,
111/23
Triton sb. Neptune 29.14
Tullie sb. Cicero 6/18, etc.
turtle sb. turtledove 73/21
vaile v. doff, surrender 105/15
valure sb. valor 102/11vant,
vaunt v. display proudly 6/22, etc.**(1590)
varietie sb.
fickleness 102/25
vassaile sb. base
or abject person, slave *49/20
vaunt sb. cause
or subject of boasting 89/15 **(1791)
vaunted v.
bore (oneself) proudly or vaingloriously 20/3-4
vayle, vaylde
v. lower(ed) 39/9, 31/3
venter y.
venture 69/5, 71/15
Venus sb. Roman goddess of
love 29/23, etc.
verdite sb.
verdict 122/5
Vesta sb. Roman
goddess of the hearth 65/19
vnacquainted ppl. a.
unknown 79/20
vncouth a.
unfamiliar 44/10, 123/17; unseemly, indecorous *53/12
vndermeale a.
associated with naptime 17/10;
vnde seeming ppl. a.
undiscerning *8/25-26
vneuitable a.
inevitable 84/6
vnkinde a. ungrateful 117/5
vnluckie a.
causing harm 8/23. See n.
vnresisted ppl. a.
irresistible 78/21
vnsatiate a.
insatiable 7/20
vouch v.
think fit *68/21
Vulcan sb.
blacksmith of heaven, cuckolded husband of Venus 51/15
wagge sb.
mischievous boy (term of endearment) 4/l7, etc. waine
sb. wagon 118/4
wanton
sb. playful child (term of
endearment) *35/4, etc. ware v. pt. wore
7/26
weale sb,
well-being 2/15; welfare of a country or community 12/17
wealthie a.
valuable 63/10, 101/13
webbes sb. woven
fabrics 48/18
weed(e)s sb.
garb distinctive of station or occupation 66/27 76/4
what inter, pron.
who 7/l» etc.
whereas rel. adv.
where 49/11, 105/8
whilome adv.
(whilom) at some past time 108/17, 111/12
whist a. quiet
107/15
whit sb. least
amount 20/20, 79/3
wlndlesse a.
breathless 9/8
wit sb, wisdom
55/5
woe a.
sorrowful 35/10
working day a.
workaday 32/3
wot v. wit,
know 9/2, 92/4
wrackes sb. remnants of goods cast
ashore after a shipwreck 34/11
ye and ppl. a. born
116/11
Zephirus sb. west
wind 29/21
[1] »gipg2»
refers to the revised edition of the Short-Title
1-27 text] leaf wanting
1605
20-21 Colonia
deducta] 1610 1616. Colona diducta 1589
1599
Some say
Loue
18 without
the fire] without fire 1599-1616
Textual Notes to Page 49
Her browes
bright arches framde of ebonie: 25
Mongst many pretie' ones,
Textual Notes to Page 60
11 an] a 1610
1616
20 inflamed] inflamed inflamed 1605
Mourne
heauens, mourne earth, your shepheard is forlorne; 
3 heart it] heart, is 1605 1610,
heart yt is 1616
courted his
old loue Pesana, to whom shortly after he was
married. And lest there should be left any thing vnperfect
in this pastorall accident, Doron smudgde himselfe
vp, and iumpde a marriage with his old friend Carmela.
